Arizona
I spent last night with Arizona dems as their world fell apart
The problem with holding a election-night watch party in the mountain time zone is that by the time people start to roll in, the night will have already taken a turn. After racking up historic wins during the Trump era, Arizona Democrats entered the 2024 election hoping to keep the positive results coming. But at the party’s official celebration at an upscale hotel and conference center in north Phoenix on Tuesday, the mood started off anxious.
When I asked Mary Kuckertz, a mental-health professional from Tempe, how she was feeling, she used a term that to seemed to capture the spirit of the Democratic electorate: “Nauseously optimistic.”
At that point in the night, Vice President Kamala Harris’ path to victory was narrowing but still possible, and Kuckertz, a mental-health researcher, was thinking about what a second Trump term would mean. “So much funding got cut when Trump was president—all of these really phenomenal programs that we’re bringing these mental health services to children and families who really needed it, so many of those services have totally gone by the wayside,” she said. “I can’t handle more trans kids not getting access to basic human care.”
Arizona was the epicenter for the popular front against Donald Trump and his allies, and the people in the room were a reminder of what this coalition of moderate Republicans, Native Americans, Black and Latino voters, and college-educated whites had accomplished over the last eight years. Attendees heard from Gov. Katie Hobbs, who defeated election-denier Kari Lake two years ago; and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who defeated election denier Mark Finchem that same year; and Sen. Mark Kelly, who defeated Peter Thiel acolyte Blake Masters in 2022 and Trump-backed Rep. Martha McSally two years before that. The volunteers and organizers in the room had flipped a Senate seat in 2018 and knocked Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office in 2016. And on Tuesday, when almost everything else was looking grim, they had delivered a historic policy win—passing Prop 139, a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to an abortion in the state to the point of viability. It wasn’t particularly close.
These were major accomplishments—the product of years or organizing and tactical ticket-splitting. There was another possible silver lining, too: Lake could lose again, this time to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who predicted victory in a speech last night, but cautioned supporters that it might take time for the race to be called. (It still hasn’t been.) Gallego, a Marine veteran who was raised by a single mother, would be the state’s first Latino senator, and he ran well ahead of the presidential ticket—particularly among Latino men. He succeeded less through any sort of anti-Trump messaging than through an aspirational pitch for the American Dream and working-class economic priorities.
The longer things went on, though, the more dissonant it seemed to hear Harry Styles and “Mr. Brightside” blaring over the speakers while Steve Kornacki pointed at an increasingly crimson map. (Pick a state—it didn’t seem to matter.) The crowd dwindled, and people started to hit the cash bar with a bit more purpose.
When I asked Denise Deubery, who was watching the MSNBC feed, how she was feeling, she told me “the best way to put it is nauseously optimistic.”
The phrase was apparently catching on. But the meaning was a little different. The nauseous part was obvious, of course, but as the networks prepared to call more states that would narrow Harris’ path to victory even more, why was Deubery optimistic? It wasn’t about Harris’ chances, she said, but about the work that had brought them all there.
“I’ve never been amongst more encouraging individuals that I’ll probably never meet again in my life,” she said. She’d been volunteering since September. The fight gave her hope. It was the type of thing you could build on. “I’ve never been more of a proud American.”
By the time Fontes spoke, to officially wind the ceremonies down, there were more photographers than partisans on floor. “Wipe that frigging sourpuss face off of your face,” he implored anyone listening. Determined to put a positive spin on things, he noted the high number of outstanding ballots to count in Maricopa, and asked Democrats to be patient as results trickled in over the coming days.
“The last thing in the world I want to see out of my Democratic Party is a lot of pearl-clutching, a lot of hand-wringing, and a lot of naysaying,” he said. He wanted them to “continue moving forward with joy, whether or not you feel good about what Jake Tapper and the rest of those folks are saying on TV tonight.” Come morning, it was time to start curing ballots.
But there was no point in denying the obvious.
“Lastly let me say this: If you’re going to drink: good—get an Uber or Lyft when you go home,” he said. “I want y’all to be safe, because we got a lot of work to still do.”
Arizona Open Division football championship MVPs on Basha’s big win
“As soon as we stepped on the field, nerves went away and it was just playing football,” Rogers said of Basha’s performance.
Chandler Basha left tackle Jake Hildebrand, the state’s No. 1 2027 college football prospect, said Arizona State and Miami are among the top potential schools on his recently revealed 10-best list.
Miami is playing in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ole Miss at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Jan. 8.
Hildebrand, 6-foot-6, 293 pounds, has started every varsity game since his freshman year and helped lead the Bears to the Open Division state title this past season. He won’t be able to attend the Fiesta Bowl because he’s in San Antonio, getting ready to play in the Jan. 10 Navy All-American Bowl. The game airs at 11 a.m. MST on NBC.
