Guests - Alex Kolodin, Dave Smith, Joel Strabala, Art Del Cueto
Ballots Are Out, and Kathleen Winn Says the Election Has Entered Its Most Important Phase
Arizona’s ballots are officially in the hands of voters, and Kathleen Winn opened the day with a straightforward message: registration is over, voting has begun, and the remaining question is whether people will actually participate.
Anyone registered by the October 5 deadline is eligible to vote in the election. Winn argued that the stakes go far beyond one race or one personality. Arizona voters are deciding the direction of the state on elections, water, affordability, public safety, education, taxes and economic growth.
“We say this every time,” Winn said, “but we are fighting to protect everything that we believe in, regardless of party.”
That theme carried through every conversation: ballots are not theoretical anymore. They are arriving. The campaigns are moving into their final phase. And for Republicans in Pima County in particular, the argument from Winn and her guests was that turnout can no longer be treated as somebody else’s job.
Alex Kolodin: Arizona’s Election System Needs to Become Boring Again
State Rep. Alex Kolodin joined Winn as the Republican candidate for secretary of state, arguing that Arizona’s election system has become unnecessarily contentious and that the goal should be simple: make elections lawful, transparent, secure and uneventful.
Kolodin said voters are tired of every election becoming a source of drama.
“I’m tired of talking about our elections,” he said. “I’m tired of them being a frequent cause of drama and frustration for voters.”
He blamed Secretary of State Adrian Fontes for much of that loss of confidence and sharply criticized Fontes’ background and performance. Kolodin alleged that Fontes’ prior legal work and election-management record should have disqualified him in the minds of voters from being trusted with the state’s election system.
The broader point, however, was less personal.
Kolodin wants Arizona to reach a place where elections work well enough that voters can focus on other problems.
“It’s time to just have an election system that works for every Arizonan, regardless of their political party,” he said.
Then Arizona can get back to arguing about affordability, water, taxes and economic development instead of wondering whether the mechanics of voting will become the dominant issue every two years.
Kolodin Says Water Is Becoming an Economic Crisis
Kolodin quickly moved beyond elections because the secretary of state’s race, in his view, sits inside a much larger choice about Arizona’s direction.
Water may be the most serious long-term issue.
Kolodin said Scottsdale has already imposed additional restrictions on large projects because of concerns surrounding the Colorado River. He accused the current executive branch of badly mishandling negotiations over future river allocations and said Arizona could face cuts as high as 77 percent under the scenario he discussed.
Winn connected that concern directly to Pima County.
She had spent the previous day in meetings with Congressman Andy Biggs and Sina Kerr, where water emerged as one of the three dominant concerns. Winn praised Kerr’s agricultural background and said someone who has actually lived inside Arizona’s agricultural economy understands that water policy is not academic.
“You can’t have building without that water,” Winn said.
Kolodin argued that Pima County is particularly exposed because the Colorado River represents its most significant renewable water source. Tucson and Pima County have become increasingly sophisticated about water reuse, he acknowledged, but conservation cannot permanently replace dependable inflows.
If the supply is dramatically reduced, he warned, utility bills will eventually reflect it.
Winn’s response was simple: they already are.
The Secretary of State Also Has a Business Job
Kolodin emphasized that the secretary of state does much more than administer elections.
The office also handles important business filings, including Uniform Commercial Code lien filings. Kolodin said that system has suffered outages lasting months and alleged those failures have cost Arizona businesses significant amounts of money.
He presented that as another example of what he considers weak management under Fontes.
Kolodin promised a different work ethic.
“I’m going to put in the work and the elbow grease to make sure that the Secretary of State’s office isn’t costing our small businesses money,” he said.
He added that he already has business-community professionals in mind who could help him improve that side of the office.
Winn tied the issue to a broader frustration she sees across Arizona: government officials make decisions, businesses and taxpayers absorb the cost, and politicians rarely experience the financial consequences themselves.
Tax Conformity Becomes Another Example of Government Creating Costs
Winn brought Kolodin back to a story she had discussed earlier in the week with a tax preparer.
