Progressive PAC puts $1 million into campaign against four GOP-referred ballot measures

A progressive political action committee says it will spend $1 million between now and Election Day urging Arizonans to reject four measures that Republican legislators referred to the Nov. 3 ballot, the Arizona Mirror reported Monday.

The committee, Will of the People, plans mail, phone, door-to-door and digital outreach. "Arizona voters will have the final say, and they deserve to know exactly what these measures would do before they cast their ballots," said Alison Marciniak, executive director of Progress Arizona, in a statement announcing the push.

All four measures reached the ballot on party-line votes on the final day of the 2026 legislative session, according to the Mirror. Early voting in Arizona begins Wednesday, Oct. 7, when county election offices mail early ballots.

What each measure would do, and what each side says

Prop. 142 would add language to the Arizona Constitution keeping public institutions from compelling anyone to endorse race-based preferences or diversity, equity and inclusion principles, and from funding offices that push preferential treatment based on race. Will of the People calls it a confusing constitutional change that limits speech in schools and other institutions. Matt Beienburg of the conservative Goldwater Institute has said it would give Arizona the nation's strongest state safeguards against DEI and race-conscious affirmative action.

Prop. 144, also a constitutional amendment, would make voters present government-issued identification to vote, both at the polls and by mail, without spelling out how that would work for mail ballots, the Mirror noted. It also adds citizenship and foreign-money provisions and, starting in 2028, an option to have ballots counted at the polling place on Election Day. The opposition campaign says it would make voting by mail harder. State Rep. Alexander Kolodin, the measure's sponsor and the Republican nominee for secretary of state, has said it would restore trust in elections and speed up results, and he denies that it would end voting by mail.

Prop. 318 would broaden the current state law on transgender athletes by requiring K-12 and college teams to be designated by biological sex, based on an athlete's original birth certificate, starting in 2027. Opponents say it moves decisions from parents, coaches and athletic groups to state government. Its House sponsor, Rep. Selina Bliss, has said it protects opportunities for girls. "Women's sports were created because biological differences matter," she said in a February statement.

Prop. 320 would require public school districts covering most Arizona students to raise the share of spending that goes to direct instruction by half a percentage point each year until it reaches at least 60%. The rule would cover all 71 districts in Maricopa and Pima counties, along with a few bigger rural districts enrolling 7,500 or more students. Districts that fall short would see their Classroom Site Fund share cut by a quarter each year until nothing is left. Sen. Jake Hoffman, the sponsor, told a Senate committee in February that it would improve teacher pay and shift money from administration to classrooms. Will of the People argues it does not address the state's low education funding and leaves key rules to be written later.

Sources

azmirror.com

azmirror.com

azfamily.com