The winners, by default

The definitive dozen … A friend to cops … And the pollsters have spoken.

The election is still a month away, but we’re calling the race for 12 state legislative seats.

In November, we’ll know who Arizona’s slate of 90 legislators will be. But we already know who a dozen of those lawmakers are, because no one is running against them in the general election.

Most of the nine Democratic and three Republican default winners are incumbents in districts that lean heavily right or left and where challengers of the opposite party wouldn’t have much of a chance.

And the winners (by default) are: 
John Kavanagh - LD3 Senator (R)
Theresa Hatathlie - LD6 Senator (D)
Priya Sundareshan - LD18 Senator (D)
Sally Ann Gonzales - LD20 Senator (D)
Rosanna Gabaldón - LD21 Senator (D)
Analise Ortiz - LD24 Senator (D)
Timothy Dunn - LD25 Senator (R)
Kevin Payne - LD27 Senator (R)
Alma Hernandez - LD20 Representative (D)
Betty Villegas - LD20 Representative (D)
Anna Abeytia - LD24 Representative (D)
Lydia Hernandez - LD24 Representative (D)  

Longtime Republican lawmaker John Kavanagh is being ushered into a 10th term in the Legislature, and fourth in the Senate,¹ which he said is only the second time in 18 years he’s had a “free pass.”

He acknowledges that’s because he represents “one of the reddest districts in the state” in Legislative District 3, which covers northeastern Maricopa County including Scottsdale and Fountain Hills. Even though Democrats love to hate Kavanagh, none decided to run against him.

And Kavanagh doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

“I will run until 170,000 people vote me out, or six people carry me out,” Kavanagh quipped.

The lucky few without challengers get to bypass the demands of campaigning. But they’re not taking vacations as the election nears.

Kavanagh says he still goes into the Capitol a couple of days a week for meetings and to work on bills for next year. He also found time to debate the merits of Proposition 314, or the Secure the Border Act, with Democratic Rep. Analise Ortiz.

Ortiz is set to take LD24’s Senate seat next year. Without a challenger in the deep blue West Valley district, she’s spending her time knocking on doors to boost turnout in her district, which has historically low voter turnout. While she doesn’t need the extra votes, ensuring her deep blue district shows up in force on election day helps Democrats at the top of the ticket.

Democrats have to win two seats to gain the majority in either chamber of the Legislature. Ortiz has spent her summer campaigning for Democrat candidates in competitive districts, like Rep. Judy Schwiebert and Stephanie Simacek, who are running for a Senate and House seat in LD2, respectively.

She also took a road trip to Southern Arizona’s LD17 to campaign for two Democrats trying to wedge their way into the right-leaning district. She said a lot of voters told her abortion access is their number one issue, which gives her hope in taking a seat in a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

“It's great that I don't have an opponent, but if I'm elected and we're still in the minority, that is not going to be a lot of fun,” Ortiz said.

LD20’s Democratic Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales has reelection guaranteed. She’ll be termed out of the Senate after this round, and she hopes she can spend her upcoming term getting bills passed instead of playing defense against Republican bills.

“As a minority member, I haven't been able to do a whole lot over my career, except stop (Republican) legislation,” she said.

Democratic Sen. Priya Sundareshan doesn’t have a challenger, but she’s still working as the chair of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee — or ADLCC — to get other Democrats elected.

“It is nice not to have to focus on my own reelection,” Sundareshan said. “But I'm not resting. I'm putting a lot of effort, in fact, into the bigger picture, which is flipping the Legislature.”

On police and presidents: Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego is suddenly so pro-police that he’s hanging out with cops and Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and running away from the Phoenix New Times when reporter TJ L'Hereux asks questions about police accountability. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is so cash-strapped it’s switching to “hybrid” ads in Arizona and other battleground states, meaning all its ads for Gallego’s opponent Kari Lake are now splitting time between talking about the local candidates and the presidential candidates, Politico reports. And vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz is so desperate to win Arizona that he’s braving the heat and coming back to town sometime next week to kick off early voting, the Republic’s Stephanie Murray notes.

The weed has to work: The state can’t suspend your license just for driving with weed in your system — you have to actually be impaired, the state Court of Appeals decided. Capitol scribe Howie Fischer notes the ruling builds on a 2014 state Supreme Court ruling that you can’t get a DUI just for having weed in your system.

History rhymes: Prop 139, the Arizona for Abortion Access Act, won’t be the first time Arizonans have voted on abortion. In 1992, voters in the then-even-redder state resoundingly rejected an initiative that would have outlawed most abortion, KJZZ’s Katherine Davis-Young reports. Even Barry Goldwater campaigned against it.

“Some of (our) freedoms, particularly freedom of choice by women, are being threatened today, particularly by Proposition 110,” Goldwater said in a 1992 ad.

The DOJ gets results: Tucson Police are under fire for calling a group of homeless people in a park an “infestation,” per Arizona Public Media’s Hannah Cree. Meanwhile, in Phoenix, where federal investigators found police trampled on the rights of homeless people, the city will be taking a more social-services-first approach when it comes to interacting with the homeless population, Mayor Kate Gallego told KTAR’s Mike Broomhead.

County (suspended) attorney: The Arizona State Bar suspended Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting’s law license on an interim basis as of November 1, the White Mountain Independent’s Jenn Moreira reports. Whiting, who is a huge fan of Norwegian pop star Dagney, was indicted by the Attorney General’s Office on corruption charges in June, but the new interim law license suspension doesn’t bar him from serving or even running for reelection, Moreira notes.

In defense of Airbnb: For all the hate thrown at short-term rentals, they’re propping up the economy of rural Arizona. You can see it in places like Tonto Village, where there are only a few motel rooms but the Double D Restaurant and Bar is packed with Airbnbing tourists, the Payson Roundup’s Michele Nelson writes. Meanwhile, Scottsdale is considering short-term rentals as a solution for its housing crisis, and the city is asking landlords what they think of using Airbnbs as affordable housing for people on the lowest end of the spectrum, Scottsdale Progress’ Tom Scanlon reports.

You can prop up the local economy by supporting local journalism today.

Neat: The mundane infrastructure markers of a city, like manhole covers, can tell us a lot about a city and its vision of itself, design and marketing pro Nikki Villagomez tells Mark Brodie on KJZZ’s “The Show.”

“I think it speaks a lot to the infrastructure of the government and how much money the city is putting back into these types of design elements, so that it will further brand the city,” she said.

Thanks to the more than 250 readers who responded to yesterday’s poll asking which office most likely leaked the embarrassing tape of Arizona’s three top elected officials losing their shit over the voter registration glitch.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is the winner — but just barely.

Some of Arizona’s smartest political minds (that’s you!) believe it was Attorney General Kris Mayes.

But it seems clear, at least, that Gov. Katie Hobbs isn’t taking the blame in the eyes of the readers.

1. State legislators have term limits of no more than four consecutive two-year terms in one chamber, or eight years total, but they can switch back and forth between chambers indefinitely.