Arizona’s delayed conformity with federal tax law, she said, means large numbers of taxpayers who filed before the state acted may now need to amend their returns to receive deductions or refunds that ultimately became available.
Winn blamed Gov. Katie Hobbs for allowing the conformity process to drag into June, well past the April filing deadline.
Kolodin agreed with Winn’s larger point: public office should not be used as a political weapon when ordinary people end up paying the price.
He said he has been willing to work with Hobbs when he believed cooperation benefited Arizonans, pointing to legislation protecting overseas military voters after federal changes threatened to disrupt their voting rights.
But cooperation, he said, does not mean avoiding criticism when he believes the administration has made serious mistakes.
For Kolodin, water, housing affordability and tax administration all illustrate the same principle.
Government should solve problems.
It should not manufacture new ones.
Kolodin Encourages Arizonans to Vote Early in Person
With ballots out, Kolodin offered practical advice.
His preferred method this year is early in-person voting.
He argued that voting early gives voters time to resolve registration problems, mechanical issues or other complications without the pressure of Election Day.
Kolodin said Arizona’s election equipment testing and certification procedures remain insufficient and warned that polling-place failures are still possible. Those concerns were his assessment of the current system, but they are central to why he does not want voters waiting until the final hours if they have another option.
If a voter discovers a registration problem early, it can be addressed.
If a site has a technical issue, the voter can return another day.
Election Day gives voters less flexibility.
“So I just encourage your listeners, get out and do that,” Kolodin said.
A New ID Option Can Speed Ballot Processing
Kolodin also highlighted a change he helped enact for voters who receive an early ballot by mail but prefer to return it in person.
Those voters can present identification when submitting the ballot. Once the identification has been verified, the ballot can bypass the standard signature-verification process and move more quickly toward tabulation.
Kolodin said the reform contributed to faster election reporting during the primary.
“You don’t have to do it like that,” he said. “But it’s an option for you.”
For voters who want an early ballot but also want the additional reassurance of an in-person ID check, he presented that as a useful middle ground.
Winn liked the idea for another reason.
The earlier a Republican returns a ballot, the sooner campaigns know that voter has participated and can redirect limited resources toward people who have not.
That reduces calls, texts, door knocks and campaign spending aimed at people who have already voted.
Pima County Republicans Can Affect Every Statewide Race
Kolodin pushed back hard against the fatalism he sometimes hears from Republicans in a Democratic-leaning county.
A statewide Republican candidate does not need to win Pima County to benefit enormously from a stronger performance there.
“The difference between losing Pima County by 10 and losing it by 12, that could be the whole ball game,” Kolodin said.
One vote in Pima County counts exactly the same toward a statewide race as one vote in a Republican county.
That makes turnout especially important in a county where large numbers of conservatives may have concluded their votes do not matter.
Kolodin told them the opposite.
“Your vote is the most important vote in Arizona this year, Pima County.”
He described his race against Fontes as extremely close and said a small turnout difference could determine who controls the secretary of state’s office.
Kolodin even promised that if Pima County helps carry him across the finish line, he wants to hold his victory celebration there.
Winn accepted the challenge.
“We have to do the work,” she said.
Winn Says Affordability Is Being Driven by Government Requirements
After Kolodin’s appearance, Winn broadened the affordability discussion.
Affordable housing, she argued, does not become affordable simply because government labels it that way.
Every regulation adds cost.
Every requirement has to be paid for.
She offered electric-vehicle infrastructure as one example. If government requires multiple expensive charging stations as part of a housing project, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be added to construction costs before a tenant ever moves in.
At some point, a project stops making financial sense.
Winn argued that Arizona governments are increasingly choking development while simultaneously complaining about housing prices.
She pointed again to state-level building restrictions in portions of Maricopa County and Pima County’s temporary data-center moratorium, which she and previous guests have argued conflicts with state law.
The underlying issue, she said, is whether elected officials understand the economic consequences of the rules they impose.
That led directly into a conversation with former radio host Dave Smith.
