Guests - Alex Kolodin, Joel Strabala, John Gordon

Election Integrity Issues Plague Pima County as Rep. Alex Kolodin Challenges Secretary of State Fontes

Ballot Errors Highlight Ongoing Election Concerns in Arizona

When Kathleen Winn woke up on Monday morning, it was cloudy and overcast in Tucson, a welcome sign that rain might be on the way. Just the day before, she had flown to Las Vegas for an awards ceremony honoring her daughter, an interior designer who owns her own firm and was one of the youngest recipients recognized at a major market event there. Despite a two-hour delay on her Southwest flight, Winn made it back to Tucson without incident.

But while Winn's travel went relatively smoothly, the same cannot be said for Pima County's election management. In what has become an unfortunately familiar pattern, the county is facing yet another election problem.

Alex Kolodin: Fighting for Election Integrity in Arizona

State Representative Alex Kolodin from LD3, who is running for Secretary of State, joined the program to discuss these ongoing election integrity issues. As a committed reformer, Kolodin has been a persistent critic of current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

The latest controversy involves the special election primary for Congressional District 7, where Adrian Fontes had to admit something went wrong. Kolodin explained that first, the state election websites were hacked, allegedly by a foreign power. Fontes attempted to blame the legislature for not providing funding to address security vulnerabilities, despite his budget increasing by millions of dollars over the past three years.

More locally, the Pima County Recorder's office sent the wrong ballots to thousands of voters in this election. "When somebody is the Republican and voting by mail, and they get a Democrat ballot to vote in their primary, then that voter is left scrambling," Kolodin noted. This highlights a fundamental problem with heavy reliance on mail voting – when something goes wrong, it creates significant difficulties for voters to correct the situation.

Kolodin pointed out that Pima County has systematically excluded meaningful oversight of its election processes: "Who's the independent eyes in the room catching when they're making a mistake like this?"

The Perfect Time for Reform

When asked if this is the right time to address these issues, Kolodin was emphatic: "This is the perfect time to fix this. Because when people are up in arms about it as they should be... every single voter has a right to have their vote counted and has a right to vote."

He stressed that addressing these problems now, when election results aren't close enough to be affected, is strategically important. "If we let this go unaddressed, then it'll happen again in 2026 and the primary and general election that year when it might matter. And what the elections officials then in Pima will say is, 'well, you didn't raise this, think about it before. So why are you complaining now? It's just because your guy didn't lost.'"

Winn pointed out that despite this being an "off-election year," Pima County is managing several elections, including a city council election in wards three, five, and six, a recall election in South Tucson, and potentially another bond election. She expressed concern that when these "mistakes" happen, it raises red flags: "I think they're testing out to see what they can get away with."

Secretary of State's Responsibilities

Kolodin described how the current Secretary of State has failed in his core responsibilities: "It is our current Secretary of State, Adrian Fontez's job to make sure that our state election laws are being followed. That's what the executive branch does. It takes care that the laws are faithfully executed. When voters are getting the wrong ballot, the laws are not being followed."

Instead of focusing on election administration, Kolodin claimed Fontes has been "spreading crazy conspiracies about Donald Trump and Republicans," flying around the country accepting awards from progressive groups, and trying to secure additional budget funds "that he can funnel off and distribute to radical progressive groups for the 2026 election."

Fontes vs. Kolodin: The Debate

Kolodin recently debated Fontes at a Farm Bureau candidate forum. When asked about the issues discussed, Kolodin replied: "The easy thing about running for Secretary State is that everybody's interests are exactly the same. Every voter in the state wants free, fair, transparent and lawful elections." He noted that Fontes had such difficulty answering questions about these fundamental issues that "he actually walked off the stage right in the middle of the debate."

Regarding the recent hack of election systems, Kolodin expressed concern that Fontes might use this incident as justification to create a state-level version of CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). At the federal level, CISA has been accused of working with local election officials to censor conservative political speech. "Now Adrienne Fontes says he has no faith or confidence in CISA, probably because President Trump is busy trying to dismantle it. And so he wants to use this as a pretext to get the funding."

Federal Oversight of Arizona Elections

When asked about potential federal involvement in Arizona's elections, Kolodin confirmed: "Myself and some of my colleagues in the legislature have been in correspondence with the Department of Justice about some of these breaches of federal election law... it's obvious that this state needs federal oversight in the 2026 election."

He emphasized the need for federal authorities to ensure Adrian Fontes properly maintains voter rolls, "because we know that without external oversight, this guy is going to continue to fail at his job and then make excuses."

