Arizona Politics & News
The Daily Signal covers Arizona politics and news with analysis, commentary, and conservative perspectives on elections, immigration enforcement, and border security debates.
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Arizona ESA Growth Skyrockets While Criticisms Crash
Arizona educators have been set free to create their own schools and education services. And families can now select between them to find the best fit for their child. Arizona lawmakers in the 1990s created the nation’s most robust charter school law, the first scholarship tax credit program, and statewide district open enrollment. Education flourished…Matthew Ladner -
Police Confirm Border Patrol-Involved Shooting in Arizona
One individual is in critical condition following a Border Patrol-involved shooting in Pima County, Arizona, on Tuesday morning. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department was called into the federal investigation on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the department told The Daily Signal. Local NBC News affiliate News 4 Tucson reports that the same individual who was wounded was also in custody, and received immediate medical…Virginia Allen -
Schools Closing in Arizona? Blame the Failing Schools, Not School Choice
School choice opponents have long predicted that policies like Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program would destroy the public school system. For years, Gov. Katie Hobbs has warned that it would “decimate” the state budget and “bankrupt” the state, yet the program has a history of surplus and savings. The choice deniers’ predictions have always proven…Jason Bedrick -
Arizona Rancher Praises Trump as Illegal Border Crossers on His Land Plunge From 50 or More to 3 Daily
Border rancher John Ladd says President Donald Trump is “doing everything right.” Ladd’s Arizona ranch shares 10.5 miles with the border of Mexico, and during the four years of the Biden administration, about 50 illegal aliens crossed through Ladd’s property daily, and sometimes that number rose to as many as 200, he told The…Virginia Allen -
Arizona Couple Began ‘Transitioning’ Their Child as 1-Year-Old Boy
After the Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in U.S. v Skrmetti, the case that will determine whether states may ban transgender medical procedures for kids, one mother told The Daily Signal that her child began to transition as a baby. “She knew since birth,” Michelle Callahan-DuMont said of her 10-year-old, a biological male who…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
EXCLUSIVE: Nonprofit Laid Out Road Map for Prosecuting Trump Supporters, and Arizona’s AG Seems to Have Followed It
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A nonprofit drafted a plan to prosecute backers of Donald Trump under Arizona law nearly a year before the state’s Democrat attorney general secured 18 indictments related to Trump’s 2020 campaign. One of the nonprofit’s founders is a former Obama White House staffer who authored books targeting Trump. The organization, the…Fred Lucas -
Drug Crisis That Kills 75,000 Americans Annually Should Be Central to Election, Arizona Sheriff Says
It’s not so much the people flooding across the southern border affecting Arizonans, as what some of the illegal immigrants carry with them. Illegal aliens don’t stay in the state, according to Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb. Instead, they travel to “California, Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, Iowa, Alabama,” he says, adding, “But what…Virginia Allen -
Drug Cartels ‘Are Winning’: Border Crisis Ravaging Arizona, Montana Indian Reservations
The Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis has had negative implications for all Americans, but one group that has suffered more than most—but received less attention than others—are American Indians living on reservations along the border. As part of their efforts to smuggle drugs and traffic human beings across the southern border, Mexican cartels have specifically targeted…Bennett Watts -
Arizona Saw About 565,000 Illegal Border Crossers in 1 Year
THE CENTER SQUARE—There were nearly 565,000 illegal border crossers reported in Arizona in fiscal year 2024, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arizona’s 378 miles of shared border with Mexico is staffed by CBP and Border Patrol agents in the sectors of Tucson and Yuma. The Tucson sector’s 262-mile shared border extends from the…Bethany Blankley -
EXCLUSIVE: 7 Arizona School Districts Exposed for ‘Transitioning’ Kids Without Parental Consent
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Seven Arizona school districts have policies mandating staff hide students' “transgender” identity from their parents, according to documents newly obtained by Parents Defending Education and shared with The Daily Signal. Parents Defending Education, a parental rights organization, keeps a list of school districts across the country that openly instruct school districts…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
