President Donald Trump has two states that he hasn't gotten over losing, Arizona and Georgia, under his conspiratorial microscope again. Tusli Gabbard, the FBI and the US Justice Department are hunting for proof the 2020 election was stolen.

And Arizona's Senate President, Warren Petersen, gave the FBI full access to voting records.

This week on The Gaggle, we talk about the political fallout of the situation and why the Trump administration is dipping back into this well.

Email us: thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com

Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804

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What sounds like a made-for-TV political drama is real life for Scottsdale and it's tearing the conservative-majority city government apart.

This week on The Gaggle, we talk with The Republic's Scottsdale city reporter for an update on the drama happening in the West's most western town.

Email us! thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com

Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804

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It offsets those revenue losses to the government with steep cuts to services like the Medicaid program, requiring states to be responsible for funding food stamp programs and delivering tax cuts to the wealthiest taxpayers.

This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, our hosts are joined by Republic reporter Stephanie Murray. Together they discuss the key points out of the Big Beautiful Bill, how Arizona politicians showed up and how the new law will impact Arizonans daily.

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Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804

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Proponents say it's crucial to prevent non-citizens from voting in U.S. elections. Opponents say that this creates roadblocks that disenfranchise voters.

In Arizona, the Legislature sought to reinstate a state law requiring residents to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state Republicans' request on Aug. 22. The request is also backed by the Republican National Committee.

However, the court turned down a request to reinstate the portion of the same law that would bar federal-only voters from participating in federal elections.

So what does this all mean?

In this episode of The Gaggle's monthly series, Election Dissection, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka explain the law and explain who's effected by it.

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In Maricopa County in particular, there are four races worth your attention: county recorder, sheriff, board of supervisors, and superintendent.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with the Republic's county watchdog reporter, and co-host of The Gaggle's Election Dissection series, Sasha Hupka. 

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However, the stock market has been stabilizing. And for those of us in Arizona, things are looking up. At least a little. Inflation is cooling - though that doesn't mean prices are going down, except for gas prices. Those have dropped almost 40 cents. For more than a year wages have outpaced inflation.

So why do Arizonans, and most Americans, still feel a pinch in their pocketbooks? Groceries, housing, childcare, health care, everything feels so much more expensive. Why doesn't the good news feel like it's good?

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sat down with Jared Bernstein, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, on Friday, August 2, to discuss the state of the U.S. economy, how it's affecting Arizonans, what special challenges are state is facing, and what the Biden Administration is trying to do about. 

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Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division laid out the results of the 126-page report after a nearly three-year investigation.

Thus far, the reaction from the majority of Phoenix City Council has been fairly muted. Police union officials categorically denied those allegations.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's criminal justice reporter Miguel Torres and Phoenix reporter Taylor Seely to dig further into the report and what the political reaction has been so far.

Read the full story on the DOJ report on The Arizona Republic at azcentral.com.

Episode transcript can be found here.

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Scammers posing as legitimate workers or counselors for sober living communities in Phoenix would patrol areas where Native Americans would gather to buy and consume alcohol. They would then pick up people who were intoxicated on drugs or alcohol and take them to Phoenix. Once there they'd have them sign up for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCS. Once signed up, the victims would have their AHCCS accounts billed for alleged mental health treatment or addiction rehabilitation. But none of these treatments were ever provided.

But the fraud cut deeper than just loss of money. Victims found themselves stranded in the Valley, blackmailed and with no real support. Some even lost their lives in these fake sober living homes.

"For years, these providers have allegedly defrauded the state of millions of dollars while creating a large-scale humanitarian crisis that disproportionately affects Arizona’s tribal communities," Gov. Katie Hobbs said at a press meeting.

"This is tragic," Attorney General Kris Mayes added. "What has happened is tragic and outrageous. And, and I’ll just speak for myself as the attorney general of this state, I believe the state of Arizona owes our tribal nations an apology. 

In this episode of The Gaggle, host Mary Jo Pitzl sits down with the reporters who covered the story: Stephanie Innes, Arlyssa Becenti, and Richard Ruelas. 

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U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have been the topic of numerous news stories that raise ethical questions about the justices' actions as members of the high court. 

In southeastern Arizona, Cochise County Judge John Kelliher Jr. has drawn outsize attention for his conduct: Four formal complaints about this courtroom demeanor in two years.

What does all of this mean for the public confidence in the judicial system? Are we reaching a tipping point of lack of confidence more broadly? Or is this just all par for the course in a time of political teeth-gnashing?

