Free Republic

Former President Donald Trump endorsed former Navy SEAL Eli Crane for Congress, who is running in the Republican primary for Arizona’s Second Congressional District in August, hoping to then take on Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) in November.“Eli Crane has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump emphasized in his endorsement of the Republican candidate. “Eli Crane is running for Congress in the Great State of Arizona. Eli is a retired Navy SEAL and successful businessman who proudly served and loves our incredible, but seriously under siege, Country.”The former president emphasized that in Congress, Crane “will Fight for Election Integrity, Secure the...

Republican Mark Finchem and Democrat Tom O’Halleran agree on at least one thing regarding Interstate 11. Both expect to be deceased before the proposed roadway becomes a reality. Finchem, a District 11 state representative spoke to Hidden Valley residents last week in a gathering attended by Blanca Varela, a representative from Congressman O’Halleran’s office, at Mountain View Community Church. The proposed interstate is a long-range goal of Arizona Department of Transportation and is expected to pass through Hidden Valley south of Maricopa. While Finchem has been outspoken against I-11, O’Halleran has remained neutral. Varela said the congressman had expressed to...

A band of Democrats who are demanding House rule reforms have yet to reach a deal with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the group announced Friday, putting up a potential roadblock in Pelosi’s quest to reclaim the Speaker’s gavel. Nine Democrats on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus have vowed to withhold their votes for Speaker unless the candidate agrees to overhaul the House rules. Pelosi, who has been open to such changes, met with the group last week and promised to put in writing the changes to which she would commit. But the Democrats say they have yet to receive...

A poll released Friday shows Republican congressional candidate Wendy Rogers with a widening lead over Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) in Arizona’s First Congressional District, indicating a potential Republican pickup in November. The poll, conducted by Go Right Strategies for the Rogers campaign, shows 44.4 percent support for Rogers and 37.5 percent for O’Halleran, with 18.1 still undecided. The sample size is 943 landline respondents, and the margin of error is three points. Polling in Arizona’s First District, where Democrats have pulled out comfortable victories in each of the three election cycles since it took its current map, has been sparse...

Wendy Rogers, the GOP nominee for Congress in Arizona’s first congressional district, has taken a slight lead over Democratic incumbent Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) in a key district that could decide the fate of the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. This district is one of just a handful nationwide where Republicans have an opportunity to flip a seat currently represented by a Democrat back into GOP hands. A couple other such seats exist in Minnesota and one more is in Nevada, but there are hardly any pickup opportunities for Republicans when it comes to defending their House majority....

CASA GRANDE — Republican Congressional District 1 candidate Paul Babeu says he plans to make improvements to Interstate 10 a greater priority for the federal government. Babeu, who is Pinal County sheriff, assembled a number of Republican state lawmakers on Monday to discuss his intentions as a congressman to prioritize widening a portion of I-10 that runs between Phoenix and Casa Grande. His plan is to work on expanding this section from two lanes to three in each direction. Doing so, Babeu said, improves safety and economic development. “This is directly linked to a prosperous future for western Pinal County...