Dave Smith: The Marana ICE Facility Is a Consequence of Due Process
Dave Smith joined Winn to discuss the immigration detention facility planned for Marana.
The facility, operated by a private contractor, is designed to house immigration detainees while their cases proceed through the federal system.
Smith argued that the political contradiction is obvious.
Critics of immigration enforcement demanded due process.
Due process means hearings.
Hearings require time.
And people awaiting those proceedings have to be held somewhere.
“They demanded due process,” Smith said. “So the court said, OK, there has to be due process.”
The Marana facility, he argued, is part of the practical infrastructure required to make that system work.
Winn stressed that it is a federal detention center, not a conventional state prison.
For her, the outrage surrounding the facility reflects a broader refusal to accept the consequences of immigration law.
If someone enters illegally and is detained, she said, temporary custody while legal proceedings unfold is not evidence of lawlessness. It is the system attempting to enforce the law.
Smith Says Marana Voters Already Had Their Say
Smith argued that critics are also ignoring what local voters have already communicated through elections.
He said Marana elected candidates who were generally supportive of the facility, which he interpreted as evidence that the community itself is less hostile to the project than activists and media coverage might suggest.
His complaint was that a handful of protesters can create the impression of a communitywide revolt even when many of those protesters do not live in Marana.
He also argued that Arizona municipalities have limited ability to obstruct federal operations.
Winn linked that to Pima County’s data-center moratorium, which she and Smith criticized as another example of local governments acting first and worrying about legal limits later.
Smith framed the difference philosophically.
Under the rule of law, officials operate within established authority.
Under what he described as socialist governance, political preference becomes more important than consistent rules.
Smith Warns Against Normalizing Disorder
The conversation expanded from immigration to public disorder and political culture.
Smith pointed to unrest in France as an example of what happens when violence, disorder and competing tribal identities become normalized.
He rejected the idea that every riot should be treated as ordinary political protest.
For Smith, the deeper danger is that citizens become accustomed to chaos.
Once disorder becomes expected, public standards fall.
The abnormal becomes normal.
Winn has made the same argument repeatedly about Tucson.
When people accept unsafe transit, drug use, public disorder or declining infrastructure as unavoidable facts of city life, government loses the pressure to fix them.
Smith’s warning was not simply about France.
It was about how quickly free societies can lower expectations.
Free Markets Versus Government Control
Smith also objected to the casual use of the word “capitalism,” arguing that “free market” better describes the economic system conservatives should defend.
A healthy market allows people to build, invest, compete and move between economic classes.
A highly controlled system places political officials in the position of deciding who receives resources and who does not.
Smith said socialist systems ultimately create their own hierarchy, even while promising equality.
Winn agreed and returned to housing.
A city can say it wants more affordable construction while simultaneously imposing mandates that make that construction financially impossible.
That is not a market failure, she argued.
It is a policy failure.
“Open free markets,” Winn said. “Let the market decide. Don’t put your finger on the scale.”
Parental Rights and Arizona’s Education Debate
Winn said education had emerged as one of the dominant concerns during recent meetings with voters, business leaders and elected officials.
Arizona presents a striking contradiction, she argued.
The state can rank poorly overall on education measures while also producing some of the strongest individual schools in the country.
That tells Winn the problem is not that Arizona lacks successful educational models.
It is that families should be allowed to choose among them.
She defended Empowerment Scholarship Accounts and broader parental choice while criticizing policies that she believes insert schools too deeply into questions of sex, gender and family values.
“Parents need to be in charge of their kids,” Winn said.
Smith agreed and argued that professional institutions should not automatically receive deference simply because they have credentials.
The family remains the first institution responsible for a child.
In their view, government should support that relationship rather than supplant it.
Winn Says Some Democrats Are Rejecting the Socialist Left
Winn also said she has increasingly heard from Democrats in Pima County who do not identify with the socialist wing of their party.
She described the trend as anecdotal but significant.
These voters may disagree with Republicans on many issues, she said, but they still care about public safety, family, faith and economic opportunity.