In this episode of the Gaggle, we prob those questions and more. Hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down first with Arizona Republic reporter Sarah Lapidus. She has followed Kelliher’s track record with the Judicial Conduct Commission and explains why he continues to draw complaints that lead to high-profile reprimands.

Then, Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers School of Law, shares his views on what is going on at this moment in time and how the judicial process is perceived.

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Lawmakers are running out of bills to vote on, and budget talks are slogging along behind closed doors. The House is in the midst of a two-week break. But there is one exception to this very unhurried schedule: Ballot referrals.

These are proposed laws that go directly to the voters, avoiding the governor and her veto stamp. Others are amendments to the state Constitution, which require a vote of the people.

This month, two new referrals popped up like blooms on a saguaro cactus. Why are these measures showing up months into the legislative session? 

In this episode of The Gaggle, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by Paul Bentz, pollster for the political consulting firm HighGround. Together they discuss what might find its way onto the ballot this year and why Arizonans could expect a longer-than-normal ballot.

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Republicans have two-seat majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate. That means if Democrats could make a net gain of even one seat in either chamber, Arizona would have a divided government that mirrors the house and senate in washington. And if they pick up control in both chambers, well, that would be the first time since the 1960s, so we can only wonder what that might be like in this long-red state.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's Ray Stern to discuss where Democrats have to win if they really intend to flip control of the Legislature and who is trying to do it. But first, in several key districts, we have to get through some competitive primary races. 

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It's more than just changing demographics.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona to tease apart Arizona voter's preferences.

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When Lake entered the Senate race in November with former President Donald Trump’s prominent endorsement, many people thought the nominating race was over. But Lamb has stuck around.

In this episode of The Gaggle, Sheriff Lamb shares his views in an exclusive interview on the 1864 abortion law, why he wouldn’t have voted for Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s bipartisan border security bill and ultimately why he wants your vote on the July 30 primary.

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While the names of those charged have yet to be officially revealed, clues in the the 58 page indictment make it clear that the architects of Trump's national campaign to steal the election are also facing charges in Arizona. Some of those individuals appear to be Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyers Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb, and Trump advisers Boris Epshteyn and Michael Roman.

Trump, who is asking voters to return him to the White House this year, is “unindicted coconspirator 1,” according to the indictment.

In this special episode of The Gaggle, state politics reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Stacey Barchenger sit down at The Republic's capitol bureau to hash out what we know from the indictment and what may happen next. 

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With such powerful technology at everyone's fingertips the question arises: how can we keep our election systems safe from bad actors using AI?

In this episode, our election dissectors, Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka, speak with Don Palmer, the vice chair of the Election Assistance Commission. This is a bipartisan commission that was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and it is tasked with certifying voting systems across the country. It also supports state and local election officials in their efforts to ensure accessible, accurate and secure elections.

Palmer explains both the pros and cons of AI and why it's important to set parameters on how it can be used. You will also hear an example of deep faked voices of our hosts. Listen closely and see if you can tell the AI from the real voices.

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After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the exact parameters for Arizona went into question. Just months before, then-Governor Republican Doug Ducey signed a law that limited abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, when Roe v. Wade went into effect nationally, Arizona had an abortion law dating back to its territorial days.

So the question became: which ruling would be the law of the land in Arizona? At the time, the state Court of Appeals overruled and instated the 15-week law. This week, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed this decision, allowing the 19th century law to take affect.

Today on The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl dissect Arizona's new, but ancient, abortion law and how it will impact the state politically and legally.

First, state politics reporter Stacey Barchenger joins the podcast to break down why the justices allowed at 160-year law to stand and who will benefit politically from the decision.

Later, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias joins The Gaggle to investigate the legal fallout from the court's decision.

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When that happens, the vote in a multi-candidate race is split – and the outcome often is the candidate you least like wins.

This is called vote splitting, a phenomenon that happens when a race attracts at least three candidates who have similar positions or maybe similar demographics. This makes it attractive for a contrasting candidate to benefit from the divided vote and prevail.

It’s happened time and again across the nation and here in Arizona.

Think Paul Gosar. He emerged from an eight-candidate field in 2010 to win the GOP primary in a heavily Republican district. It cemented his standing as an incumbent and he hasn’t lost since.

