Arizona

How the GOP’s Bitter Arizona Senate Primary Will Be a Test of Trump’s Power

Published

2 years ago

June 10, 2022

How the GOP’s Bitter Arizona Senate Primary Will Be a Test of Trump’s Power

For months a Peter Thiel–backed enterprise capitalist, a multimillionaire former vitality govt, and Arizona’s legal professional common have been duking it out to win Donald Trump’s affection within the state’s Republican Senate major. Final week, the previous president lastly made his choose, giving the coveted endorsement to Blake Masters, the Thiel protégé, who most just lately made headlines for blaming America’s “gun violence downside” on “Black folks, frankly.” Masters continues to be polling in third behind ex-energy govt Jim Lamon, who falsely recognized himself as a 2020 state elector in a failed try and overturn Joe Biden’s win, and state A.G. Mark Brnovich, who’s overseeing Arizona’s investigation into 2020 “election fraud.”

The winner of this race will go on to play a key position within the GOP’s try and flip the Senate this cycle; Senator Mark Kelly is amongst Democrats’ most weak incumbents. However the August 2 major additionally serves as one other take a look at of Trump’s political capital. In a state the place many conservatives have embraced the “America First” agenda and purchased into a number of the most outlandish claims concerning the 2020 election—however the place Trump didn’t end up sufficient voters to beat Biden—it’s an open query whether or not Trump’s grasp on the first base will be capable of pull a political neophyte into the Senate.

If Trump succeeds, will probably be hailed as a repeat of the Senate race in Ohio, the place J.D. Vance of Hillbilly Elegy fame, a fellow Thiel disciple who had been trailing within the polls, received a contentious major after receiving a last-second endorsement from the previous president. Earlier than receiving Trump’s blessing, Masters failed to draw a lot nationwide consideration, whilst he rolled out quite a few controversial stunts geared toward interesting to Trump’s base. (Although, Tucker Carlson, the unofficial spokesman for ideological Trumpism, endorsed Masters final 12 months and has featured him on his Fox Information program a number of occasions.) He has by no means led, trailing each Lamon and Brnovich in voter surveys performed all through the race; a Monday ballot fielded after Trump introduced his resolution confirmed Lamon within the lead, with Brnovich down one level, Masters trailing by 5 factors, and 36% of respondents nonetheless undecided. (This newest polling knowledge was not made accessible to the general public.)

However Arizona is a notably totally different state than Ohio. Previous to the 2018 election, Republicans held each statewide workplace in Arizona, however their energy has been waning ever since Trump’s takeover of the social gathering. This slate of Republican candidates are diametrically against the extra conventional conservatives who beforehand held Arizona’s highest workplaces, resembling Jeff Flake, Jon Kyl, and the late John McCain, Mike Noble, chief of analysis at OH Predictive Insights, a nonpartisan polling and political consulting agency primarily based in Phoenix, tells Vainness Honest. Noble factors to the state’s unbiased voters, who he says make up between 16 and 18% of the voters and make it tougher for excessive candidates from both social gathering to win statewide. “This is similar state that had Maverick John McCain for many years. Now there’s this new model, this Trump method,” Noble stated, occurring to ask, rhetorically, “once you have a look at the wins and losses, I imply, which one is the higher route?” (Just one candidate within the area, Arizona Nationwide Guard official Mick McGuire, appears to be working as a average choice who has rejected Trump’s “stolen election” claims.)

Maybe Masters, himself, whereas on a New York radio present in March, explains his gamble greatest: “John McCain, relaxation his soul––it’s not his Republican Get together in Arizona anymore.”

Like Vance, Masters has spent most of his grownup life at elite tutorial establishments and tech funding companies, regardless of now working as a populist, everyman candidate. Per Masters’s personal telling, Thiel plucked him out of obscurity after the 2 met at Stanford Legislation, the place Masters attended one in every of Thiel’s lectures. The 2 coauthored a guide on tech start-ups and Masters went on to work in varied components of Thiel’s tech empire––his solely post-college work expertise, except for a software program startup that the billionaire additionally invested in––turning into the COO of Thiel Capital, a place he nonetheless holds.

Each Vance’s and Masters’s campaigns have been kick-started by exuberant donations from Thiel, with the tech billionaire giving $13.5 million to a Masters tremendous PAC. Each give attention to conservative culture-war points, however brazenly avow some extra historically left-wing positions, resembling anti-interventionism overseas, assist for little one subsidies, and a need to reindustrialize the U.S. This “America First” worldview locations Masters firmly within the sphere of the “New Proper,” a motion of nationalists against Large Tech, free commerce, and the Washington institution’s hawkish international insurance policies.

That Vance was capable of eke out a victory, regardless of trailing considerably within the early months of his major, would possibly go a protracted solution to clarify Trump’s endorsement. Jason Rose, a political guide primarily based in Arizona, instructed that Trump’s resolution has to do with Thiel’s deep pockets and shut relationship with Trump. “Right here you will have some wealthy dude from Northern California who waltzes in and says, ‘I’m going to purchase a U.S. Senate seat,’” stated Rose, who’s a longtime Brnovich supporter. “You’ve received another person stepping in to orchestrate this Trump endorsement, and with out Thiel, Masters could be an asterisk on this race.”

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Arizona

Arizona State Fair concert series: 3 acts revealed

Published

6 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Press Room

Arizona State Fair concert series: 3 acts revealed

PHOENIX – The Arizona State Fair revealed three acts for its 2024 Coliseum Concert Series on Monday.