Smith interpreted that as evidence that the Democratic coalition is under strain.
His argument was ideological: socialist movements may use democratic institutions to gain power, but once political authority becomes centralized, dissent becomes less welcome.
Winn’s argument was more tactical.
Republicans do not need every Democrat to become Republican.
They need enough voters to decide that local and state government has moved too far.
Joel Strabala: If Your Early Ballot Does Not Arrive, Check Immediately
Joel Strabala joined Winn to move from politics to election mechanics.
Ballots had been mailed, and Strabala said most voters on the Active Early Voting List should receive them quickly.
His practical advice was to start investigating if a ballot has not arrived by Monday.
Voters can use the Pima County Recorder’s online voter dashboard to confirm their status.
The recorder’s office, not the Elections Department, maintains voter-registration records.
That distinction matters because voters often contact the wrong office when something goes wrong.
Strabala’s message was simple: do not wait until Election Day to discover that your ballot or registration status is not what you expected.
Every Pima County Ballot Is Different
Winn emphasized that there is no single Pima County ballot.
School districts, municipal boundaries, fire districts and other jurisdictions produce different combinations of propositions and races.
A voter in Tanque Verde may see a school measure that someone a few miles away will never encounter.
That means copying a friend’s sample ballot without checking your own is a bad idea.
Winn encouraged voters to use the Pima County Republican Party’s voter materials to understand judges, propositions and local races.
She particularly urged a “no” vote on Proposition 425, which she has repeatedly characterized as a major expansion of Pima County’s spending authority.
Her objection is not merely the amount.
It is trust.
Winn argued that county supervisors have not demonstrated enough fiscal discipline to deserve additional latitude.
“Do not under any circumstances give these Pima County Board of Supervisors a blank check,” she said.
That is her political position on the measure, but she urged every voter to understand what is on their specific ballot before filling it out.
Strabala Recommends ID-Verified Ballot Drop-Off
Strabala explained one of the most useful options for early voters.
A person can complete an early ballot, place it in the affidavit envelope, take the envelope and valid identification to an early voting site and ask election workers to verify the ID.
The envelope is then marked as ID verified.
That allows the ballot to bypass signature verification and move more quickly into processing.
Strabala said the benefit is not merely political.
It reduces labor for election workers.
Signature verification requires people to compare records, resolve questionable signatures and sometimes contact voters.
“The things that we as voters can do to simplify it or reduce the workload will ensure that our election results get tabulated and published faster,” Strabala said.
Winn agreed.
Arizona has become nationally known for slow vote counting.
Anything legal that safely reduces unnecessary processing is worth considering.
Early Voting Is Available at Three Sites
Strabala said voters can use three early voting locations during the opening portion of the early-voting period.
A voter does not have to be on the early voting list to cast a ballot in person.
People can vote there directly, drop off an early ballot or use the ID-verification option.
For Winn, this is another reason people should avoid automatically waiting for Election Day.
Early voting gives campaigns cleaner turnout data.
It gives voters more time to fix problems.
And it gives the election system more time to process ballots.
Election Observers Are the Party’s Eyes and Ears
Strabala made his strongest appeal for election observers.
Arizona law allows political parties to designate observers who can watch election processes and help ensure established procedures are followed.
The Republican Party needs more of them.
“We need Republicans who are registered to vote in Pima County to participate in the election process as an election observer,” Strabala said.
Observers are trained to understand what they are looking at, what questions they can ask and how to document concerns.
They are not there to confront workers or create disruption.
Winn emphasized that point.
If an observer sees something questionable, there is a legal team and communications structure available to help evaluate it.
The goal is transparency, not conflict.
Observer Training Is Available In Person and Online
Strabala said training is available on Wednesdays both in person and through Zoom.
Materials are also available online for self-paced review.
After completing training, volunteers can sign up for specific observer assignments.
Those opportunities include early voting centers, mobile voting, ballot drop boxes, signature verification, ballot processing, tabulation and the post-election hand count.
Winn said the hand count is one of her favorite parts of the process.
Strabala added that people selected to work the hand count can be paid.
