Fires, unrest, lawsuits, politics dominate Southwest in 2025

By Dave Mason
The Center Square

2025 started in California with devastating wildfires, continued with immigration raids and riots protesting them, and ended with congressional redistricting.

It was a year of cliffhangers in Arizona, which almost saw its first state government shutdown, and a year of uncertainty in Nevada, where casinos saw a decline.

Here’s a look at the year’s major news in the Southwest.

California

The devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires started on Jan. 7.

The Palisades Fire, which struck the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of coastal Los Angeles and nearby Malibu and rural communities, burned 23,448 acres. It destroyed 6,833 structures and killed 12 people, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.

The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area destroyed 9,418 structures and killed 17 people, according to Cal Fire.

As the fires started, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was part of a Biden administration delegation to the new Ghanaian president’s inauguration. Bass said she wasn’t aware of warnings before the fire started and suggested Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley downplayed the risks. Bass later demoted Crowley and named interim and permanent fire chiefs.

In August, Crowley filed a legal claim against the city and Bass, claiming the mayor “launched a smear campaign built on falsehoods” because Crowley said the Bass’ budget cuts and the city’s years of neglect caused the fire department to be underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped.

In October, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Melbourne, Fla., resident, with starting the Palisades Fire. Rinderknecht was brought to Los Angeles and is awaiting a trial set for April 21. He has pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Southern California Edison, which many blamed for starting the Eaton Fire because of faulty equipment, has started a program to reimburse victims. Entities varying from the U.S. Department of Justice to the Pasadena Unified School District and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre have sued Southern California Edison.

Fires weren’t the only turbulence. After the Trump administration cracked down on illegal immigration with arrests and raids, rioters took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles in June. In response, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard to protect federal buildings.

Besides rioters, there were peaceful protesters, some of whom told The Center Square that they were avoiding any scenes of violence and simply wanted to get their message heard.

In July, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants during raids in marijuana fields in Southern California’s Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. ICE said more than 500 rioters attempted to disrupt the raids, but United Farm Workers said several agricultural workers were critically injured and one of them died from those injuries.

In Los Angeles, local officials and others accused ICE of detaining U.S. citizens and mistreating illegal immigrants during various operations. But Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin repeatedly told The Center Square that demonizing ICE was leading to a huge increase of assaults on agents.

As all this went on, California continued its growing number of lawsuits against the Trump administration on issues varying from immigration to food assistance. By the end of the year, California had filed 51 lawsuits. State Attorney General Rob Bonta joined or co-led a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in the suits.

Against the news was the backdrop of the 2026 midterm election, in which the party in the White House historically loses control of at least one chamber of Congress. At Trump’s urging, the Texas Legislature redrew congressional districts to pick up five Republican seats in the House. The Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by putting Proposition 50 on the November general election ballot to redraw congressional districts to pick up five Democratic seats. Nearly 65% of California voters approved Proposition 50.

Plaintiffs, including Assemblymember David Tangipa, a Fresno Republican on the Assembly Election Committee, and the U.S. Department of Justice, responded with a lawsuit accusing California of illegal racial gerrymandering. The defendants, who include Newsom, contend the gerrymandering was political-partisan, which is legal. A decision is expected soon from the U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Tangipa told The Center Square he expects the suit to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, regardless of who wins in the lower courts.

In the realm of more normal politics, Democrats dropped in and out of a crowded field in the open 2026 gubernatorial race, in which a couple Republicans are running. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat living in Los Angeles, decided against joining the race, raising speculation about her yet-to-be-announced plans, if any, for 2028.

Newsom, who said he will consider a run for president in 2028, will be termed out.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates vary from former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Tom Steyer, the billionaire who financed the campaign to pass Prop. 50.

It was also a year for movie studio mergers. Skydance bought Paramount Studios in Hollywood, and Netflix was all set to purchase Warner Bros. in Burbank, but is being challenged by a hostile bid from the newly merged Paramount Skydance.

Arizona

It takes three to tango.