There’s a move afoot to stop vote splitting by introducing “approval voting,” a system where voters could vote for all of the candidates in a given race who appeal to them. And they could do that without ranking them. This is something the Center for Election Science, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit focused on voting reform, is pushing.

In this episode of The Gaggle, Mary Jo Pitzl examines the effect of vote-splitting, the potential issues it can cause, and some of the unintended consequences of the practice. You'll also hear about the related practice of ticket splitting, which factored prominently played a big role in the 2022 general election. 

Joining Pitzl via Zoom are Nina Taylor, the organization’s CEO, and Chris Raleigh, director of advocacy and communication and a specialist in campaign management. 

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In this episode of The Gaggle, producer Amanda Luberto sits down with Stacey Barchenger, our state politics reporter, and Catherine Reagor who covers real estate issues. They hash out what could happen and what resources renters have access to right now.

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On March 1, the dispute marked a significant milestone: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowly rejected the argument from the grassroots group Apache Stronghold that mining activity would destroy First Amendment religious rites observed by Native tribes.

The court voted 6-5 to uphold a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction that sought to halt the transfer of federal land to Resolution Copper for the mining project.

The suit, Apache Stronghold v. United States, was filed in January 2021 in federal district court. After losing that ruling, the Native rights group took the case to the appeals court, where a three-judge panel rejected Apache Stronghold's assertion that the mine would pose a substantial burden to their First Amendment religious practice rights.

Oak Flat, located just shy of 70 miles east of Phoenix, is regarded as one of the most sacred sites to the Apache people. It has been at the center of debate on religious protections. Apache Stronghold, with the backing of the nation's largest religious freedom law firm, Becket Law, is resolute in its commitment to fight for the religious site's protection.

However, with this narrow ruling – a victory for Resolution Copper – the question now is: what’s next for the Apache people?

In this episode of The Gaggle, Mary Jo Pitzl and Kaely Monahan sit down with Indigenous Affairs Reporter, Debra Krol, to find out what's next for the sacred site.

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Residents in the small town of Litchfield Park will have the opportunity to cast their vote to be an official charter city. It's the first city in the Valley to do so in 40 years and will grant them independence from the state on things like when their elections are held and term limits on elected officials.

Tempe voters have the chance to elect who will sit on their city council. They will also vote on a proposition that will impact Tempe's ability to grow.

In this episode, producers Amanda Luberto and Kaely Monahan are joined by Republic reporters to discuss not only who is running and what is on the ballot, but why voters should turn out for these hyper-local elections.

We’ll also hear about one state senator who is trying to make changes to how cities can run their elections.

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In a interview with CBS' Face the Nation, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says that the deal will address a multitude of issues including the record surge of migrants.

But Republicans in both the Senate and the House are stirring against the proposal, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying it's "dead on arrival."

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's immigration and border reporter, Rafael Carranza to hash out what is in the bill and whether or not it's truly "dead on arrival."

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A third-generation resident of Gilbert, Arizona, Petersen was first elected to the Legislature in 2012 and has served in both the House, where he was the majority leader, and now in the Senate. 

As Senate president, Petersen along with his Republican counterparts in the House, brokered a state budget deal with Gov. Hobbs, as well as a compromise agreement on a regional transportation plan that gave everyone some claim to victory.

In this episode of The Gaggle, a politics podcast by the Arizona Republic, Senator Petersen sits down with hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Ron Hansen to discuss working in the rare state of divided government in Arizona and what lies ahead in 2024.

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Most of the tributes and memories have understandably focused on her time on the court. She was historic, after all, as the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court. 

But she was fiercely proud of her roots as an Arizona ranch girl. In fact, she wrote a book about that period of her life with her brother, Alan Day. 

In this episode of The Gaggle we hear from Alan Day as he takes us to the family ranch, Lazy B.

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He chalks up Mesa's success to several factors including smart investments in the city's properties. This in turn has paved the way for many of the world's biggest companies – Amazon, Apple, Google – to laid down roots here.

As Giles begins to wrap up his tenure as mayor of the Valley's largest suburb, he stopped by The Gaggle studio to reflect on how Mesa has evolved, the challenges its overcome and ones it still has, and where he sees himself going next. 

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In this episode, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl tease out the possibilities with longtime Tucson resident and reporter Curt Prendergast of the Tucson Agenda. 

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Some might say that the 2022 election has been over for almost a year. But some candidates are still contesting the results in court, while the last legislative session saw a raft of bills that would reconfigure elections.