The larger concern is participation.
Republicans fought for observer access, Winn said.
It would make little sense to win that access and then leave observer seats empty.
Strabala Says More Observers Are Needed
Strabala gave Winn a snapshot of current participation.
Some shifts had been filled well.
Others had not.
For one upcoming period, only eight people had signed up for approximately 30 available early-voting observer shifts.
That leaves a substantial gap.
Strabala specifically appealed to people who have already been trained in previous election cycles.
They do not need to reinvent the wheel.
They simply need to use the training they already received and sign up.
“We really need observers there supporting the election process,” he said.
The Mobile Voting Center Will Reach Rural Parts of Pima County
Strabala also outlined the schedule for Pima County’s mobile voting center.
The mobile operation will begin its late-election schedule on October 27 in Marana, followed by Three Points on October 29, Sells on October 30 and 31, and Ajo on November 2.
The mobile center operates shorter hours than standard early-voting sites—roughly 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.—because the equipment has to be transported to and from each location.
Strabala described the center as essentially a voting site inside a large trailer.
He has personally observed the operation during multiple election cycles and praised the workers running it.
“They’re well-trained, and they do a good job out there,” he said.
Winn noted that Republicans also fought to have observers present at the mobile center.
Again, the argument was simple.
If votes are being cast, both parties should be able to observe the process under Arizona law.
Pima County Now Has Eight Drop Boxes
Strabala said Pima County has expanded from three ballot drop boxes to eight.
Locations include sites in downtown Tucson, East Broadway, the Pascua Yaqui community, Sahuarita, Sells, Oro Valley and Ajo.
Exact locations can be found through the Recorder’s website.
Strabala also reported that the Recorder’s Office and Elections Department are close to full staffing for the election, though they continue to need reserve workers to cover illness, vacation or other gaps.
People interested in paid election work can apply through those agencies.
For Winn, staffing, observers, early voting and drop boxes all serve the same goal.
Participation is the best antidote to suspicion.
If people care about election integrity, they should become part of the process rather than merely complaining about it afterward.
Art Del Cueto: A Closed Border Does Not Mean Illegal Crossings Have Stopped
Border-security advocate Art Del Cueto joined Winn with a warning that the improved border situation should not create complacency.
Groups are still crossing illegally, he said.
They are simply adapting.
“The groups are still coming through our areas of the border,” Del Cueto said. “They’re just very sneaky about it.”
He returned to the longstanding issue of “gotaways”—people believed to have crossed without being apprehended.
The problem with gotaways is precisely that authorities cannot know the true number with certainty.
Del Cueto contrasted current enforcement with the previous catch-and-release policies he has criticized for years. He said the current administration is no longer routinely releasing people simply because they claim asylum.
But enforcement at the border does not eliminate smuggling.
Drugs still move through ports of entry.
They still move between ports.
And criminal organizations continue looking for ways around whatever enforcement system exists.
Del Cueto Connects Border Security to Arizona’s Fentanyl Crisis
Winn raised Pima County’s continuing problem with fentanyl and drug deaths.
Del Cueto argued that Arizona’s numbers show why border enforcement remains important even after illegal crossings decline nationally.
Drug traffickers do not need an open border in the political sense.
They need a profitable route.
As authorities close one path, traffickers test another.
That means Arizona cannot declare victory simply because the situation is better than it was.
Del Cueto’s broader warning was that public attention fades faster than organized crime does.
Cartels remain patient.
Government cannot afford not to be.
A New York Trip Reinforces Del Cueto’s Warning About Normalized Crime
Del Cueto was speaking from New York, where he had traveled as a Yankees fan.
He said tourist areas such as Manhattan and Central Park appeared cleaner than they had in previous years.
But conversations with law-enforcement officers and taxi drivers gave him a less optimistic picture.
Del Cueto said those contacts told him crime remains serious in areas tourists do not see, including violence on public transportation.
Those accounts were anecdotal and came through Del Cueto, but he used them to reinforce a point he has made for years.
“Do not let the chaos become the norm,” he said.
