Arizona

Unions Face Off With Koch Group Over Arizona Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 29, 2012, 5:45AM

A protest against bills introduced in Arizona to restrict the rights of unions. Feb, 9, 2012. (Jack Kurtz/ZUMA Press)

The battle over government employee unions in Arizona is far from finished.

As Republican lawmakers marched forward Tuesday on a bill that was previously thought to be dead, two major national groups on opposite sides of the issue were calling in reinforcements.

Read more »

Unions

Anti-Union Bill Back From The Dead In Arizona

Nick R. Martin | February 28, 2012, 2:35PM

One bill in a series of proposed laws that would devastate public unions in Arizona has come back to life and is set to be debated later today on the floor of the state Senate.

The measure was on life support two weeks ago after Republicans said they didn't have enough votes to pass it. But it was given a second chance and could quickly get a formal Senate vote if it moves past the debate.

Read more »

Arizona

White Supremacist 'Serial Bomber' Convicted, Twin Acquitted In Arizona Trial

Nick R. Martin | February 24, 2012, 5:50PM

Updated: February 24, 2012, 8:15 PM

A white supremacist who once claimed to be a serial bomber was convicted Friday in federal court in Phoenix for a 2004 Arizona bombing while his twin brother was acquitted in the same trial.

Dennis Mahon was convicted of three felonies related to the mail bombing of a city diversity office that injured its director and two other employees.

His twin brother, Daniel Mahon, was acquitted of a felony count of conspiring in the bombing plot. The judge ordered him to be set free.

Read more »

Paul Babeu

Small Payment Could Be Big Problem For Babeu And His Immigrant Ex-Boyfriend

Nick R. Martin | February 23, 2012, 11:03PM

As he deals with fallout from a scandal involving a campaign volunteer who turned out to be his secret boyfriend, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu has insisted time and again that whatever work the man did for his campaign was strictly unpaid.

While Babeu's campaign finance reports initially appear to back up his claims, TPM has uncovered an unusual entry on a 2010 disclosure that deserves more explanation but which so far the sheriff has declined to discuss.

The entry is bound to raise eyebrows in light of revelations that Babeu's own brother, who is also a politician in Arizona, paid the man with campaign funds from his own account during the same time frame in early 2010.

Read more »

Paul Babeu

Babeu Could Face Trouble Over Ex-Lover's Uncertain Legal Status

Nick R. Martin | February 22, 2012, 3:47PM

In an unusual letter to two of his fellow local law enforcers this week, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu laid out a list of crimes alleged to have been committed by him or his former lover in the wake of their romance that soured last year.

The list was seven items long: "human rights violations, threatening and intimidating, misuse of public resources, theft of property, theft of identity, fraud and impersonation."

But now one prominent attorney tells TPM that the sheriff, who has made a name for himself as one of the nation's top hawks in the border debate, should be worried about one more: harboring an illegal immigrant.

Read more »

Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu Wants His Ex-Boyfriend Investigated

Nick R. Martin | February 21, 2012, 6:54PM

Pinal County, Ariz. Sheriff and congressional candidate Paul Babeu

Days after being outed as gay and accused of threatening his former boyfriend, conservative Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu on Tuesday called for independent investigators to look into claims that the man stole from and impersonated him.

Read more »

Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu Angrily Denies Ex-Boyfriend's Accusations

Nick R. Martin | February 18, 2012, 3:54PM

Pinal County, Ariz. Sheriff and congressional candidate Paul Babeu

Updated: February 18, 2012, 5:01 PM

While saying for the first time publicly that he is gay, rising Republican star Sheriff Paul Babeu used a dramatic news conference on Saturday in Arizona to angrily deny allegations that had been leveled against him by an ex-boyfriend in a newspaper report a day earlier.

"I'm here to say that all these allegations that were in one of these newspapers are absolutely, completely false," the sheriff said while while surrounded by a number of his deputies and fellow elected officials. "Except for the issues that refer to me as being gay. Because that's the truth. I am gay."

Read more »

Paul Babeu

Arizona Sheriff Rocked By Accusations Of Alleged Immigrant Ex-Boyfriend

Nick R. Martin | February 18, 2012, 12:00PM

Updated: February 18, 2012, 2:09 PM

Rising Republican star and well-known border hawk Sheriff Paul Babeu, who's now running for Congress in Arizona, was hit Friday night with bombshell accusations from a Mexican immigrant who said he dated the sheriff for years and was threatened with deportation if he ever told anyone about their romance.

The Phoenix New Times newspaper broke the story on its website in a piece written by veteran journalist Monica Alonzo. The accusations came complete with text messages said to be between the two men as well as compromising photos purportedly of Babeu that are reminiscent of recent sex scandals that ended the careers of Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Chris Lee.

Read more »

Arizona

Aggressive Anti-Union Bill On Life Support In Arizona

Nick R. Martin | February 15, 2012, 2:12PM

A proposed law that would devastate public unions in Arizona appears to be stalled in the state Senate after Republicans said they failed to come up with enough votes to pass it.

The measure, which would strip collective bargaining rights from government workers throughout the state, sailed through two Senate committees earlier this month and seemed likely to become law because Republicans control two-thirds of both houses of the legislature. Unions scrambled to find a way to defeat it but none expressed much hope of success.

Read more »

Utah

Utah Newest Front In GOP Battle Against Unions

Nick R. Martin | February 9, 2012, 6:07AM

The Utah State House of Representatives, January 2012

Republicans in Utah have opened up the next front in a battle against public unions being waged in statehouses throughout the nation.

A bill introduced last week in the Utah legislature would ban government employees from collectively bargaining on any issue except for wages and health benefits. The proposal would bar unions from having a say in things like training, equipment and disciplinary procedures.

Read more »

Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Hasn't Delivered On Cash He Promised Fellow Border Hawks

Nick R. Martin | February 8, 2012, 6:21AM

When Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched his own federal political action committee last year, he vowed to move beyond his role as just a national leader for immigration hardliners. He wanted to become one of their more serious sources of campaign cash.

But months after announcing the creation of Joe PAC, the Arizona sheriff's desire to become a major financial backer for the movement is far from reality. Instead, it has been consumed by his own bid for reelection.

Read more »

Jan Brewer

Brewer Distances Herself From Arizona's Anti-Union Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 3, 2012, 2:19PM

Gov. Jan Brewer distanced herself on Friday from a series of Republican proposals in the Arizona Senate that could devastate organized labor in her state, saying she was never consulted on them and has other priorities.

Read more »

Jan Brewer

Brewer Pledged Cash For Immigration Fight, Instead Spent It Buying Copies Of Her Own Book

Nick R. Martin | February 2, 2012, 11:47AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) signing copies of her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," in Irvine, CA in November 2011.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) launched a special fundraising political action committee in October, pledging to use the money to fight illegal immigration and take on other issues she believes in. But based on financial disclosures filed this week, she has so far used it to do little more than buy copies of her own book.

Read more »

Arizona

Unions Scramble As Arizona GOP Moves Quickly On Labor Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 1, 2012, 11:54PM

Union members were searching for a way out of the wilderness on Wednesday in Arizona as the Republican-controlled Senate moved ahead quickly on several bills that could devastate organized labor in the state.

The measures caught many union leaders by surprise, being introduced on Monday night and passed in committee less than 48 hours later.

Read more »