Problematic Areas in Arizona Elections

Kolodin identified the most concerning areas for election integrity in Arizona: "If we want to look at the worst offenders, and I have a list in my head, the top of that list is Pima County. Pima County is the county I'm most concerned about."

He also expressed concerns about border counties like Yuma and Santa Cruz, where Fontes has created vulnerabilities by "allowing people to register to vote with just her social security number... because you don't need to be a citizen to have a social security number, but Adrienne Fontes has started saying that you can register to vote by just providing a social security number."

Kolodin concluded: "That's one of the reasons we got to get this guy out of office so badly is every day he wakes up and I'm convinced that he says in his head, 'How can I break the law? How can I break the law today to help me and my cronies at the expense of the people of Arizona?'"

The Impact on Voter Confidence

Winn shared that when she speaks with voters while canvassing, many express frustration and cynicism, asking "What difference does it make?" She believes that most Arizonans want secure borders, elimination of fentanyl trafficking, and other improvements, but these goals require putting the right people in office.

She noted that while Republicans hold majorities in the Arizona Senate and House, Governor Hobbs continues to veto legislation at a record pace, further complicating efforts to enact reforms.

Florida-Style Election Reform

Kolodin discussed how Florida-style election reform legislation could have helped address problems like those in Pima County: "One component of that bill was that it was going to make a larger array of public buildings available to serve as voting locations across every county. And so what that would have done is if you were a voter who got the wrong ballot, it would have given you a closer and more convenient in-person voting option."

He expressed disappointment that Governor Hobbs vetoed the bill and that attempts to put it on the ballot died in the Senate, though he promised to continue pushing for these reforms.

When asked about Democratic opposition to these reforms, Kolodin revealed: "The Democrats were kind of on board with the Florida-style thing right up until really late stage in the process. We had to have five committee hearings. They said, 'Oh, it looks like a promising idea.' Whatever. The second, that Adrian Fontes's government affairs officer showed up with three radical progressive groups in tow to attack the plan, all of the Democrats flipped off the bill."

Kolodin argued that most Democratic voters actually support election integrity measures: "Go talk to your neighbor who's a Democrat and ask him, 'Well, do you like the fact that it takes so long to count votes?' Or do you like the fact that elections officials are keeping observers out of the polls? Wouldn't you like to have free, fair, transparent and lawful elections? I think most Democrats in the state would say, 'Yeah.'"

He pointed to Democrat Representative Alma Hernandez's criticism of the Pima County recorder for the ballot errors as evidence that election integrity is not inherently partisan.

Looking Forward to 2026

Kolodin believes that progressive election officials deliberately break election laws not only to advantage their preferred candidates but also "to deter conservatives from voting." He cited Adrian Fontes's attempt to criminalize criticism of election officials in his elections procedures manual as an example: "He wanted to scare conservatives away from the polls. He wanted you to think, oh, maybe I don't need to vote because I'm worried Adrian Fontes is going to arrest me."

Kolodin successfully sued to block this provision, but he warns that officials like Fontes "are constantly trying to diminish faith in the system both by their incredibly floppy administration and their breaches of the law."

Despite these challenges, Kolodin is optimistic: "What we have to do and what we showed we can do in 2024 is we can overcome this with massive turnout. We can overcome this by massively registering Republican voters and we can overcome this with a concerted and intelligent election integrity strategy and take back this state in 2026."

He emphasized the importance of the upcoming election cycle: "2024 was the most important election in American history, but 2026 is the most important election in Arizona history... Arizona is my home and I want to see the state prosper and I want to see the state succeed and I want to see democracy work here and the only way that we can do that and pass down that promise of Arizona to our kids and their kids is to get folks like Adrian Fontes and Chris Mays and Katie Hobbs who have an absolute contempt for our laws out of office."

The Battle Over the Elections Procedures Manual

Kolodin detailed how Fontes attempted to develop his elections procedures manual "in the dead of night" by hiding things from legislators, cutting short the public notice and comment period, and trying to limit legislative review. Despite these tactics, Kolodin and other concerned citizens successfully challenged various aspects of the manual through litigation.

One case challenged the manual on the grounds that it wasn't developed with proper transparency. Kolodin noted this was "a pet theory that I've had for half a decade, but no secretary state has ever broken the law quite egregiously enough where I thought the courts were going to strike him over the head with it, right? Adrian Fontes finally did." As a result, virtually the entire manual was struck down by the courts.