The All-American Rejects will take the Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum stage on Oct. 12, followed by the I Love the 90s Tour on Oct. 18 and Big Time Rush on Oct. 25.

Tickets for each show go on sale July 12 at 10 a.m. Prices start at $25 and include fair admission, a $15 value. Seating at the arena is fully reserved for all Coliseum Concert Series shows.

Who are the 2024 Arizona State Fair Coliseum Concert Series performers?

The All-American Rejects are one of the top alternative rock bands to emerge from the early 2000s, when they reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Gives You Hell,” “It Ends Tonight” and “Dirty Little Secret.”

The I Love the 90s Tour features three artists who created some of that decade’s biggest hits: Vanilla Ice (“Ice Ice Baby”), Rob Base (“It Takes Two”) and Montell Jordan (“This Is How We Do It”).

Big Time Rush formed as a fictional boy band for a Nickelodeon show of the same name that ran from 2009 to 2013. The group was popular enough to remain successful long after the show went off the air.

Arizona State Fair officials are working to book more performers for this year’s lineup. Last year’s Coliseum Concert Series, the first after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had six shows: Walker Hayes, Becky G, Ne-Yo, Brothers Osborne, Violent Femmes and Carly Pearce.

When does the 2024 Arizona State Fair start?

The 140th Arizona State Fair runs Thursdays-Sundays from Sept. 20 until Oct. 27 at the fairgrounds at 19th Avenue and McDowell Road in Phoenix.

Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, the original home of the Phoenix Suns, is the largest venue at the site.

Additional concerts, which are included with admission, are scheduled for other stages at the fairgrounds. Most of the shows feature tribute bands, with renditions of Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Green Day and other beloved artists.

And of course, this year’s fair features the usual thrill rides, midway games, fried food galore and other attractions.

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Arizona

Lori Vallow’s Arizona murder trial pushed to 2025

Published

13 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Press Room

Lori Vallow’s Arizona murder trial pushed to 2025

Lori Vallow’s murder trial was rescheduled for early 2025 during a hearing Tuesday.

Vallow appeared briefly in Maricopa County Superior Court for the status hearing but left after the judge decided a news camera could film the proceedings. Vallow’s attorney, Gerald Bradley, had argued to have news cameras removed from the court and for the sealing of all recordings of the hearing made by the court’s own camera system.

Vallow, who was convicted of the murder of her two children, Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan, in Idaho earlier this year, entered the courtroom in an orange jail jumpsuit to appear for a status hearing at 8 a.m.

She faces conspiracy to commit murder charges in the death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, and a charge of attempted murder in connection with a drive-by shooting that barely missed her ex-nephew-in-law, Brandon Boudreaux.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky ruled to allow media cameras for the status hearing. But after the ruling, Vallow left the courtroom, waiving her appearance.

Vallow’s attorney then told Beresky that he and his team would need more time to review the large amounts of evidence recently handed over to them. The county prosecutor did not object.

Beresky ordered to push out the trial date from August to February.

Reach the reporter miguel.torres@arizonarepublic.com.

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Arizona

Thousands of bats live in this Phoenix storm drain. Here’s how to watch them emerge

Published

20 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Press Room

Thousands of bats live in this Phoenix storm drain. Here’s how to watch them emerge

If you see a foreboding cloud of bats flood the night sky this summer, don’t be spooked. This mass migration is not a bad omen but a glimpse at some of Arizonan’s most interesting creatures.

The National Weather Service reported a large emergence of bats from the Phoenix bat cave at about 9 p.m. on Sunday, drawing closer attention to the many bats in metro Phoenix and Arizona.

Bats are an important part of Arizona’s ecosystem and are much more common than you may think.

Here’s everything about the Phoenix bat cave and the creatures that reside there.

What is the Phoenix bat cave?

Angie McIntire, a bat biologist at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said in an interview with The Arizona Republic there could be between 10,000 to 20,000 bats living in this unsuspecting storm drain.

But this tunnel is actually the ideal home for many species of Arizona bats. Insectivorous bats, whose diets rely heavily on insects, prefer to stay by long water sources that make skimming the water to catch prey easy, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Since bats spend their downtime hanging upside down, the flood control tunnel’s rough concrete ceilings is the perfect surface to hang from.

Where is the Phoenix bat cave?

The Phoenix bat cave is located north of 40th Street and Camelback Road. Conveniently, you can walk to the top of the tunnel by following the Arizona Canal. Take the path on the north side of the canal for about 200 yards, past the office buildings and parking garage, to reach the perfect spot to watch the bats.

If you need to find parking, you can find the bat cave parking lot on Google Maps.

What is the best time to see the bats in Phoenix?

Every year, from May through October, thousands of bats migrate to Mexico. They start their journey southbound just before dusk, or 8 p.m. in the summer months, and continue into the night.

What is the most common bat in Phoenix?

Of the 28 different species of bats found in Arizona, Mexican free-tailed bats are the most common. The United States has a Mexican free-tailed population of over 100 million, according to the National Park Service.

According to another interview with The Republic with McIntire, Mexican free-tailed bats have been found congregating in huge numbers under several bridges in the Phoenix area. McIntire said the Gilbert Road bridge, where Gilbert Road crosses the Salt River, has approximately 30,000 in its structure.

Mexican free-tailed bats can be identified by their reddish to dark brown or gray fur, forward-pointing ears and wrinkled lips. These bats have narrow wings that typically span 12 to 14 inches, allowing them to fly at speeds of 60 miles per hour, according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

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