KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the biggest stories of the week from Arizona and beyond.
Lorna Romero Ferguson of Elevate Strategies and Raquel Terán, former state lawmaker and former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, joined The Show to talk about the Department of Justice suing Arizona’s secretary of state, another presidential endorsement in an Arizona congressional primary and more.
Conversation highlights
MARK BRODIE: So let's start with the Department of Justice, Raquel, which is suing Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. I guess in some ways, maybe not such a surprise. They've done this in other states. Fontes has said repeatedly he's not going to turn over this information. I'm curious, like, he is obviously up for election this year.
How does this roll into that?
RAQUEL TERÁN: Well, I think he's doing the right thing, and he's very direct. I heard him say," take me to jail if you need to." Because he is, what he's doing right now is making sure that we are protecting all the information of the voters of Arizona. The Social Security numbers, even though some information is already public, but certain information has to remain confidential.
And he is following the law, he's following the state law, and he's following federal law. And frankly, in my opinion, this is just to try to foment that there is voter fraud and we already know it's non existent.
BRODIE: Lorna, do you think Fontes is doing the right thing here? With the stipulation that I don't think any of the three of us are lawyers.
LORNA ROMERO FERGUSON: Yeah, yeah. Disclosure. Not an attorney here, but we've talked about this previously on the show. When the DOJ made that initial request and Fontes said "pound sand" back then before this lawsuit, the context of which this is all coming from is very important, as Raquel just noted on. This is all in the context of what happened in the 2020 election and the fraud that they claim and that people still are talking about and claiming that there was fraud, which has been made abundantly clear that there was no fraud, especially in Arizona.
So in a state like Arizona, where Secretary Fontes has this duty to oversee this very important, sensitive, confidential information, and what we've been through for the past six years, and it makes sense that he's pushing back. "Why do you want this information? What are you gonna do with it? What are the intentions?"
"Yes, take me to court and we'll try to figure this out." But I mean, if the DOJ and the Trump administration just wants this information to further claim that he wrongfully lost the 2020 election or to foment going into 2026, any potential fraud in Arizona, which we know is not, that is just not true.
That is not helpful for just the, I mean, our democratic system in general. And so he is doing the right thing. He has to protect this voter information. And we need to get to a point where we've moved on from 2020, even 2022, you know, Kari Lake and some others, and just focus on how do we restore trust in our election system and just move forward so we can have a successful 2026 election.
TERÁN: And he needs to continue going. He needs to continue the efforts to protect the voters of Arizona. And I think it really is a reminder that Donald Trump and his administration do not run our elections. It's the secretary of state, and I'm looking forward to him continuing this stance.
BRODIE: Raquel, do you think this will play a role in the campaign? He's going against the Republican presumed nominee. I don't think there's anyone else in that primary right now. Alexander Kolodin, who was an election skeptic, I think is maybe the way to say it. Does this issue play a role in that campaign?
TERÁN: I mean, unfortunately, it becomes so political. The secretary of state should not be this political. This, this race should be about who, who will administer our elections and making sure that they're administered correctly and that voters are protected and that their votes count. And when, when you have these type of issues, yeah, they become political, but it helps them be in the forefront protecting the voters of Arizona.
That is what he has said from his first campaign. I remember his slogan, protecting our democracy or protecting our republic's democracy. That's what he used to say, and that's what he will continue to say. And it puts him in a position where he can demonstrate that that is what he is doing.
BRODIE: Lorna, does this help him? I mean, we've talked on the show before about how Arizona voters broadly, when you take it out of for example the GOP primary, tend to not be super-enamored of election conspiracy theories and election denialism. Does this help him going for reelection?
ROMERO FERGUSON: Potentially. I mean, it's really hard to say in January 2026, you know, what it's gonna look like in the general, but it is gonna be a campaign issue, and it's a high-profile issue that we're talking about it now. And the media is gonna continue to talk about it. So the days of the secretary of state race being a snoozefest like it was 10 years ago is no longer the case because we are talking about election integrity, potential fraud, etc.
So obviously, the Trump administration is gonna, is making this a major issue. We know the Republicans who are gonna be running against, most likely Kolodin is gonna make it an issue. So it remains to be seen how voters are gonna fluctuate going up to this election cycle, because, I mean, in Arizona, we've been talking about potential fraud for so long, right.
I'm not sure if that's going to be the lead issue on voters mind with the economy and other things going on. But, yeah, it could potentially help him depending on Trump's favorability and everything else that's going on with the Trump administration.
TERÁN: Yeah. And I mean, maybe this is not necessarily tied into it, but voters in Arizona trust our process. The fact that more than 90% of voters receive their early ballot at home, their ballots at home shows that they believe in this process. So I think that that the good thing is that we know that voters don't believe that there is that kind of fraud happening here in Arizona.
