Arizona stories ready to republish | October 20, 2026

Below are today’s Arizona and national stories, available for immediate republication. You can access them via The Center Square RSS feed or BLOX Content Exchange.

Arizona joins Nevada’s lawsuit over Colorado River cuts
Nevada is receiving some company in the Silver State’s litigation with federal officials over Colorado River water access. That’s because Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office declared the Grand Canyon State would join its neighbor, nearly two months after Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo filed a lawsuit in Nevada's U.S. District Court. Lombardo is suing to prevent the U.S. Department of the Interior from carrying out its planned 10-year plan, which would result in a vast reduction in water for both states. By Christopher Boan.

Tempe seeks voters' OK for sales tax hike to fund services
Tempe is asking its residents to boost the Arizona city's revenues by $50 million through a sales tax increase. By Zachery Schmidt.

Poll: States should pause or restrict data centers, not offer tax incentives
States should pause approving new data centers or place restrictions on their impact rather than using tax incentives to attract those data centers, a majority of voters say according to The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll.

Poll: Republican candidates still trailing Democrats in midterms
About two weeks out from midterm election day, a new poll shows that Republicans face slim odds of maintaining control of Congress through 2028, as voters’ support levels haven’t budged since August.

Trump uses European riots as flashpoint ahead on campaign trail
With two weeks left until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump and his administration are hitting the campaign trail hard, shifting focus from some domestic issues to riots in Western Europe.

Analyst: Democrats could gain 232 U.S. House majority 
With two weeks until the 2026 midterm general elections, forecasters are predicting Democrats will take a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, winning as many as 232 seats. 

Republicans tout immigration enforcement record ahead of midterms
With over two dozen states having begun early voting, a group of U.S. House Republicans is highlighting the party’s immigration policy wins since the second Trump administration took office.

Flight restrictions at southwest border as cartel drone incursions continue
As Mexican cartel drone incursions continue at the southwest border, federal agencies have implemented a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for all drone operators in the region.

Democrats would end Trump's tariffs. They haven't said how.
U.S. House Democrats say they would undo President Donald Trump's tariffs. They have not said what would replace the revenue, and they have not addressed the Section 301 tariffs now hitting 60 trading partners.

NIH to create new women's health division per Trump executive order
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that will create a new Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health, as well as a White House task force dedicated to improving women’s health in the U.S.

U.S. Supreme Court to hear home distilling case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case over whether home whiskey distilleries are constitutional. The high court agreed to hear Department of Justice v. McNutt, a case challenging the government’s authority to levy taxes against Texas resident Scott McNutt for seeking to distill whiskey in his home. 

Supreme Court takes up race based school admissions case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case challenging race-based admissions policies in Maryland schools. The high court agreed to hear Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, a case focused on a group of parents in Montgomery County who say four magnet middle schools discriminated on the basis of race in admissions policies.  

Parental rights group to shed light on data centers for families, communities
The American Parents Coalition published a new “Lookout” brief to help parents better understand data centers, what makes a good one and how to know what questions to ask for their community.

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KELLY COMES OUT AGAINST VOTER ID MEASURE: U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, will hold a rally Tuesday alongside local officials against the state’s Proposition 144, also known as the Voter Identification and Citizenship Voting Requirements Amendment, which would prohibit noncitizens from registering to vote and contributing to Arizona campaigns. The measure adds a requirement that government-issued identification be shown for all ballots, whether they’re cast in-person or by mail. The Center Square will attend Kelly’s rally, which will feature comments from community leaders and members of the progressive political organization Will of the People. By Christopher Boan. 

EPA: The EPA has proposed approving Maricopa County emissions credits for voluntarily upgrading or replacing high-polluting locomotives and construction equipment, which supporters say would improve air quality and support economic growth, following similar action in April for on-road vehicles. By Zachery Schmidt.

ANSARI COMDEMNS SEXUAL VIOLENCE, STANDS WITH GREENE-PLACENTIA: Less than a month after Democratic congressional candidate Bernadette Greene Placentia reported being raped while fixing a campaign sign in Phoenix, Democratic first-term U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari will be joined by two other Democrats in the U.S. House - Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Maxine Dexter of Oregon - to condemn the rape and sexual violence in general. The Center Square will be at Ansari’s event and will break down what was said and what steps are being taken to keep female politicians safe in a heated political environment. By Christopher Boan.

GALLEGO ON GAS PRICES: Arizona’s junior U.S. senator, Ruben Gallego, is calling for relief at the gas pump after a relentless flurry of price spikes over the past calendar year during a campaign stop in midtown Phoenix Tuesday. The Center Square looks at how prices at the pump have changed and what’s behind those dynamics as it interviews the Democratic senator and officials from AAA. By Christopher Boan.

VVP FLOCK CAMERAS: Most registered voters say that license plate reader cameras should be used only in serious crimes or emergency situations, or with limits to protect privacy, according to a new poll.

ENERGY SPENDING: The Department of Energy is supplying up to $42 million to advance a proposed natural gas pipeline in the Northeast, a small portion of the $1 billion Congress appropriated in 2025 for projects intended to strengthen U.S. energy security. The Center Square is examining how much of that funding has been obligated ahead of a September 2027 deadline and how much the department expects consumers to save on their energy bills as a result. (Morgan Sweeney)

VVP ECONOMY: Slightly more Americans trust Democrats than Republicans to better handle the economy, according to a Center Square poll of more than 2,500 registered voters. (Morgan Sweeney)

CONGRESS PREDICTION MARKETS: The Congressional Budget Office scored the only prediction-market bill to clear a committee this Congress at effectively zero, resting that on “the limited evidence” that members trade such markets. Federal disclosure law, written in 1978, does not name prediction markets, and the House Ethics Committee has issued no guidance on whether the trades must be reported. (Brett Rowland)

TRUMP AND $5,000 CHECKS: President Donald Trump said late Monday that the proposed $5,000 checks for U.S. adults would cost about $1 trillion and suggested that investment in the U.S. could be used to pay for it. (Brett Rowland)

PERMITTING BILL: The Ratepayer Protection Act failed to pass the Senate, but the Senate’s bipartisan permitting reform bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, would codify the same protections against electricity rate hikes. It could also, however, expedite data center buildouts, even as the vast majority of American communities oppose data centers. (Therese Boudreaux)

IOWA HOUSE DEBATE: U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks will face off in a debate against Democrat Christina Bohannan on Tuesday night in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Congress. (Andrew Rice) 

BUILDING VACANCIES: The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that legislation to monitor whether federal buildings are vacant has fallen short of its intended goal. The Center Square speaks with taxpayer advocates and analysts on how to address the cost of vacant federal buildings. (Andrew Rice) 

FOLLOW UP ON MARYLAND ADMISSION CASE: The Center Square follows up Tuesday with interviews related to the U.S. Supreme Court hearing a challenge to Montgomery County, Maryland’s selective middle school admissions policies to determine whether families alleging racial discrimination must meet a statistical threshold before their claims can be considered. This story falls under both accountability and taxpayer focus since it is a public school district. By Esther Wickham. This is a follow-up to Andrew Rice’s story from Monday.

ELECTIONS: With two weeks left until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump and his administration are hitting the campaign trail hard, shifting focus from some domestic issues to riots in Western Europe. (Sarah Roderick-Fitch)

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