Category Archives: Arizona

Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda

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Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals

After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.

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Sweep of swing states rubs salt in Democrats’ wounds as Trump prepares to meet Biden

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Trump to visit Oval Office on Wednesday as Biden says he will ‘ensure a peaceful and orderly transition’

Donald Trump was declared the winner in Arizona early on Sunday, completing the Republicans’ clean sweep of the so-called swing states and rubbing salt in Democrats’ wounds as it was announced that the president-elect is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the presidential handover.

In a national campaign that was projected as being extremely close but he ended up winning handily, the result in Arizona gives Trump 312 electoral college votes, compared with Kamala Harris’s 226. The state joins the other Sun belt swing states – Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – and the three Rust belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in voting Republican. All were expected to be extremely competitive but all went for Trump, though by fairly close margins.

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Trump wins Arizona, completing sweep of all seven battleground states, AP declares

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Donald Trump now has what is expected to be a final total of 312 electoral college votes, with Kamala Harris securing 226

Donald Trump has won the presidential election in Arizona, the Associated Press declared on Saturday, completing a clean sweep of all seven battleground states and locking in a decisive electoral college victory over the Democratic vice-president, Kamala Harris.

Trump, who had secured the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House by early Wednesday, now has what is expected to be a final total of 312 votes to Harris’ 226.

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A polarized America goes to the polls: ‘I’m in a house divided’

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In the seven swing states that could decide whether Harris or Trump wins the election, voters feel fought over

America had previously always been “somebody else’s country,” said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village that’s too small for postal delivery just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

But that changed recently for La Rose, who is of Guyanese descent, when he became an American citizen. He had the jitters on Monday night, before using his first-ever vote in a US election to back Kamala Harris.

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US elections 2024: 10 key House races to watch

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Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on

Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.

With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.

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US election offices increase security measures amid ongoing threats

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Arizona official notes that hardened tactics, including active shooter drills, offer ‘sad commentary’ on country

Elections offices in the US have hardened their security measures this year, anticipating potential violence based on experience since 2020 and during an ongoing rise in threats and harassment focused on election workers.

Many offices have now trained their workers on de-escalation tactics. They’ve run drills for active shooters or other disturbances. They have a process for flagging the threats that could be criminal and seeking law enforcement help when needed.

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‘People are scared’: Arizonans fear political violence as election looms

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Nerves are particularly stretched in Maricopa county, which will likely decide which way the state swings in the polls

Pearl Hubbard picked up some yard signs for Kamala Harris at the vice-president’s speech in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday afternoon, but wasn’t yet sure whether she’d risk displaying them outside her home in a city that sits in some of the most hotly contested political territory in the country.

“I’m scared to put them up,” Hubbard said. “As I drive … I only saw one place that had a [Harris] sign. Just don’t see them. I think people are scared to put them up.”

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Exclusive: Trump ground game in key states flagged as potentially fake

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Data suggests canvassers linked to Elon Musk’s America Pac falsely claimed to have visited homes of potential voters

Donald Trump’s campaign may be failing to reach thousands of voters they hope to turn out in Arizona and Nevada, with roughly a quarter of door-knocks done by America Pac flagged by its canvassing app as potentially fraudulent, according to leaked data and people familiar with the matter.

The potentially fake door-knocks – when canvassers falsely claim to have visited a home – could present a serious setback for Trump as he and Kamala Harris remain even in the polls with fewer than 20 days until an election.

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San Francisco sees hottest day of 2024 as heatwave scorches US south-west

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Excessive heat warnings bring elevated wildfire risk, potential for power outages and rising death toll

San Francisco recorded its hottest day of the year on Tuesday, and Phoenix set a record for the hottest 1 October on record, as the National Weather Service predicted record-high fall temperatures across the south-western US.

With temperatures hitting 100F (38C) or higher in many places, officials and local media outlets issued warnings that the heat posed “a significant threat to property or life”. Excessive heat warnings were in place across the region, bringing with it warnings about elevated wildfire risk, the potential for sweeping power outages in California and a rising toll of heat-related deaths, a particularly deadly risk for unhoused people and the elderly.

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Trump-allied Pac fires canvassing vendor in crucial states weeks before election

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Elon Musk’s America Pac replaces voter turnout operations in Arizona and Nevada with less than 50 days until election

America Pac, one of the largest and the most ambitious of the groups supporting Donald Trump’s campaign, is replacing its voter turnout operations in the crucial battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The political action committee, backed by billionaire Elon Musk, has ended its contract with the September Group and will hire a new company to knock on doors with fewer than 50 days left until the election.

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Thirty people injured after car crashes into Arizona restaurant

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Police say alcohol a factor as 73-year-old man arrested after accidentally driving truck into front of building

As many as 30 people were injured after a car crashed into an Elks Lodge restaurant in the Phoenix suburb of Apache Junction, authorities said on Sunday.

