New lawmaker Q&A: Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk

Say ‘Howdy’ to your new lawmaker … Fill in the Canyon! .. And add her to the watch list.

Freshman Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk’s election to the Arizona House of Representatives last November was one of the few bright spots in the 2024 election for Democrats.

Volk knocked out a Republican incumbent by running a single-shot campaign in Legislative District 17, which stretches from southern Pinal County to southeast Tucson in Pima County. He coordinated his campaign with Democratic Senate candidate John McLean, who lost in November.

Volk told us he called McLean and told him: “I'm sorry you didn't win, but you were the best running mate I ever could have asked for.” The two set up plans to throw McLean an appreciation party.

The next morning, McLean was killed by a drunk driver.

“That was a tragic, devastating loss for all of us. I had only known him for nine months, but we shared this unique journey of running for office as first-time candidates in a very competitive swing district,” Volk said. “Like everyone else, I just fell in love with him instantly.”

The harrowing experience inspired Volk to run one of his three bills that got a committee hearing this year. HB2886 makes it a class 6 felony to knowingly lend one's car to someone who has to have an anti-drunk driving interlock device due to a DUI conviction and subsequently injures someone using the car.

“From what I learned from the news, (the driver) was able to borrow someone else's car,” Volk said. “And so that, to me, is a really big loophole. But I didn't want to do a policy that was an inappropriate role of government or totally emotionally driven.”

The bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committee in a 17-1 vote, and it’s scheduled for a final House vote this week.

Volk’s bill to make “howdy” the official state greeting wasn’t as lucky. It never got a committee hearing, but the new lawmaker said it wasn’t a waste of time — an El Paso news station covered the bill and fulfilled Volk’s “ulterior motive” of getting “people thinking about Arizona as a great destination to experience the West.”

The Democrat’s first session hasn’t been all smooth sailing. He’s come under fire by progressive groups who say he “sold out to MAGA” by supporting a Republican-backed bill adding $50 million to Arizona’s Department of Public Safety for border-related crimes.

On the campaign trail, Volk said the border was a main issue he heard while door knocking. He believes local law enforcement needs more funding for things like fentanyl interdiction and sees “gun trafficking and human smuggling” as huge border-related issues.

“This bill is just about funding for local law enforcement, which is something that I talked about throughout the campaign,” he said.

As we’ve made tradition in this Q&A series, we asked Volk some rapid-fire, lighthearted questions. Here are his answers:

Q: After college, you worked as a fifth-grade public school teacher in California. What’s the craziest thing a fifth grader said to you?

A: “Mr. Volk, are you thinking about trying to grow a beard?”

Q: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned so far about the legislative process?

A: The momentum of the session.

“You have days where I'm trying to meet with as many constituents and stakeholders as possible. And then that gives way to days where we had, like we had last week, where you're on the floor for hours and hours and hours at a time.”

Q: If House Democrats had a Spotify playlist, what song would you add to it?

A: A Ray Charles song, such as “Hallelujah I Love Her So” or “Hit the Road Jack.”

Q: What’s a hidden gem or cool spot in your district that not many people know about?

A: There are a lot of cool, unknown trails on Mount Lemmon. Volk also had a lot of restaurant suggestions, including Growler's Taphouse in Marana, Le Buzz in Bear Canyon and Ranch Rodeo in Tucson.

Q: What’s the best advice you got before taking office?

A: “At the end of the day you are chosen by this mix of people ... and they're all supporting different reasons, different policies. And ultimately, a safe harbor is doing what you believe to be the best.”

It’s a money pit: President Donald Trump fired about 1,000 National Park Service workers and 3,400 Forest Service employees, leading to much longer wait times at the Grand Canyon. But Gov. Katie Hobbs tells Capitol scribe Howie Fischer that Arizona won’t spend state money “bailing out the Trump administration for dumb decisions they make, like cutting off funding and staff for one of the largest tourist attractions in the country." One of those fired National Forest Service workers explained the chaos of her firing to KGUN9. And High Country News has some cool graphics in a story about the “recreation economy,” noting that many people worried the economy of Page, Arizona, would collapse after the Navajo Generating Station went out of business in 2019, but it has been thriving thanks to its position near several national parks.

