9 June 1st–June 7th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | Sack Wadsack? Recall effort targets drag-hating, book- banning state senator. BY ELIAS WEISS F ew have attempted to impeach a state senator in Arizona. Even fewer have been successful. But a grassroots movement in Tucson seeks to do just that. Sen. Justine Wadsack, a Republican, was sworn in on Jan. 9 after winning her seat by fewer than 2,800 votes. Since then, she has penned bills attacking unsheltered people, LGBTQ people, drag queens and children. That’s why the Tucson-based group, Sack Wadsack, filed paperwork to remove her from office with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office on May 8. With its logo depicting Wadsack’s iconic blunt bangs, black-tinted brows and vibrant lipstick, Sack Wadsack began collecting the needed 30,981 signatures — one-fourth of the total votes cast in November’s election — on May 9. The bipartisan group has until Sept. 5 to collect signatures in Legislative District 17, a majority Republican district in northeast Tucson that’s home to more than 230,000 people. No easy task The feat of recalling an Arizona state senator has been attempted three times before. It’s been successful once — in 2011, when voters recalled Sen. Russell Pearce after he authored anti-immigrant legislation and then advocated for eugenics and sterilizing poor women. Christina Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Sack Wadsack, said the effort will be successful given Wadsack’s legislative track record of attacking people, like Pearce more than a decade ago. However, Arizona doesn’t require a reason to peti- tion for a recall. “The things she’s doing harm us as Arizonans,” Rodriguez said. “The bills she’s passing are affecting Arizona as a whole. She’s not trying to hurt people in Tucson only; she’s looking to hurt people across the state. “People in Phoenix should care,” she added. ‘She’s ignoring voters’ In a letter to the editor published in the Arizona Daily Star on March 31, Tucson resident Jim McWilliams argued that Wadsack “is an ignorant person, but don’t the ignoramuses of Arizona deserve some political representation, too?” Sack Wadsack, which was founded on Feb. 15, however, believes the senator crossed the line of ignorance and has violated her oath of office after claiming on Twitter that she would only serve those who voted for her. “She’s ignoring voters in her own district,” Rodriguez said. “Whether or not you see eye-to-eye, and despite how divided we are in politics right now, you are not a senator for your political party only.” Sack Wadsack cites four bills sponsored by Wadsack as the reason for the recall. SB 1435: The bill ends the requirement for Arizona attorneys to be members of the State Bar of Arizona. Instead, the responsi- bility of licensing the state’s attorneys would fall under the purview of the state Supreme Court. SB 1700: The bill bans books in schools that are sexual in nature, books that “promote gender fluidity or gender pronouns” and books that “promote the grooming of children into normalizing pedophilia.” SB 1698: The bill makes it a felony for parents to take their children to a drag show, and parents who opt to take their children to a show would become regis- tered sex offenders. SB 1413: The bill requires Arizona cities to tear down homeless encampments and charge the people living there with crim- inal trespassing. The House passed SB 1698 and SB 1413 on May 15 and sent them to the Senate. If the bills make it to Gov. Katie Hobbs, the Democrat is expected to add them to her historic — and growing — list of vetoes. SB 1700 passed the Senate on March 20 and is awaiting a final vote in the House. “(Wadsack) is amplifying hysteria about drag performances,” said Tina Kilcullen, who filed the petition to recall Wadsack with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office. “She’s not going to stop writing these draconian bills.” Both Wadsack and one of her staffers declined to comment for this story. | NEWS | Matt Hennie Matt Hennie Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons Above: A Jan. 22 protest over anti- LGBTQ bills at the Arizona State Capitol included transgender pride flags and drag performers. Left: Organizers of a recall effort want to make Sen. Justine Wadsack the second state senator in Arizona booted from office.
