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Ducey will not debate because he does NOT want to talk about his plan to appoint Cindy McCain to Senate seat #McCainDuceyLOVEObamacare

June 1st has come and passed. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Under Arizona law, if John McCain had vacated office before June 1st ("vacated" meaning "died"), there would be a special election in November to replace him. But having passed this June deadline, if McCain resigns he can be replaced by an appointee of the governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, a conservative Republican, and this appointee will serve until 2020. The problem is, McCain hasn't resigned. McCain has been so ill that he hasn't been seen in the Senate for months. He has missed countless votes. Arizona is...

HOENIX — The deadline for U.S. Sen. John McCain to resign from office and allow Arizonans to elect his replacement in a special election came and went, meaning Gov. Doug Ducey will be tasked with appointing his successor if the Arizona Republican leaves office before his term expires in 2022. With the current state of the senator’s health up in the air, rumors have been floating around as to who Ducey could choose to replace McCain. One of the most notable names? Cindy McCain, the senator’s wife. A recent report from NewsMax cited multiple “Republicans and political pundits in the...

Republicans are increasingly certain that they have taken a potentially disastrous special Senate election in Arizona off the board as of the close of business Wednesday. Once that hour passes, the GOP believes that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, will be able to appoint a successor to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) if he leaves his seat this year. That person would serve until the next general election in 2020, Republicans say. That would limit the number of Democratic pick-up opportunities in the November midterms and boost the GOP’s chances of holding the narrowly divided chamber. May 30 was the...

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday quietly met with Sen. John McCain (R) and his wife, Cindy, at the couple’s home outside Sedona, Ariz., GOP sources in the state told The Hill. The meeting, which was not on the governor's official schedule, comes amid speculation over whom the Republican governor would appoint to fill the Senate seat should the ailing 81-year-old senior lawmaker and Vietnam War hero unexpectedly leave office. McCain is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma and has remained in Arizona since mid-December. GOP sources with knowledge of the meeting Tuesday said they did...

Just days after John McCain underwent surgery last July to remove a blood clot from behind his eye and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, the senator decided to fly from Arizona back to Washington, D.C., to vote on the Republicans’ attempt to repeal Obamacare. But worried daughter Meghan wasn’t having it. “He said, ‘I have to get back for the healthcare bill’ and I said, ‘What could possibly happen if he gets on a plane?’ and the doctor said he would like hemorrhage and it can be dangerous if he still has air in his brain,...

Cindy McCain, wife of ailing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), is likely to succeed the longtime lawmaker, a new report says. John Gizzi, Newsmax’s chief political correspondent, reports: As Arizonans prepare for their final salute to Sen. John McCain, Republicans and political pundits in the state privately tell Newsmax they expect the appointment of his wife, Cindy, to succeed him in the Senate. … Those who did agree, almost unanimously, that Cindy McCain following John in the Senate through appointment by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is a near-certainty. One longtime friend of the McCain family told Newsmax he long thought Arizona...

As Arizonans prepare for their final salute to Sen. John McCain, Republicans and political pundits in the state privately tell Newsmax they expect the appointment of his wife, Cindy, to succeed him in the Senate. Of course, no one in the Grand Canyon State who spoke to us wants to go on record discussing what will happen when the ailing McCain no longer holds his seat. But those who did agree, almost unanimously, that Cindy McCain following John in the Senate through appointment by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is a near-certainty. "I've always assumed that was the arrangement," said a...

Republican fears that Sen. John McCain’s battle with cancer could make it harder for the GOP to keep its Senate majority have receded, with a crucial election deadline just days away. Friends who have visited McCain as he struggles with one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer are encouraged by his recent state, though they recognize the 81-year-old’s condition could deteriorate rapidly. Republicans in Arizona and Washington are increasingly hopeful McCain will be in office through May 30, the unofficial date for averting a special election for his seat this year. The GOP, which holds a 51-49 majority, is...

Texas and Arizona increased the number of National Guard troops they’re sending to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Associated Press reported on Monday. On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) increased the number of National Guard troops Texas will send to the border as part of President Trump’s recent call to send military officials to defend the southern border against migrants and drug trafficking from 250 to at least 1,000. On the same day, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) said that the Arizona National Guard would send 338 troops to the southern border. The Arizona National Guard said that 225 troops...