Once citizens become accustomed to violence, drug use or disorder, they stop demanding improvement.
Winn immediately connected that warning to Tucson’s free transit system and the public-safety incidents she has discussed on the show.
Her concern is not that public transportation itself causes crime.
It is that taxpayers should not accept unsafe public systems as inevitable.
Del Cueto: “You Are the Poll”
Del Cueto rejected the obsession with political polling.
Polls do not cast ballots.
Voters do.
“You are the poll,” he said. “You go vote.”
His instruction was to bring neighbors, family and friends and make sure they participate.
He urged voters to focus on governor, congressional seats and local races rather than assuming a national political environment will automatically deliver the outcomes they want.
Del Cueto specifically praised Congressman Juan Ciscomani, pointing to border-security legislation, law-enforcement support and federal funding he says Ciscomani has brought back to the district.
But Ciscomani, he argued, needs help from state and local leadership.
One member of Congress cannot fix Tucson, Pima County or Arizona alone.
Del Cueto Backs Andy Biggs and Sina Kerr
Winn told Del Cueto about the meetings she had hosted the previous day with Andy Biggs and Sina Kerr.
Business leaders, ranchers and other residents had discussed crime, education and water.
Winn argued that the Biggs-Kerr ticket offers actual plans for each.
Del Cueto strongly endorsed Biggs.
“Andy Biggs is one of my best friends,” he said. “I didn’t think I needed to announce an endorsement.”
He contrasted Biggs’ visibility and public engagement with Gov. Katie Hobbs, criticizing her for what he sees as limited access and reluctance to debate.
“You can’t lead from a bunker,” Del Cueto said.
For both Winn and Del Cueto, the governor’s race represents a broader referendum on Arizona’s direction during the past four years.
They argued that the state was economically stronger under former Gov. Doug Ducey and that Texas demonstrates what conservative state leadership can still accomplish even during periods of conflict with Washington.
Del Cueto Still Votes on Election Day
Unlike Kolodin, Del Cueto remains an Election Day traditionalist.
He has voted in person on Election Day since turning 18 and intends to keep doing it.
“I go vote on Election Day,” he said. “That’s how I do it.”
Winn reminded him that uniformed personnel can now vote in uniform after a legal fight over that issue.
Del Cueto said that in previous elections he would remove part of his uniform before entering the polling place, even though people generally knew from the remaining clothing who he was and what he did.
For him, the legal victory matters because people serving the country should not have to hide that service to exercise their right to vote.
Why Del Cueto Stayed in Arizona
Del Cueto said he has received opportunities to leave Arizona and take other positions.
He chose not to.
The reason was personal.
“I care about the people of Arizona,” he said. “I care about Pima County. I care about Tucson.”
For years, Del Cueto has told migrants fleeing dysfunctional countries that somebody eventually has to stay and repair the place they came from.
He realized the same principle applied to him.
He cannot tell other people to fight for their homes and then abandon his own state because its politics are frustrating.
“I haven’t left because I want to stay and fix my state,” he said.
That required help from voters.
Winn Defends Political Disagreement Without Political Violence
After Del Cueto left, Winn returned to a larger concern that had surfaced throughout the show.
A constitutional republic depends on disagreement.
People are supposed to hear competing ideas.
They are supposed to argue.
They are supposed to vote.
What concerns Winn is the growing belief that disagreement itself makes the other person illegitimate.
“The wonderful thing about having a constitutional republic,” she said, “is that you do get to hear all different kinds of points of view, not just one.”
The Founders disagreed constantly.
They debated and then acted after decisions were made.
Winn argued that social media has trained Americans to attack people rather than ideas.
The result is self-righteousness, hostility and a political culture increasingly comfortable with violence.
Her preferred model is simpler.
Debate policy.
Debate actions.
Then let voters decide.
Winn Raises Reports of Threats Against Border Patrol Agents
Winn also raised a developing claim that criminal organizations were planning operations targeting U.S. Border Patrol personnel, including possible kidnapping attempts.