Hildebrand also has CFP semifinalists Indiana and Oregon, along with Texas A&M, Alabama, USC, Ohio State and Texas among his top 10 colleges.
“A few schools that are my favorite from the top 10 are ASU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Miami and USC,” Hildebrand said in a direct message to The Arizona Republic. “They have definitely been the schools that have been contacting me the most and built the best relationship with.”
There is no timetable for when Hildebrand will commit. He could wait until he makes trips this spring, summer and fall. But he is among the most coveted left tackles in the country, who has 38 offers, according to 247Sports.
The 247Sports Composite has Hildebrand ranked as the No. 13 overall offensive tackle in the country in the 2027 class. He is ranked No. 1 in the class of 2027 by The Republic.
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
Apache Stronghold leader’s propane lines severed
Apache Stronghold leader Wendsler Nosie’s propane tank lines were severed. Nosie claims it is related to the controversy surrounding Oak Flat mine.
Three lawsuits aiming to keep the U.S. Forest Service from turning over Oak Flat to a mining company for a massive copper mine go in front of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for arguments Jan. 7.
The British-Australian firm Resolution Copper has long sought the exchange to build a mine that bodes to obliterate a site Apaches and other Native peoples hold sacred. It also is one of Arizona’s few functional wetlands.
Two lawsuits filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of environmentalists and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona challenged the land exchange, authorized by a last-minute amendment to a “must-pass” defense bill in December 2014. The arguments in the lawsuits are based on the tribe’s religious beliefs and on environmental concerns, including disputes over water usage and possible damage of one of central Arizona’s key aquifers.
In the third suit, the latest to be filed, a group of Apache women who have spiritual and cultural connections to the site argue that the exchange would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment’s religious rights protections and two environmental laws.
Their lawsuit also brought two new factors into play: a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirms parental rights to direct their children’s religious education and references to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s blistering dissent to the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear another case related to the land exchange.
A three-judge panel will hear the cases at the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix.
Religious rights advocates and First Amendment experts have said the ability of Native peoples to exercise their religious rights is at stake.
Oak Flat story: As an Apache girl enters womanhood, lawsuits and tariffs cast shadows
The struggle over Oak Flat nears 30-year mark
For more than two decades, Oak Flat Campground, known to Apaches as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, “the place where the Emory oak grows,” has been ground zero in a battle over Native religious rights on public lands as well as environmental preservation for a scarce Arizona ecosystem.
The 2,200-acre primitive campground and riparian zone, within the Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix, also lies over one of the nation’s largest remaining bodies of copper ore.
To obtain the copper, Resolution, which is owned by multinational firms Rio Tinto and BHP, plans to use a method known as block cave mining in which tunnels are drilled beneath the ore body, and then collapsed, leaving the ore to be moved to a crushing facility.
Eventually, the ground would subside, leaving behind a crater about 1,000 feet deep and nearly 2 miles across, obliterating Oak Flat.
Resolution Copper, a British-Australian mining firm, sought Congressional approval to exchange other parcels of land it had purchased with the U.S. Forest Service for nearly 10 years when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other officials engineered a late-night rider to a must-pass defense bill in December 2014. Then-President Barack Obama signed the bill and ever since, tribes, environmentalists and their allies have fought to stop the exchange.
Resolution has said that the mine would bring much-needed jobs and revenues to the economically challenged Copper Triangle to the tune of about $1 billion a year. The company has provided funding to support recovery from the floods that devastated downtown Globe in October and has supported other community organizations.
In November, Resolution announced it had completed rehabilitation of the historic No. 9 shaft at the Magma minehead, including deepening it to nearly 6,900 feet and connecting it to the No. 10 shaft, which plunges about 6,940 feet below the surface.
Vicky Peacey, president and general manager of Resolution, said the shaft project was a huge milestone, employing homegrown talent from surrounding communities to get the job done.
Despite the ongoing litigation, she said, “We are ready to advance this important copper project, enabling thousands of high-paying jobs, billions in economic development for rural Arizona, and access to a domestic supply of copper essential to American security and modern infrastructure.”
Grassroots group Apache Stronghold, led by former San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Wendsler Nosie, filed the first lawsuit to stop the exchange. That litigation was declined twice by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2025, but Apache Stronghold continues to fight the land exchange as the group supports the other three lawsuits.
Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @debkrol.bsky.social.
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President Donald Trump endorsed not one but two Republicans in a highly watched Arizona congressional primary, boosting a new candidate after his first pick met resistance from some in the GOP.
