The Veridus Weekly

Attention AZ politicos and election geeks: We’re excited to announce that the Veridus 2018 Purple Book has officially launched.

Consider the Purple Book your one-stop-shop for Arizona elections. Inside, you will find detailed descriptions of the candidates seeking statewide and federal office … an overview of the political dynamics at play in districts and races across the state … voter registration and historical voting data … and pretty much anything else you could possibly want to know about the upcoming election.

So, whether you’re red or blue (or purple) -- this book’s for you.

Check it out at www.purplebookaz.com … and remember to vote in the Arizona Primary on August 28.


Election Security A Top Priority As Early Voting Gets Underway In Arizona Primaries
KJZZ

Early voting is underway in Arizona primaries. Primary day is Aug. 28. Election integrity is being scrutinized after a tumultuous 2016 election.

This is the first statewide election for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office under new leadership.

At the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, the building is locked down and the staff is on full alert. Even guests using the bathroom need a chaperone.

Election integrity is always a priority, but this year, there’s more attention than ever.

Brittney Johnson is the training coordinator at the Recorder’s Office. She gestures to a row of tablet screens in a large room with standalone booths and folding tables.

"These are our check-in terminals, also known as SiteBooks," she said. "Board workers and voters will know them as 'check-ins' because that’s exactly what they’re doing. They’re going to check in they’re going to verify their information and they are going to receive a ballot."

Your name, address, political party and a few other bits of information are pre-loaded onto these machines so it can send information to a big, fancy printer. But the system is closed to safeguard the data.

Johnson says the machines are connected to the printer but not the internet.

[...] Read more HERE.

A Record Number of Women Are Running for Governor and Congress
Time

[...] Before Tuesday, the most Democratic women ever nominated to Congress was 120, in 2016 — after Tuesday, there are 143 and counting (with 42 Republican nominees, that brings the total to a record-breaking total of 185, with a few races still being decided.) Before Tuesday, only 10 women of any party had been nominated for Governor. After Tuesday, there are 11: eight Democrats and three Republicans.

Many of these nominees are first timers, part of a growing “pink wave” of women candidates who were mobilized to run for office after Donald Trump’s election.

Experts say the record-breaking number of women winning nominations can be attributed to the rise of the number of women running for office in the first place. “More women running in primaries begets more women nominees which hopefully begets more women office holders in November,” says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

But it’s also a testament to the strength of organizations like Emily’s List, which funds women candidates who support reproductive rights. Emily’s List candidates won in 30 out of the 33 races in which it made an endorsement on Tuesday, including a handful of incumbents (ballots are still being counted in two Washington House races.) According to a tweet from the Cook Report’s Dave Wasserman, in Democratic House primaries featuring one man, one woman, and no incumbent, women have won 69% of the time.

[...] And the women candidates are getting voters excited. Several voters Stevens spoke to on Monday seemed to be excited about the number of women on the ballot this year. Marybeth Levin, a 49-year old who works for a merchandizing company, said she voted for a full slate of women candidates, from Gretchen Whitmer for Governor to Haley Stevens for Congress to two women running for State Representative and State Senate.

[...] Read more HERE.

WATCH: Air Force mom surprises daughter on her first day of school after 6-month deployment
12News

SURPRISE, Ariz. – It was an emotional surprise—in Surprise, Arizona, of all places.

Air Force Master Sgt. Esmeralda McKenzie hadn’t seen her young daughter in six months while McKenzie was deployed in Iraq, working as a trainer for the local forces.

So she decided to surprise 8-year-old Adiana on the first day of school. She walked into Adiana’s third grade class at Legacy Traditional School in Surprise, and the touching moment was caught on video.

McKenzie told 12 News she arrived back in Arizona earlier that day. She said she was sent home a few days earlier than expected.

“We just went with it and let it happen. I mean, there wasn’t any intent for it to go viral or anything like that. It was just, ‘Lets surprise her.’ And the school asked if they can record it, and we were like ‘Yeah, it’s great,’” McKenzie said.

The military mom has been deployed before, but she said this time, she wanted to do something special when she returned.

Adiana said she'd rank the reunion pretty high among her life moments so far.

"The top 100!" she said.

McKenzie will be home for at least two years, and she says she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family.

WATCH VIDEO HERE.

NextGen ballot initiative creates controversy over clean energy
The Holbrook Tribune

NAVAJO COUNTY–A controversial ballot initiative claiming to propose clean energy in Arizona is being challenged as misleading and not in the best interest of Arizonans.

The initiative, bankrolled  by California billionaire Tom Steyer would require public utilities in Arizona to generate at least 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Steyer and his Super PAC, NextGen Climate Action, have already spent $4.5 million on the campaign under the name of Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona (CEHA), but critics say his aims are bigger than just Arizona.

Steyer is pushing a similar ballot measure in Nevada. “Steyer’s energy initiatives in Arizona and Nevada are not a coincidence,” said Matthew Benson, spokesman for Arizonans for Affordable Electricity (AAE), a group that is opposing the proposal. “Arizona and Nevada are considered possible swing states for the 2020 presidential election. Steyer is using these initiatives to build campaign teams and massive email lists that he will rely on when running for president in two years.” Steyer has not hid his political motivation and has been open about plans to spend $40 million as part of his ongoing national campaign to encourage the impeachment of President Trump.

Unfortunately, Steyer’s political ambitions would mean higher electricity bills for Arizona families if the initiative should pass.

[...]  On the surface, the CEHA initiative sounds good: clean energy, healthier air, more jobs. A closer look at the details in the four-page document reveals one section that defines renewable resources as “an energy resource that is replaced rapidly by a natural ongoing process and that is not municipal solid waste combustion, trees larger than 12 inches in diameter, nuclear or fossil fuel.”

Definitions within the initiative exclude carbon-free nuclear from consideration as a “clean” energy source, while providing a regulatory loophole that exempt the Salt River Project (SRP), Arizona’s second largest power provider, from the initiative.

[...] On the valley floor west of Phoenix is the Palo Verde Generating Station, owned by a number of different power companies, including APS and SRP. The nuclear plant is the largest producer of emissions-free electricity in the country.

APS, which operates Palo Verde, says approval of the initiative would make the plant uneconomical and force its closure. “Forcing the Palo Verde Generating Station out of the energy mix will cost 3,000 Arizona families their jobs, and Arizona schools and public safety $60 million annually in lost tax revenues,” said APS Manager of Media Relations Jenna Rowell, who added, “Looking beyond Palo Verde, when our coal plants are forced out of the mix by the early 2020s, rural communities will lose those high-quality jobs as well. And looking beyond APS to the co-ops and other companies this measure includes, the economic impacts only worsen.”

[...] Both sides of the issue have produced studies that support their statements but, in the end, APS points to an estimated cost of $15 billion that the initiative would require for additional grid infrastructure, including large-scale solar farms in the desert, transmission lines, massive battery storage systems and more. These costs will ultimately be passed along to Arizona families, businesses and other ratepayers, resulting in the sticker shock anticipated by initiative opponents.

APS estimates the average Arizona household would see its bills double under the initiative, meaning more than $1,000 in added costs over the course of a year.

[...] Read more HERE.