On Saturday morning last week, dozens of people braved the heat and walked from a nearby church parking lot to protest outside Juan Ciscomani’s congressional office in midtown Tucson.
For activists and nearby residents, these demonstrations have been going on for more than a year, organized by the Unseat Ciscomani Team, one of the groups tied to Indivisible Tucson Action Alliance.
The roughly 60 activists brought hand-painted signs and chanted slogans outside the two-term Republican congressman’s office, giving off the same peaceful energy we’ve seen at the various No Kings rallies held in Tucson and surrounding communities since President Donald Trump was sworn in 19 months ago.
But a few dozen activists telling Ciscomani to stand up to Trump on Iran — along with other issues — isn’t the same as the thousands we’ve seen at Tucson’s largest rallies. Those protests were laser-focused on fighting the most egregious acts of the Trump administration, ranging from DOGE cuts to ICE squads in Minnesota.
But it’s been a while since we’ve seen any massive protests in Tucson, which got us wondering: Where did everybody go? So we called around.
As you might imagine, it’s difficult to track down thousands of people. But Democratic officials and candidates told us they’re seeing a good number of #NoKings protesters change gears and volunteer for political campaigns.
In other words, it sounds like people are moving from protesting politics to participating in the formal political process.
Across the street from Ciscomani’s Tucson office, protesters left a “No War on Iran” sign behind.
With less than 50 days before the November general election, there is no shortage of volunteers this election cycle, Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Eric Robbins told us.
While there might not be a lot of crossover from the No Kings rally, Pima County Republican Party Chairwoman Kathleen Winn said her party has highly engaged volunteers this cycle, with the party partnering with six outside organizations to register voters and increase turn-out at the polls.
Those volunteers are knocking on doors for campaigns, phone banking and writing letters (for the introverts), among other things.
With the Congressional District 6 contest considered one of the country’s most competitive House races, we found that JoAnna Mendoza’s campaign is running multiple canvassing teams throughout Tucson, especially on weekends.
On Mendoza’s online volunteer portal at Mobilize.us, the campaign lists multiple canvassing teams for different parts of Tucson and the rest of Congressional District 6.
Last Saturday, Mendoza’s rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds was standing room only, with her campaign estimating that more than 1,000 people turned out. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s appearance at the rally might have helped juice those attendance numbers.
On social media, a lot of local elected officials — mostly Democrats — are posting selfies as they spend their weekends canvassing for other candidates.
But taking back the U.S. House isn’t the only thing that had Tucsonans showing up on street corners.
They also want to flip the state Legislature, where Democratic leaders say they would pursue tighter oversight of education savings accounts and policies addressing affordability and access to health care.
Marine Corps veteran Edgar Soto says volunteers for his state Senate campaign in the highly competitive Legislative District 17 are fired up about the upcoming election, and his weekend canvassing teams include volunteers who’ve attended the No Kings rallies.
Outside of specific races, we’re told that locals are training to be election observers and committing to rapid-response teams on Election Day.
Joe is going to need more sunscreen.
But don’t think the #NoKings movement is over. In roughly a month, protesters plan to return to midtown — this time to urge people to vote.
Letters from Texas-based Election Mail Service started hitting Tucson mailboxes last week, with the mildly concerning “Voter Registration Form” in all caps printed on the front of the envelope.
Inside, the mailer claims “public records show that you may not be registered to vote at this address” with instructions for registering online, as well as a paper voter registration form (and envelope) to mail to the Pima County Recorder’s Office.
The problem is those voter registration records this third-party group is using may or may not be accurate — adding to the chorus of misinformation and constantly changing news about voter registration and mail-in ballots in general, like the Maricopa County Recorder recently sending out letters to thousands of voters asking if they moved.
This isn’t the only group trying to “help” with voter registration, by the way. Elon Musk’s votesafe.org has been flagged by voter rights groups as the website appears to track and collect information for Musk’s America PAC while relying on third-party information.
Receiving one of the Election Mail Service letters does not indicate a problem with an individual's registration status, officials with the Pima County Recorder told us. Official election mail, they said, can be easily identified on any envelope with the Recorder's Office logo on the return address.
Our recommendation? Check your registration here.
It took us less than a minute to check our registration and opt-in to the county recorder’s voter status notification system.
This is fun: Tucson Mayor Regina Romero clapped back at Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani for calling her a “failed mayor,” the latest attempt by the Ciscomani camp to convince voters that Tucson is awful and if they elect his Democratic opponent JoAnna Mendoza — who Romero is campaigning for — then the country will be awful, too. Romero posted a short video asking Ciscomani “why are you so obsessed with me?” as she waved goodbye and walked away. She then posted a message saying “since you can’t keep my name out your mouth, please study up on the work we are doing in Tucson,” with a link to the Safe City Initiative.
Room to spare: Amid a long-term drop in enrollment, the Tucson Unified School District is using just 58% of its capacity, a district analysis found. The district has about 39,000 students enrolled right now, but it has room for 67,000, KGUN’s Jacqueline Aguilar reports. That statistic could play a role in TUSD officials’ decisions about which schools to close, as well as which teachers and staff lose their jobs.
Not passing the buck: The Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative in Sierra Vista says its members won’t be forced to cover the cost of building out infrastructure for big energy users like data centers, per the Herald/Review. Large-load customers will have to cover the full cost of facilities like new substations and system upgrades that are needed for their projects.
Been a while: Two years after Pima County Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Cross sued Sheriff Chris Nanos for disciplining Cross after he campaigned for Nanos’ opponent, a federal judge is considering whether to dismiss the lawsuit, Kim Smith reports for the Green Valley News. The lawsuit hinges on whether Cross violated department rules by wearing clothing that made him look like a law enforcement officer when he was campaigning for Heather Lappin, the Republican candidate who ultimately lost to Nanos.
A nice gesture: Riverview Dairy scored some PR points by donating $50,000 to salvage Rex Allen Days after the event organizer was arrested on embezzlement charges, the Herald/Review reports. The mega-dairy has had pretty bad press for the past few years as Riverview pumped groundwater and nearby wells ran dry. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened to use “public nuisance” laws to bring the dairy to heel, but the two sides reached an agreement in January.
It was fun while it lasted.
Protesters are trying to stop the construction of a double-layered border wall in the San Rafael Valley, so they dressed up as jaguars, a yellow-billed cuckoo and other endangered species whose migration routes could be blocked by the wall.
It worked, at least for a while. They posted a video showing construction workers milling around waiting for somebody to tell them what to do while heavy machinery sat idle.
“Yeah, poop on that thing!” one protester said to another one who was in a cuckoo costume and mimed pooping on an excavator.
Eventually, sheriff’s deputies showed up and arrested the protesters for disorderly conduct.
As the Sentinel’s Paul Ingram pointed out, protesters who were doing a tree-sit to protect cottonwoods in Lochiel didn’t have as much trouble.
But that was in Santa Cruz County, which has a Democratic sheriff. When they crossed the county line into Cochise County, they entered the jurisdiction of Republican Sheriff Mark Dannels, who has made border security his signature issue for many years.