PHOENIX — Arizona's top elected officials, both Republicans, are not going to join the lawsuit filed by Democrat officials in some states challenging the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census even though it could mean that Arizona won't get its fair share of federal dollars and political representation. Daniel Scarpinato, press aide to Gov. Doug Ducey, said his boss is opposed to more lawsuits. "And he supports having accurate statistical information,'' Scarpinato said. Attorney General Mark Brnovich also has no interest in Arizona becoming one of the 17 states, seven cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors...

It might be uncomfortable to talk about, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been fighting brain cancer since July. The 81-year-old has not returned to the US Capitol since December. So the speculation is already underway about what would happen if McCain stepped down — or, worse, could no longer serve. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a list of possible successors is circulating in the whispering Republican class, headlined by McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, and former US Sen. Jon Kyl. If McCain leaves office before May 30, the Post indicated, his Senate seat will be on the ballot in...

Arizona and Texas are moving to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border within days as part of President Trump's push to shore up the area until his proposed wall is built. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) announced Friday afternoon on Twitter that he would be sending around 150 Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Doug Ducey ✔ @dougducey Our office is working closely with @AZNationalGuard, @DeptofDefense and @DHSgov on plans to deploy approximately 150 national guard members to the border next week Meanwhile, the Texas Military Department, which oversees the state’s National Guard, announced it would...

Governor not going: A Trump campaign official tells 12 News that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey won't be at the rally for the Republican president. "Ducey is choosing not to attend, but he will be greeting the president's airplane, along with the (Arizona) congressional delegation, when it lands," said the Trump campaign official, who requested anonymity. Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said Sunday night he couldn't confirm the governor's plans. Trump visited the state seven times during the presidential campaign. Ducey appeared just once at a Trump rally, in August 2016 in Phoenix, without Trump on the stage.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's decision to again take for other uses state gas tax money intended to help cities and counties build and repair roads is getting a cold reception from some in the Legislature. The Republican governor's budget proposal for the year starting July 1 eliminates $86.5 million in highway spending in the current year, a decision likely to spur a fight with lawmakers from both parties who have been seeking a permanent stop to shifts of cash for road work to other uses. Legislation that would bar the practice and require gas tax money only...

Interstate 11 is getting another boost with execution of a memorandum of understanding between Arizona and Mexico. One of the four international cooperation agreements to be signed by Gov. Doug Ducey and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Meade extends I-11 from Nogales into Mexico to Hermosillo and Mexico City. The international commerce corridor MOU grew out of a conversation between Arizona business leaders, Ducey and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim at the Phoenix Business Journal’s Global Market Discovery series earlier this year. People on the Move Victor Foggie Victor Foggie Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona Brian...

PHOENIX -- Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order Wednesday arming the Arizona National Guard in response to multiple shootings at military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "With the number of tragic shootings that have occurred on military installations in recent years, it's imperative that our soldiers and airmen -- people who put their lives on the line every day to protect our state and nation -- have at least the same level of self-defense as the citizens they're fighting for," Ducey said in a statement. Ducey's order will allow Guard personnel to carry weapons at Guard facilities and train them...

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva don’t agree on much, but both worry California could take Arizona’s water. The conservative governor and the liberal congressman say Arizona must be vigilant to ensure its drought-parched neighbor doesn’t use federal action to grab some of Arizona’s Colorado River supply. Of particular concern is a California drought bill that’s been quietly negotiated for months in the U.S. Senate. “The secrecy generates concern and nervousness. Nobody I know in Arizona knows what’s in this bill at this point,” says Chuck Cullom, who manages Colorado River issues for the Central Arizona Project,...

Though Republican Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona ran as a candidate opposed to the Common Core standards in 2014, he claims a bill that would abolish the controversial initiative in his state is not “necessary” and wants, instead, to “fix” the standards.Arizona Capitol Times reports that Ducey has “walked a fine line” in the debate over the highly controversial standards, and, rather than call for repeal and replace the Common Core – rebranded as the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards by his predecessor Gov. Jan Brewer (R) – he has called on the Arizona Board of Education to review...

State schools Superintendent Diane Douglas lashed out at Gov. Doug Ducey after he overturned her attempted firing of two state Board of Education employees, accusing him of infringing on her statutory and constitutional duties and of surrounding himself with a cabal of Common Core supporters.Douglas asserted that she has the right to hire or fire Board of Education employees. She noted that a law says the Board of Education can hire staff “on the recommendation” of the superintendent of public instruction. “Governor Ducey apparently views himself as both governor and superintendent of Schools,” Douglas said in a press statement.On Wednesday,...