University of Arizona

Democratic incumbent Mary Madison, a minister and mental health counselor seeking a third term, faces Republican newcomer Kevin DuBay, a small business owner, in Iowa House District 31, based in West Des Moines. The candidates diverge sharply on education policy, with DuBay backing school choice, vouchers and parental-rights measures, while Madison emphasizes public school funding and teacher support. Both oppose using eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines. On property taxes, DuBay wants deeper cuts and relief for fixed-income seniors, while Madison warns against cuts that force local governments to slash services. Each also outlined approaches to Iowa's high cancer rates and state budget deficits ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Jon Kyl, a longtime Arizona Republican who served in Congress for nearly three decades, has died. His death came months after he announced he was withdrawing from public life following a dementia diagnosis disclosed last December.

Kyl represented Arizona in the U.S. House from 1987 to 1995 and in the Senate from 1995 to 2013, at one point serving as Senate minority whip. After leaving the Senate, he joined the lobbying firm Covington & Burling. In 2018, then-Gov. Doug Ducey appointed him to temporarily fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. John McCain, before Kyl returned to lobbying. In that role, he helped steer the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Ducey and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell were among those honoring Kyl, citing his legislative leadership and advocacy for victims of sex crimes.

Arizona's three public universities scored relatively well in the latest campus free speech rankings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), each earning a C- and helping push the state's average to second-best nationally, behind New Hampshire. The University of Arizona led the trio, followed by Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. FIRE recorded no free speech controversies at any of the three schools last year, and Arizona students gave relatively high marks on tolerance for disruptive conduct.

Still, the schools received F grades for administrative support and tolerance of controversial speakers, with a majority of students saying it's sometimes acceptable to shout down a speaker and nearly a third condoning violence in rare cases to stop one. Nationally, the survey of nearly 63,000 students found an average score of 61.36 — a seven-year high but still a D- — with the University of Chicago ranking first and New York University last. FIRE also flagged universities that penalized faculty over posts about Charlie Kirk's assassination.

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Arizona, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico over state laws granting in-state college tuition to immigrants without legal status, bringing the total number of states sued over such policies to 21. In Arizona, the challenged law is Proposition 308, a 2022 voter-approved measure allowing immigrants without legal status who attended an Arizona high school for at least two years to qualify for in-state rates. Oregon's 2013 Tuition Equity Act, which also covers veterans and lawful permanent residents, is likewise targeted, along with comparable statutes in Washington and New Mexico. The DOJ argues the policies violate a 1996 federal law by extending tuition benefits to immigrants without legal status that aren't equally available to out-of-state U.S. citizens.

The Arizona complaint cites estimates of over 3,600 immigrants without legal status potentially qualifying annually, with at least 720 already receiving in-state rates in fall 2025; in Oregon, an estimated 4,730 of 215,019 higher-education students are undocumented, with over 1,000 benefiting from the tuition program in 2023-24. The DOJ seeks court orders blocking enforcement. Federal courts have already struck down comparable laws in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois, with a dozen more states, including California and New York, facing pending litigation; a Minnesota case was dismissed and is under appeal. Oregon and Washington officials have vowed to defend their laws; Arizona has not yet responded.