Arizona Resource Guide
Sam Adams State Resource Guides are designed to help citizens get involved in their home state.
Do you have additional information that you'd like to see on this list? Please email your tips to resources@samadamsalliance.org.
Background
Arizona has historically leaned Republican in presidential elections. The state also is home to two current Republican senators. Since 1952, Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix and the area around it, has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1952. However, the current Phoenix mayor is a Democrat – along with the Governor and State Attorney General.
Issues
State Government Spending
Many Arizonans are concerned with state spending. Over the past seven years, the state budget has increased 94%, while the population has only increased 24%. According to the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, total state spending for fiscal year 2008, which began on July 1, will be an estimated $27 billion – or $855 every second.
Charter School Freedom
Right now, charter schools in Arizona aren’t allowed to decide their own core curriculum. Instead, the education department and state superintendent of public instruction are making them conform their core curriculum to match the state’s public schools. The Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit two weeks ago to block the education department from requiring specific courses to be taught in a pre-determined order.
Think Tanks
Goldwater Institute
www.goldwaterinstitute.org
Action Groups
Arizona Free Enterprise Club
http://www.azfreeenterpriseclub.org
Arizona Federation of Taxpayers
http://www.aztaxpayers.org
Arizona Tax Research Association
http://www.arizonatax.org/
Sun City Taxpayers Association
http://suncitytaxpayers.org/index.htm
Alliance for School Choice
http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/
Institute for Justice – Arizona Chapter
http://www.ij.org/arizona
Citizens for Tax Relief
1071 W. Roller Coaster Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85704
(602) 888-7857
Blogs
El Gringo
http://franciosi.blogspot.com/
Arizona Political Heat
http://arizonapoliticalheat.blogspot.com/
Espresso Pundit
http://espressopundit.com/
Sonoran Alliance
http://www.sonoranalliance.com/
Arizona 8th
http://arizonaeighth.blogspot.com/
Seeing Red AZ
http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/
Red State Arizona
http://redstatearizona.blogspot.com/
Arizona Watchtower
http://azwatchtower.com
Thinking Right Arizona
http://thinkrightaz.blogspot.com/
AZ Political Intel
http://azpoliticalintel.blogspot.com/
Resources
Goldwater Institute: Find an Expert
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/pressroom/findanexpert.aspx
Goldwater Institute: Legislator Report Card
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/my-tools/Legislators.aspx
Arizona Initiative and Referendum
http://www.azsos.gov/election/IRR/
Political News Sources
Arizona Politics
http://www.arizonapolitics.net/
Freedom’s Phoenix (Liberty Movement’s Political News)
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Standard-Page.htm?Page=00112
The Arizona Conservative
http://www.azconservative.org/
