Amazing. The AZ GOP controlled state house refuses to allow any vote to repeal the state's territorial era abortion ban. This is the latest example of the trap the GOP set for itself when it became identified as the party of the Religious Right. In a way, I wish I could be sure that the Republican representatives were voting their conscience. But they aren’t. They are voting to satisfy their increasingly rigid and brutal masters even though they know doing so may prove to be political suicide. The Unholy Alliance is no longer an equal partnership.
Arizona has ballot initiative, so people there can go around a poorly-led legislature. I expect Democrats there would have a field day with that.
Reporting from Arizona, I can assure you this state is trending Blue, and this is going to give it a huge push in November. Statewide offices are all Blue. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and both US Senators. (There is no lieutenant governor.) Biden also won the state. The only reason there is any Red at all is because Arizona is a dichotomy: two large cities and a bunch of rural areas (where Red dominates). Like the country overall, rural areas are both Red and over-represented. Even with that, both legislative houses are held by Republicans with very slim majorities. This is a tipping point.
Living next to Arizona, the impression I've formed is that the state tends to go its own way whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in office. There was nothing surprising when Governor Ducey refused to take a call from then President Trump as Ducey was signing the Electoral vote certificate. Ducey is very conservative but he isn't out of his mind.