She said she planned to discuss the issue further with Michael Letts because she had not had enough time to explore it with Del Cueto.
Winn also referred to reports of groups traveling north through Mexico and characterized those movements as organized.
Those were developing claims presented by Winn, not independently established during the discussion.
Her concern was that Border Patrol could again become a focal point for activists and criminal organizations as ICE enforcement receives intense political opposition.
For Winn, Arizona’s position as a border state makes that more than a national-news story.
Border enforcement has direct consequences for local communities.
Winn Says Arizona’s Economic Question Is Really About Families
Winn returned repeatedly to business policy, but she rejected the idea that her concern begins and ends with corporate profits.
Economic growth matters because families need jobs.
Communities need employers.
Young people need reasons to remain in Arizona.
Schools need students.
Local governments need a healthy tax base that does not depend on continually raising rates on the same residents.
She recalled Arizona’s growth following the 2010 elections, when Republicans controlled the governor’s office and Legislature.
In Winn’s telling, Arizona became one of the fastest-growing states because businesses and families viewed it as a place where they could build.
She wants that atmosphere back.
The alternative, she argued, is following states where regulation, taxation and public disorder have driven residents and businesses away.
Congressional District 6 Remains Critical to Southern Arizona
Winn again defended Congressman Juan Ciscomani and urged voters to look beyond campaign personalities.
Ciscomani’s district stretches across a large portion of southeastern Arizona, including Pima and Cochise counties and other communities across the region.
Winn emphasized his position on the House Appropriations Committee and argued that his ability to direct federal resources toward the district matters.
She criticized Democratic challenger JoAnna Mendoza and Mayor Regina Romero’s support for her, framing the contest as a choice between Ciscomani’s record and what Winn sees as increasingly progressive policies in Tucson.
Her instruction to voters was to focus on policy.
“Set aside personalities and look at policy,” Winn said. “Policy is what drives us.”
A voter does not have to like every Republican personally.
In Winn’s view, they need to ask which governing philosophy produces the outcomes they want.
Winn Returns to Tax Refunds and the Cost of Political Decisions
Arizona’s tax-conformity dispute resurfaced at the end of the show.
Winn said as many as 1.5 million Arizona taxpayers could be eligible for additional refunds because the state did not adopt federal tax changes until after many residents had already filed.
She blamed Hobbs for the delay and argued that the episode demonstrates how political decisions create real household costs.
The taxpayer may have to hire someone to amend a return.
The Department of Revenue must process it again.
The state may owe money that could have remained in the taxpayer’s pocket in the first place.
For Winn, those consequences are exactly why elections matter.
Mistakes made in government do not remain inside government.
They show up in family budgets.
Pima County’s Job Is to Keep Statewide Races Close
The political strategy running through the entire show was straightforward.
Republicans do not need to win every Pima County race to change Arizona.
They need to perform better.
A smaller Democratic margin in Pima County can determine a statewide election.
That is why Kolodin called Pima County potentially decisive.
It is why Del Cueto told voters to ignore polls.
It is why Strabala is organizing observers.
And it is why Winn continues urging Republicans who have become discouraged by local politics not to stay home.
Arizona Republicans hold a statewide registration advantage, Winn said.
But registration is meaningless if those voters do not participate.
“Having more registered voters… matters,” she said. “But it isn’t an advantage if you don’t take advantage of it and you don’t vote.”
Vote the Ballot, Learn the Measures and Do the Work
Winn closed with the same practical message that had driven the entire day.
Get the ballot.
Read it.
Understand what is on it.
Use the resources available to you.
Vote.
If the early ballot does not arrive when expected, check your status.
If you are concerned about election integrity, become an observer.
If you believe Arizona needs different leadership, do more than complain.
Participate.
“There is no perfect person to lead,” Winn said. “But you want to at least go with somebody who has a proven track record.”
For the next several weeks, millions of dollars in government spending, thousands of dollars in potential household costs and the direction of Arizona’s statewide offices will all be decided by people who actually return a ballot.
That, more than any poll, advertisement or political argument, is what will determine what happens next.