Recent Ballot Errors Affect Nearly 1,300 Voters in Tucson City Elections

Wrong Party Ballots Sent to Voters

Later in the program, Joel Strabala, chairman of LD17, joined to discuss the ballot errors affecting the Tucson city council elections. Nearly 1,300 voters in Tucson received ballots with the wrong political party designations for the primary elections in Wards 3, 5, and 6. According to officials, "the error stem from an override needed to manage data for three overlapping elections."

Winn questioned whether this explanation was sufficient: "That's their job. And when there's more than one election, should we just hire someone else to do it? Are we as the second largest county in Arizona, are we not capable of doing this job?"

The error was discovered on July 25th after voters reported receiving incorrect ballots. While officials claim the data error has been corrected, affected voters must now obtain correct ballots at ballot replacement sites.

Strabala emphasized that if voters receive the wrong party's ballot and attempt to write in candidates from their own party, those votes will not count in the primary.

The city of Tucson uses 100% mail-in ballots for these elections, meaning every registered voter in the affected wards should have received a ballot – with approximately 1,300 receiving incorrect ones.

Low Turnout and High Stakes

Strabala noted that as of the previous Friday, only 17% of Tucson voters had returned their ballots for this election, making it a low participation contest where 1,300 incorrect ballots could potentially determine outcomes.

He urged eligible voters to complete and mail their ballots by the following day to ensure their votes would be counted in the primary election.

John Gordon: Seeking Accountability for Intelligence Community Abuses

Russian Collusion Hoax and Potential Treason Charges

In the final segment, John Gordon, host of the syndicated radio show "The Truth with John Gordon" and former candidate for Georgia Attorney General, discussed recent developments regarding accountability for intelligence community abuses.

Gordon addressed former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's threat to refer Obama administration officials to the Justice Department for prosecution over the intelligence assessment of Russia's 2016 election interference and the Russian dossier.

Gordon strongly supported this action: "I have been speaking on radio for three years on the truth of John Gordon about the need to have a cleansing in America. All the sins need to be confessed... I want all to come out, get it behind us and restore this country to a position where it has the moral authority to lead in the world."

He argued that the Russian collusion narrative "deprived President Trump of three years of a three-year term. And then it is my belief they stole the second election from him. And I'm sick of it. And I think the federal government is rotten to its core. It needs to be exposed and people need to be held accountable."

Gordon and Winn agreed that holding officials accountable is essential because failure to do so "weakens our constitution, weakens our laws."

Gordon drew a historical parallel to the JFK assassination: "On November the 22nd, 1963, one of them up until that time, the most popular democratically elected president was assassinated. There has been no accountability... what it communicated to every bureaucrat and hack politician in America was that you can literally commit murder. And if you're in power, you can get away with it."

When asked if former officials could face treason charges, Gordon explained: "I thought until 10 days ago, just subconsciously in my mind that treason required working on behalf of a foreign country, but it doesn't. That is one element of treason. The other element of treason is that if you work for the overthrow or subversion of our own government, what other, how else can you color what they did?"

He detailed how Obama administration officials "knew that they had no evidence on Trump colluding with Russia. They knew that it was in the intelligence briefing that someone intentionally and consciously removed from Obama's briefing. They put all this innuendo and suggestion into the daily presidential briefing and inferred that Trump was in collusion with Russia to interfere in our election. It was a lie."

Gordon noted that this lie originated with "Hillary Clinton and Perkins Cooley Law Farm, who commissioned the steel dossier, which was a complete and utter fabrication."

He pointed to Tulsi Gabbard's recent release of a "smoking gun" document that he claims the Biden administration had possessed but concealed for four years.

From Russian Collusion to COVID

Gordon and Winn discussed how after the Russian collusion narrative failed to stop Trump, COVID-19 became "the second attack." Winn suggested that "the CCP and whoever it is... whether it be Dr. Fauci and other people in the Democrat Party conspired against the American people to unleash COVID on our citizens."

Gordon shared his suspicions about COVID's origins: "Madonna started working on a COVID vaccine in 2015, four years before this horrible virus was unleashed on our country and really the world." He questioned how any government could be "so callous as to kill a million of its own citizens" but noted that "China doesn't value human life the way the rest of the world does."

He contrasted President Trump with the previous administration: "I just love this president. He's not a perfect person, but he is so darn tough. And I watched him today with the prime minister of England... his poise and his grasp of all the subject matter is just phenomenal in contrast to the guy that we had for the last four years that I believe was illegitimate."