BRODIE: Raquel, let me stick with you on another story of the federal government going after an Arizona politician. This week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally started the process of, he censured Sen. Mark Kelly. He started the process of trying to demote him from his military rank, which would, which would affect the pension he has.
Again, this is not necessarily a surprise. This move has sort of been telegraphed. But I'm curious, like, what you make of Kelly's response to all of this? He's been pretty defiant.
TERÁN: He has been defiant, and he is meeting the moment. This is Mark Kelly's moment. And I think, like, he has always been a hero. I mean, the fact that he has been in combat, he's been a veteran, and he says. And his statements have said it all. No, I've fought for our country and that includes making sure that we're protecting our Constitution, we're protecting our First Amendment rights.
And he has been responding for himself. But at the same time, I think that what he, the way that he has responded shows to service members that he has their back and that he doesn't want this to trickle and that the silence could trickle to the, to other service members. So in my opinion, Senator Mark Kelly is really fighting back in a way that sends a message that this has to stop with him and it cannot continue.
BRODIE: Lorna, what do you make of the way that Kelly has been responding to this? I mean, he's been everywhere. He was on "The Daily Show" this week. He was on NPR this week, on Morning Edition. He's been on a lot of the cable networks. He's talking about this a lot.
ROMERO FERGUSON: Yeah, he's really seizing the moment and the opportunity, which is, it's not surprising. I mean, you're being personally attacked, something that is very dear and important to him is his service to this nation, right. And it's become a very political issue for the Trump administration. It's not like they're just kind of going after him, they're being very public and vocal about this.
So of course he's gonna do the same in his defense, right. I do think that it's probably just a waste of time from the Trump administration. In all honesty, one, Sen. Mark Kelly should not be surprised by the criticism that's being received by the Trump administration. Anybody who speaks out against them, they come out and force against, Republican or Democrat, right.
But I think he knew going into this that he was gonna potentially have a target on his back, right. Filming that video, being in a high-profile ranking that he is in the military, all of the service that he's had, being a U.S. senator in a state like Arizona, a swing state, that they were going to go after him.
And so, unfortunately, and mind you, again, I'm not an attorney, so I don't know the nuances of if he actually violated any kind of Uniform Code of Military Conduct or whatnot, but it just seems like there's a lot going on that the secretary of Defense should be focusing on. And the fact that so much time and energy is being put on Mark Kelly is just giving him more popularity and more opportunities to talk to the media and build his name ID nationally than a few months ago.
BRODIE: Well, so let me ask you about that because there's been a lot of discussion on social media, noted bastion of deep intellectual thinking, that, you know, all this is really doing is elevating Mark Kelly leading into the 2028 presidential election. Of course, his name has been out there. He was apparently, you know, shortlisted for vice president when Kamala Harris was running last year or two years ago now.
So, I mean, do you see this as sort of an elevation of Mark Kelly nationally?
ROMERO FERGUSON: 100%. I mean, like you were just saying, he's on all these national programs. You see the fundraising emails all the time, like his team is capitalizing on it, which no criticism to them, anybody would, right, in this situation.
So, yes, they are elevating his profile nationally. That might be intentional because they're hoping to just kind of like harm his reputation should he choose to run in 2028, what he intends to do in the future. But also they want to restore Republican leadership in the state when it comes to the U.S. Senate, right.
So from the Trump administration, they're probably looking at it as we wanna damage his reputation as much as possible leading into whatever direction he chooses to go in, whether that's, again, running for U.S. Senate or nationally. And obviously, he's not cowering to that. And he's taking the opportunity to build his network, increase his name ID fundraise, etc.
Beyond those people who already knew who Sen. Mark Kelly was, whether it was from gun control advocates or just from his military service or, or, you know, being an astronaut, you know, some people just followed that. So he's really broadened his name ID to a new audience.
BRODIE: Raquel, do you think this is elevating him?
TERÁN: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, like, he, what he is showing is that he is somebody that can fight back, right. Because Mark Kelly, I mean, his story from being the husband of Gabby Giffords and being by her side every single step of the way, being an astronaut, being in the military, everything, but people know him as the good guy.
And then Arizona is a unique place to campaign. And his story was just, it connected with so many Arizonans and the fact that people across the country are getting to see the way that he can fight back for Arizona and for everybody, for that matter, I think it's really, really good for him.
And I'll just end like, you know, Kamala Harris, she did write in her book that Mark Kelly had not had his moment, and I think this is his moment. So that's interesting to see what happens in the presidential primaries.
