Guests – Alex Kolodin, Tom Horne, Betsy Smith
Wildcats Advance in March Madness as Tucson Cheers Local and National Battles
Kathleen Winn opens the show with excitement over the Arizona Wildcats basketball team facing the Arkansas Razorbacks. She wears her sparkly Wildcat shirt and urges fans to support the team toward the Elite Eight, Final Four, and national championship. "Tonight they play the Arkansas Razorbacks and if you care about U of A and you care about U of A basketball, I'm in my garb so my sparkly Wildcat shirt and we have to hope that we make it out of the Sweet 16 and get to the Elite 8, Final Four and National Champs."
Election Integrity Crisis: Alex Kolodin on Adrian Fontes' Illegal Actions and the Fight for Clean Voter Rolls
Alex Kolodin, Republican candidate for Secretary of State, details how Adrian Fontes admitted to making up a law to change the name of the No Labels Party to the Arizona Independent Party. "Adrian Fontes admits he made up the law and acted illegally." Kolodin explains there is no statute allowing the Secretary of State to rename a political party. "There's no law that allows the Secretary of State to change the name of a political party and the reason that he did it was for political advantage." The court ruled Fontes exceeded his authority, calling out the move as a blatant violation. Even the Arizona Democratic Party's attorneys and Governor Katie Hobbs joined Republicans in opposing it.
Kolodin connects this to broader failures in election administration. Pima County recorded 34,000 undeliverable ballots returned to the recorder's office. "34,000 ballots were returned back to the recorder's office." He criticizes Fontes for opposing voter roll cleanups, noting the Secretary of State has fought federal requirements alongside Pima County. "Adrian Fontes has run to court along with Pima County saying oh the law makes us clean up the voter rolls too often and we don't want to." Kolodin promises that as Secretary of State he will remove non-citizens, out-of-state voters, and invalid registrants. "My policy priority in that office can be very simple it's going to be to make sure that we only have lawful and valid people on the voter rolls that's it." He warns Fontes' actions threaten voter confidence and could create chaos for 2028. "That's going to be really important when voters go to the polls in 2028 to elect a new US president because the path to the presidency runs straight through Arizona."
Education Reform and Student Safety: Tom Horne on ESAs, Academics, and Protecting Kids
Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, defends the Empowerment Scholarship Account program against recent media claims of widespread fraud. He cites the Arizona Department of Education's randomized sample showing a maximum of 2% unallowable spending, with only 0.3% egregious. "The actual number is two and a half percent of unallowable expenses but for egregious or fraudulent is 0.3 percent." Horne notes the department has recovered 1.2 million already. He criticizes media like Craig Harris for misrepresenting the data. "Craig Harris spent half of his time talking about the $600 million that was sent to Pakistan... rather than this $3 million."
Horne emphasizes raising academics across all education methods. "Ninety percent of my time and effort... go into helping the schools improve academically." He opposes DEI and CRT, noting he fought critical race theory as early as 2008. "We need to be teaching reading and writing and math and science and history, not racist stuff like DEI." Horne supports police in schools, increasing numbers from 190 to 565, and calls for incentives for administrators to back teachers on discipline. He highlights the need for parental rights and school choice. "My Democrat predecessor was focused mainly on DEI, transsexualism and social emotional learning... she never talked about academics."
Crime, Sheriff Accountability, and Public Safety Failures: Betsy Smith on Pima County Leadership
Betsy Brantner Smith addresses the ongoing crisis with Sheriff Chris Nanos and the recall effort. She notes the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to investigate Nanos's original application and background. "They voted unanimously to... order any county official to come in and give testimony... about something a matter that's under their purview." Smith praises Aaron Cross and the deputies' vote of no confidence, with 249 supporting resignation and zero backing Nanos. "Two hundred and forty nine... did a vote of no confidence... zero percent of the people working there came out in favor of keeping the sheriff."
Smith criticizes Nanos for terrorizing elderly residents with irresponsible statements about potential random attacks in the Nancy Guthrie case. She connects this to broader failures, including the handling of Heather Lappin and the hostile work environment for deputies. Smith highlights the recall's cross-party support. "The people signing the petitions are not Republicans. They're independents. They're Democrats. They're everybody. Democrats are fed up." She ties local issues to national failures under Democrat policies, citing the Chicago murder of a young woman by an illegal immigrant and sanctuary city resistance to ICE. "The left... they don't care about the rule of law... they care about open borders and criminals." Smith calls for accountability at every level. "We need our law enforcement officers at the state, county and federal levels to help keep our community safe."
Call to Action: Grassroots Engagement and Restoring Order in Arizona
The discussion emphasizes the need for strong Republican turnout in the July 21 primary and November general election. Kolodin and Horne stress the importance of electing experienced conservatives to counter mismanagement by figures like Fontes and Mays. Smith and the hosts urge continued petition signing for the Nanos recall and voter engagement. "We have a real chance to do it... the Democrats have been coming to the Republican headquarters to sign the petitions." The conversation closes with a call for restoring order, protecting kids, and ensuring lawful elections across Arizona.