Arpaio vibes: Republican members of Congress, including Arizona Republican Eli Crane, are threatening to impeach or otherwise remove judges who stand in the way of Trump’s agenda, the New York Times reports. The judges are facing increased security threats thanks to Elon Musk’s amped-up rhetoric, but the push to actually impeach judges hasn’t gained much traction in Congress yet. Meanwhile, ongoing protests outside of Tesla dealerships across the country are gaining steam, as protesters hope to hurt DOGE head Musk’s bottom line, the Associated Press reports.

If you subscribe today, we promise not to buy a Tesla with your money.

On traction and tractors: “The resistance meets daily on Microsoft Teams,” Politico explains in a piece profiling the coordinated attack by 23 Democratic attorneys general against the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes talked about several of her lawsuits, including the one against Deere and Company, with Yuma KAWC’s Victor Calderón. Mayes argues John Deere violates Arizona’s anti-trust laws by prohibiting farmers from repairing their own John Deere machines, instead requiring them to use John Deere mechanics, which drives up costs for consumers.

“That means (farmers) are basically held hostage to this one company that is monopolizing the repair services,” Mayes said.

Farm-to-Airbnb: Legislative Republicans are advancing a bill encouraging farmers to sell their land and water rights to developers as part of an “ag-to-urban” push that could lower water usage and increase the housing stock, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers writes. Republicans call it the “single most consequential” water policy that actually has a chance at becoming law, but while Hobbs agrees with the concept in theory, she wants some serious amendments before signing onto the Republican plan. Meanwhile, the Sedona Red Rocks News “painstakingly” mapped out the town’s 1,100+ registered short-term rentals to create this worrisome image.

Dine like a mobbed-up politico: Politicos loved to see and be seen at Durant’s steakhouse on Central Avenue, which closed after 75 years but is set to reopen under new owners. The Republic’s Ronald J. Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl take a tour down memory lane to celebrate the dark, nostalgic haunt where political deals are cut. And Valley critic Robrt Pela reminds us that founder Jack Durant was a small-time gangster, and Valley lore suggests the Don Bolles murder was planned at his restaurant.

“Once, the sitting governor and four former governors all reputedly dined at Durant’s on the same day and not with each other,” the Republic writes.

Thank a leech: As civil servants in Pinal County continue to try to assuage election conspiracists, we invite you to read our favorite letter to the editor last week — from a former government employee (or self-described “blood-sucking leech”) who once had a bag of dead chicken heads foisted upon him by a woman who was mad about chicken regulations.

“Who doesn’t want to stop downing a Xanax before heading off to City Hall?” former government employee Bob Kovitz writes in the opinion pages of the Daily Star. “(But) by blithely removing public employees from their jobs, we lose the professionalism that was at the heart of the “progressive” movement … We are returning to the era when public employees were selected based on their loyalty to a party or an individual, qualifications be damned.”

House Bill 2191: Let churches build houses

Sponsor: Republican Rep. David Livingston

What would it do: HB2191 would let churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious groups build houses or apartments on their land without having to follow local zoning rules. These developments would still need to follow some rules, like how close they can be to other properties, how many parking spaces they need, and making sure they meet water and sewer requirements. There are also limits on how tall the buildings can be and how much of the land they can cover. At least 40% of the homes built must be set aside for low-income families for at least 55 years.

How partisan is it?: It has bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition.

Who’s for it?: Arizona Catholic Conference, Arizona Housing Coalition, Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona

Who’s against it?: League of Arizona Cities and Towns, Save our Schools Arizona, National Organization for Women Arizona

What’s the next step?: The state House could vote on it this week.

What can I do?: Contact your lawmakers with Wolfpack, our grassroots lobbying tool.

If you like the idea, click here.

If you hate the idea, click here instead.

If you haven’t been following new Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky, it’s probably time to start.

Eight weeks into the job and she’s already on the radar of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which is reviewing a complaint alleging some shady business involving Borowsky, a campaign donor and a contract on a city-owned parking garage, as the Republic’s Taylor Seely explains.

Everyone involved denies anything wrong happened, and Borowsky told the Republic that she believed the anonymous blog posts targeting her were coming from other elected officials. She even brought up the blogs during her State of the City address.

But this is just one of so many weird stories that have been swirling in her world for years. Her father was a big-time developer who owned Snowbowl, and the two pushed through a major development in Yavapai County over environmental and other objections by ultimately having Cottonwood annex the land. Then there’s her brother, Todd Borowsky, the owner of Scottsdale’s Skin Cabaret strip club, whose troubles and headlines are too numerous to count.

And now that she’s mayor, we have a feeling we’re all in for a wild ride.