Georgia's 2020 Election Issues

Gordon shared his firsthand experience investigating Georgia's 2020 election: "I worked with a legal team in Georgia on the 2020 election. I've seen the evidence. I've talked to the witnesses. I played devil's advocate with the forensic accountants who looked at the tabulations and the votes. Georgia was a stolen election in 2020. I would stake my life on it."

He described how a judge initially appeared receptive to election challenges, even visiting a ballot storage facility and ordering that absentee ballots be protected and made available for inspection. However, the judge never specified when or how this inspection could occur, and when pressed for a hearing, "he completely changed his demeanor, acted like we were the villains and declared that our case lacked standing."

While the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously reversed this ruling and confirmed the plaintiffs had standing, Gordon said the case remains pending in Fulton Superior Court with the assigned judge refusing to rule on it.

Gordon ran for Georgia Attorney General largely because of these experiences: "I looked at the fact that we could not get justice and the media is complicit. They lie and the constitutional officers I think were in on it. Kemp, Raffensperger and Carr, Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, they were either in on it or in on the cover up."

The Butler Assassination Attempt

Gordon shared his theory about the assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. He believes the incident involved a man named Maxwell Uric from Mesa, Arizona, whose parents own Uric Munitions. According to Gordon, Uric "drove a white van to Butler... was arrested in one of the 2019 riots... fought in the Ukraine and the family is believed to have had ties with the CIA."

Gordon suggested there are discrepancies between the official account identifying Thomas Matthew Crooks as the shooter and evidence potentially pointing to Uric, including physical characteristics like ear gauge scars and tattoos. He noted that Uric's parents filed a missing persons report on July 14, 2024, and he "has not been seen or heard of since."

Gordon described his emotional reaction to news of the assassination attempt: "I got the first news flash that someone had taken a shot at President Trump and my heart went up into my throat. I was, I really thought I was going to go into some sort of a seizure. I was so traumatized with grief."

Winn observed how President Trump's pride in his immigration accomplishments may have saved his life: "It was his pride that had him turn ever so slightly to point to his chart that he was so damn proud of... And literally had he not turned, we know that bullet would have gone in his brain and killed him instantly." She saw this as possible divine intervention.

Gordon agreed and noted that the assassination attempt "catapulted him into the White House. So many millions of Americans watch that and develop such tremendous empathy for him. And I think it was a major factor towards his election."

The Epstein Files and Intelligence Community Involvement

When asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files and whether their release is being delayed or covered up, Gordon expressed his belief that President Trump would not be implicated in any Epstein-related misconduct: "The record would support just the opposite. Going all the way back, I think to 2007, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Largo because he got suspicious of his, suspicious of his behavior."

Gordon suggested that intelligence community interests might be behind the hesitation to release the files: "I suspect that it traces back to the intelligence community. And I suspect that Epstein was an agent of the CIA designed to lure powerful people into a web of compromise, videotape them so that they could then own them."

While acknowledging that some might argue such tactics are necessary in a world where other countries employ similar methods, Gordon rejected this reasoning: "I don't think that committing crimes against our nation, it's laws and the laws. There can never be a compromise for that."

Trump Administration's Reform Strategy

In the final segment, Gordon predicted a "three-pronged, three-phased approach" to reform by the Trump administration, beginning with accountability for the Russia collusion hoax, followed by addressing the 2020 election irregularities, with the ultimate goal being to "deconstruct and eradicate our government from the deep state. That is what the real objective is."

He expressed hope that the administration would eliminate unnecessary federal departments and reduce Chinese influence in America: "I hope we get rid of the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, and I think, you know, and really minimize the footprint that the CCP has been allowed to create in our country."

Gordon emphasized the importance of shrinking "the bureaucratic state that has expanded and gotten bloated, and it's unelected bureaucrats that are controlling this country. We put these people in office, but they're not in charge."

He urged unity among Trump administration officials to stay focused on their mission: "We need them to work together, you know, just to keep on mission and keep on point and not get distracted by the media pressures or the, you know, the other side trying to steal the narrative away."

Winn agreed, emphasizing the importance of staying "laser focused right now during this time" to avoid squandering the opportunity to "write this ship as we head into our 250th birthday anniversary of this great nation."

Gordon concluded by criticizing the Democratic Party while noting he supports a healthy two-party system: "I'm for a two-party system. I want a strong effect of democratic party. Because you know, you and I, we don't always get it right. And I think this course is healthy. It helps us arrive at a good decision."