That was according to state Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, then the chair of the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee, about getting the state Senate and House to agree on a $17.6 billion budget that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would sign. Ultimately the two Republican-controlled chambers agreed on a budget, and Hobbs signed it, just days before Arizona in June would have shut down its state government for the first time. Kavanagh went on to become the Senate’s majority leader.

“By working together, we have secured pay raises for state police and firefighters, made child care more affordable and accessible, taken action to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and invested in public education from kindergarten through higher ed,” Hobbs said.

The year’s drama persisted with the Dragon Bravo Fire, one of Arizona’s largest blazes at 145,504 acres. It struck the Grand Canyon National Park’s Northern Rim.

The blaze started July 4 and was 100% contained by late September when the rim partially reopened. Seasonal closure started Nov. 14. The National Park Service said the Northern Rim is tentatively scheduled to reopen on May 15.

Defense issues also dominated headlines in 2025. U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Arizona, urged Secretary of War Pete Hegseth not to downgrade Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix.

Also in 2025, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, went to Ukraine to watch pilots training on U.S. jets and voice his support for NATO and Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

Kelly, though, found himself at odds with Trump and Hegseth when he participated, along with other lawmakers, in a video urging military members to disobey illegal orders from the Trump administration. Hegseth said Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot, could be called back into service for a court-martial, but Kelly said he wouldn’t be silenced.

There were high-profile deaths this year in the Southwest. Among them was the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk when he spoke at a rally at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Kirk, who lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., was the founder and CEO of Phoenix-based Turning Point USA. His widow, Erika Kirk, stressed forgiveness during a memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, where those speaking on Kirk’s behalf included Trump.

Meanwhile, Tyler James Robinson, 22, is in jail waiting to be tried on seven counts, six of which are felonies that include aggravated murder of Charlie Kirk. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said he will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of murder. The next in-person hearing is set for Jan. 16 in Utah County’s Fourth Judicial Court in Provo.

In politics, Hobbs announced she would seek reelection in 2026. Trump, meanwhile, has endorsed two Republicans running for governor: Freedom Caucus member U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and Karrin Taylor Robson, who lost the 2024 U.S. Senate primary to Republican Kari Lake. On Sept. 30, a third Republican announced he was running for governor: U.S. Rep. David Schweikert of Phoenix.

Nevada

The $687 million gambling industry saw a decline in 2025 from 2024 on the Las Vegas Strip, along with a continued decrease in tourism.

You couldn’t bet this year on government websites always working. A cyberattack left the state’s executive branch without functioning websites in late August and early September.

In other news, the Democratic majority in the Legislature killed all of Republican Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony’s bills in 2026. The reason, as reported exclusively by The Center Square, was because of Anthony’s stance on keeping boys out of girls’ sports, according to a source who worked for Anthony’s office.

The blocking of the legislation meant the end of the state Office of Small Business Advocacy. Business owners who felt they were hurt by that move talked to The Center Square. They said the office helped them to navigate through the maze of government regulations.

In politics, Nevada’s 2026 gubernatorial race is neck to neck. An Emerson College poll this year shows Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the leading Democratic challenger, state Attorney General Aaron Ford, are tied at 41%. As the two sides campaigned, a former Clark County deputy district attorney, Bernard Zadrowski, talked to The Center Square about an ethics complaint he filed against Ford for allegedly using the Attorney General’s Office social media account on X to campaign.

And in economic news, the Legislature failed to pass a tax incentives bill that would have resulted in a new movie studio in Las Vegas. Assembly Bill 5, also known as the Nevada Studio Infrastructure Jobs and Workforce Training Act, passed in the Assembly but didn’t get enough votes in the Senate.

The bill would have brought California studios to Nevada. Warner Bros. Discovery, which operates the historic Burbank-based Warner Bros. movie studio, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose Culver City movie lot was once home to MGM classics, would invest in the Las Vegas studio. Another investor is the Howard Hughes Corp., a real estate company based in The Woodlands, Texas.

The Center Square’s Southwest team contributed to this report.