Police in the Arizona city said 73-year-old Thomas Edward Kain was arrested after he got into his truck to leave the restaurant and accidentally drove into the front of the building at about 7pm Saturday.

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Heatwave across US west breaks records for highest temperatures

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Hottest summer on record continues, with millions from Phoenix to Los Angeles to Seattle under heat alerts

An intense heatwave across the US west has brought unusually warm temperatures to the region – some of the highest of the season – and broken heat records.

Millions of Americans from Phoenix to Los Angeles to Seattle are under heat alerts. Even before this latest bout of extreme weather, which began on Wednesday and is expected to last through the weekend, summer 2024 was already considered the hottest summer on record.

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Hiker deaths in Grand Canyon rise amid extreme weather linked to climate crisis

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Fourteen hiker deaths reported in the park this season, with total fatalities at almost the annual average of 15

More than one dozen park-goers have died in Grand Canyon national park this summer, with three perishing in just over one week in August, as weather extremes linked to climate change make for increasingly dangerous conditions.

With 14 deaths reported in the park this season, total fatalities have already almost reached the annual average of 15, the Hill reported.

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Search continues for Arizona woman missing after Grand Canyon flash flood

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Park officials say Chenoa Nickerson, 33, who wasn’t wearing a life vest, was swept into Havasu Creek last week

Search crews were combing the Colorado River at Grand Canyon national park again Sunday for an Arizona woman missing after a flash flood days earlier.

National park service officials said Chenoa Nickerson, 33, was swept into Havasu Creek above the Colorado River confluence about 1.30pm Thursday. She wasn’t wearing a lifejacket.

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‘Georgia’s ours to lose’: Trump and Harris camps zero in on swing states

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Amid close race, Harris to go on tour in Georgia as Trump surrogate insists state’s governor will back ex-president

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump brace themselves for what promises to be an ugly and bruising sprint to the finishing line in November, both presidential candidates’ campaigns are turning their sights back on the handful of desperately close swing states where the battle is likely to be decided.

Georgia is coming into view as a critical battleground for both leaders as they struggle to gain voters’ attention in an epochal election. On Wednesday, the vice-president will travel from the White House to southern Georgia to hold her first campaign event in the state with her recently anointed running mate and former high school football coach, Minnesota governor Tim Walz.

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Trump accepts RFK Jr endorsement and vows to release JFK assassination files

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Ex-president takes stage with Kennedy in Arizona, hours after independent candidate suspends White House bid

Hours after being endorsed by the third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump said he would release “all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of John F Kennedy” if he were elected president in November, as part of a proposed new commission on presidential assassination attempts, including the one that targeted him.

Speaking at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, Trump also pledged that, if elected, he would “establish a panel of top experts” that would work with Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine advocate, to investigate childhood health problems. The 13 July assassination attempt on Trump is already being officially investigated, including by the Secret Service and the FBI.

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Man accused of threatening to kill Trump arrested in Arizona

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Ronald Syvrud, 66, taken into custody over alleged social media threat as Trump pays visit to border state

An Arizona man who was wanted after threatening over social media to kill Donald Trump was arrested on Thursday, the Cochise county sheriff’s office said.

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was in Cochise county on Thursday when he visited the US border with Mexico as part of his campaign.

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US air force avoids PFAS water cleanup, citing supreme court’s Chevron ruling

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EPA says Tucson’s drinking water is contaminated but air force claims agency lacks authority to order cleanup

The US air force is refusing to comply with an order to clean drinking water it polluted in Tucson, Arizona, claiming federal regulators lack authority after the conservative-dominated US supreme court overturned the “Chevron doctrine”. Air force bases contaminated the water with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and other dangerous compounds.

Though former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and legal experts who reviewed the air force’s claim say the Chevron doctrine ruling probably would not apply to the order, the military’s claim that it would represents an early indication of how polluters will wield the controversial court decision to evade responsibility.

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Migrant crossings have plunged after Biden’s asylum ban. But top Democrats are asking: at what price?

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Congress members are saying asylum seekers are ‘forced to wait in danger’ as advocates try to get them legal protection

In early June, Ofelia Arrellano said a gang in Mexico City threatened to kidnap her younger son if she didn’t pay a $160 monthly fee for keeping her toy store afloat.

Arellano, 37, and her two sons gathered enough money and fled. She feared the gangs’ reach if she stayed in Mexico, so they went north, towards the US, she said.

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Democratic primary in Arizona’s third district remains too close to call

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Congressional race could head for recount as Yassamin Ansari leads Raquel Terán by 67 votes as of yesterday

The Democratic primary in Arizona’s third congressional district still remains too close to call and could be headed for a recount.

Former Phoenix city council member Yassamin Ansari led former state lawmaker Raquel Terán by 67 votes with nearly 44,000 ballots counted as of Saturday evening.

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