In a Jan. 6 social media post, Trump said he was backing Jay Feely, a former Cardinals kicker and sports commentator who recently switched his campaign into Arizona’s Scottsdale-area 1st Congressional District, in addition to Gina Swoboda, the state GOP chair whose candidacy has divided Republicans despite her securing Trump’s support in October.
The president praised both Feely and Swoboda as “Highly Respected America First Patriots.”
“JAY OR GINA WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” he wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.
The announcement is a blow to Swoboda, a polarizing figure among Arizona Republicans. Her longtime rivalry with Turning Point, the network of conservative advocacy groups founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, has shadowed her candidacy, prompting attacks and infighting among Arizona Republicans.
The president’s team had not publicly confirmed his endorsement of Swoboda before the Jan. 6 social media post.
In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Feely said he thought the endorsement came back to his “friendship” and shared values with the president.
“I love what he’s doing. I believe in what he’s doing. I’m committed to the same principles that he and his administration have,” Feely said.
“We wish Gilbert resident Jay Feely well in his latest campaign for Congress, but nothing has changed,” Swoboda campaign consultant Chris Baker shot back in a written statement to The Republic. “Gina Swoboda will be the Republican nominee in AZ01.”
The endorsement will also set back two other high-profile GOP candidates in the race, the ultra-conservative state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and businessman John Trobough, who both told The Republic they, too, had been in touch with the White House.
Though Trump’s endorsement will be a boon in the Republican primary, it could become a liability in the general election. The district, which includes wealthy pockets of Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, and north Phoenix, has a hot-and-cold relationship with the president.
National GOP leaders encouraged him to run in Scottsdale, Feely says
Feely initially launched his campaign in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which includes much of Chandler, Queen Creek and Gilbert, where he lives with his family. He billed himself as a home-grown candidate with a “heart to serve,” and a MAGA devotee who has a personal relationship with Trump.
His prospects in that district dimmed after the president endorsed one of his opponents, Mark Lamb, the well-known former sheriff of Pinal County. Early polling showed Lamb with a large advantage in the race.
But Trump took a liking to Feely, encouraging the former football player in a November social media post to “run in a different district, or for a different office.”
Feely followed the president’s advice. He switched his campaign into the Scottsdale district on Dec. 19. Trump’s endorsement followed about two weeks later.
In an interview Feely said national Republican leaders in D.C., and “grassroots leadership” in the Valley, encouraged him to pivot to the Scottsdale seat. He said he spoke several times with House Speaker Mike Johnson on the matter.
“I wanted to do what was best for the team,” he told The Arizona Republic.
“If they wanted me to run in CD1, and they felt like I was the best candidate, and the one that could hold that seat, then I was willing to do that.”
It’s rare but not unheard of for the president to endorse multiple candidates in a single race.
Last year Trump endorsed two congressional hopefuls in a West Valley-area Republican primary, including the eventual winner, U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh.
And in Missouri’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, Trump left election-watchers scratching their heads when he endorsed “Eric,” a first name shared by the race’s two front-runners. Both campaigns claimed the endorsement as their own.
For years the Scottsdale-area district has been considered one of the most competitive races in the country. Its incumbent, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, announced last year he would not seek re-election in 2026, winding down his 15-year tenure on Capitol Hill and setting up a bitter contest for the rare open congressional seat.
Across the aisle, about half a dozen high-profile Democrats are fighting for their party’s nomination.
The candidates have already raised millions of dollars between them, with campaign spending only expected to escalate leading up to the Aug. 4, 2026 primaries. The Nov. 3, 2026, general election will bring millions more expensive television advertisements, mailers, and social media ads to the district, much of it financed by national Republican and Democratic groups wrestling for control over the U.S. House.
Feely has raised more than $1 million, about a third of which he has loaned himself, according to a report filed this fall. His personal financial disclosure shows he is worth at least $15 million, giving him a piggy bank that could help finance a campaign.
Swoboda has raised “quite a bit” of money, said campaign consultant Chris Baker, though her fundraising receipts aren’t yet public.
Rivals slam Feely’s out-of-district residence
Feely’s rivals have slammed him for running in a district where he doesn’t live.
“If Jay Feely wants to travel 50 minutes every day to run in Arizona’s 1st Ccongressional District, where he’s never lived, we will pay for his Uber,” Alfredo Rodriguez, a strategist with the Trobough campaign, wrote in a news release. “Tell him to send us the bill.”
“If Gilbert carpetbagger Jay Feely foolishly thinks he can win in AZ01, then more power to him I guess. But the outcome won’t change – Gina Swoboda will win the Republican primary,” Baker wrote in a statement to The Republic.
Feely said in an interview he has connections to the Scottsdale district, even though he doesn’t actually live there. The district is “about economics” and “represents the entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
“I’ve invested in companies in this district. My friends and family live in this district. And I want to be an asset to all of them,” Feely said.
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