Empathize With Insects? University of Arizona DEI Urges Students to Treat Bugs Like ‘Marginalized’ Groups
In perhaps one of the strangest applications of diversity, equity, and inclusion in curriculums I’ve ever seen, the University of Arizona now incorporates a class in which students are told to “live like a bug” in order to understand “marginalized” groups. According to a new report from Timothy Minella at the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based…Tony Kinnett -
EXCLUSIVE: Investigation Reveals 2 Arizona Cities Spent Millions on Homelessness With Little Result
Arizona’s two largest cities allocated tens of millions of dollars to fight homelessness in the past several years, but little has changed, according to a Goldwater Institute investigative report released Thursday. “We’ve seen Phoenix and Tucson spend, combined, almost half a billion dollars on this issue with very minimal improvements in the area of homelessness,”…Virginia Allen -
Arizona Freedom Caucus Leader Slams Republicans ‘Calculated Political Decision-Making’ Following Abortion Ruling
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: The head of the Arizona Freedom Caucus condemned the “calculated political decision-making” exhibited by Arizona Republicans who sought to distance themselves from the state’s most massive pro-life victory yet. Some high-profile Arizona Republicans had decried news on Tuesday that the state’s Supreme Court had upheld an 1864 law protecting almost…Mary Margaret Olohan -
Arizona Republicans Back Away From the Unborn Following State Supreme Court Ruling
A number of Arizona Republicans are rapidly distancing from the state’s controversial Supreme Court ruling protecting almost all unborn babies from abortions. The state Supreme Court upheld a 1864 law on Tuesday that bans almost all abortions in Arizona, except when the mother’s life is at risk. In a 4-to-2 decision, the court said that…Mary Margaret Olohan -
Registration Drives Boost Noncitizen Voting in Arizona, Research Finds
Arizona’s second-largest jurisdiction provides a glimpse into the battleground state’s obstacles in keeping dual voter lists, an election watchdog group says. Pima County—the second-largest county, including the state’s second-largest city, Tucson—has removed a total of 186 noncitizens from its voter registration lists since 2021, according to data gathered by the Public Interest Legal Foundation. Of…Fred Lucas -
‘They’re Already Here,’ Arizona Sheriff Says of Terrorists Coming Across the Border
There is growing concern in the U.S. over terrorists crossing America’s southern border and entering the country illegally, according to Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb. And after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Lamb said some Americans asked, “Should we be concerned about Hamas coming in across our borders?” But the reality, according…Virginia Allen -
Record Number of Chinese, Russian Foreign Nationals Encountered on Border ‘Alarming,’ Arizona Lawmaker Says
Customs and Border Protection encountered a record number of Russian and Chinese foreign nationals along America’s borders and at ports of entry in fiscal year 2023. CBP encountered 57,163 foreign nationals from Russia between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023, over 20,000 more than the previous fiscal year. In the same time period, 52,700…Virginia Allen -
In Special Session on School Choice, Texas Legislators Should Emulate Arizona
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called a special legislative session to begin Oct. 9 to expand K-12 options for Texas families. In the past few years, nine states have made every K-12 student eligible for education choice. “Empowering parents to choose the best educational path for their child remains an essential priority,” said Abbott, who…Matthew Ladner -
Arizona State University’s Racially Biased Training Violates State Law, Watchdog Warns
Arizona State University officials appear to have violated state law by requiring staff to complete “racial equity” training, according to a new report by the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute. Arizona has stringent laws against imposing training in diversity, equity, and inclusion—called DEI—in taxpayer-funded programs. These laws prohibit the use of taxpayer money for training sessions that…Tony Kinnett -
Setting the Record Straight on My Time as the Arizona ESA Director
Editor's note: This is in response to this article. The following statement is a response to the inaccurate article about my performance as the director of Arizona’s ESA program—an article for which I was never interviewed or contacted. I have been involved in the parental rights and school choice movement for almost ten years. I…Christine Accurso