Apart from never-ending election denialism, Arizona is seeing interest from organizations eyeing a third party presence on this battleground state’s ballots.  

While there are still months until Arizona’s presidential primary, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, his staff and county election officials across the state are busy getting ready for what lies ahead. 

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to discuss how his office is preparing for a busy year in 2024, what he's doing to regain the trust in the elections process and how he'll handle President Trump's qualifications for the ballot.

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The program helps some families, but critics say the program's cost will strain the state budget, and there's no way to gauge the kind of education students are getting or who's making money off of the program because it lacks many guardrails.

This year, more than 60,000 students are enrolled in the ESA program, a significant jump from last year's 12,000 students. Issues with administration are also plaguing the program.

In this episode of The Gaggle, The Republic's K-12 reporter, Yana Kunichoff joins hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Ron Hansen. Together they discuss how much this rapidly growing program will cost taxpayers, the data holes in the program, and how Arizona's ESA program can improve to better serve students.

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After 25 years, it’s not new and it’s not a classic. The team has considered relocating. A move seems off the table now, however.

This spring, voters in Tempe rejected an arena and entertainment district deal that would have created a new home for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team. That leaves the long-term future of the Coyotes up in the air.

Where do things stand with the D-Backs?

In this episode of The Gaggle, we’re talking through the Diamondbacks' stadium situation. Nick Piecoro, the Diamondbacks beat reporter for The Republic, joins hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl for the conversation.

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By this charter, they formed a new country. One free from Britain's rule. The Declaration of Independence showcased the rights and beliefs of the new country. It was a written record of what America would stand for and was signed by the nation’s founding fathers.  

Today, to honor the country’s sovereignty, The Gaggle presents a reading of the Declaration of Independence. 

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The ruling upended abortion laws across the country and created confusion in Arizona over whether a 19th-century near-total ban on abortions was the law, or a 2021 law limiting most abortions to within 15 weeks of conception.

Arizona’s legal landscape on this issue remains less than clear, and many candidates appear eager to test the political potency of abortion as an issue in 2024.

In this episode of The Gaggle, we’re speaking with two guests about how Dobbs has affected Arizonans and what it could mean for those running in 2024. 

First, you’ll hear from Stephanie Innes, who covers healthcare issues for The Arizona Republic. Then you’ll hear from Amy Walter of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which tracks political races across the country.

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The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. 

Juneteenth is considered America's second independence day. 

In honor of that, we here on The Gaggle present to you a reading of the 14th Amendment. This amendment grants citizenship to all persons either born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people. The amendment also provides equal protection under law. 

Here to read the Amendment are staff and reporters of The Arizona Republic.

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To make it stick, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy received more votes from House Democrats than from his fellow Republicans on a deal few on either side really liked. 

It was all part of the reality of a nine-seat GOP majority in the House with a party that has deep divisions.

Voters will reassess that majority next year. With two Arizona seats expected to be among the more competitive races in the country, voters here could play a role in deciding which party controls the House of Representatives.

In this episode, we'll hear about the candidates who have so far tossed their hats into the ring.

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Long before that effort concluded that President Joe Biden won by slightly more votes than the certified results showed, it was obvious that Doug Logan and his Cyber Ninjas team were partisans with no experience conducting what Republicans billed as a forensic audit.

Over the nearly two years since then, litigation from the Arizona Republic and others have led to the public release of 39,000 messages involving Logan, the one-time CEO of the now defunct Cyber Ninjas.

Yet despite the immense volume of now public information, we're still missing 3,000 documents from Logan. This in spite of a court order to release them. It's not clear why Logan continues to hold on to these documents. But one thing is certain the state Senate's "audit" was anything but professional or fair.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl unpack what information Arizonans do have from Dough Logan's documents, what is still missing, and why it matters for voters moving forward. Republic reporter Ryan Randazzo examined documents along with Larry Moore, the founder of the Boston-based election technology company Clear Ballot Group.

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In its place, the U.S. government is implementing enforcement policies meant to reduce the number of people reaching the U.S.-Mexico border while also creating opportunities for asylum seekers to gain protection within the country.

The transition to the new policies is expected to create significant challenges as border communities, the federal agencies and the non-governmental organizations that cater to the migrant population adapt to the changes that went into effect May 12.

What is next for migrants seeking shelter in the U.S.? And how will Congress handle this political hot potato moving forward?

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But not everyone is happy with the budget or how much of it was constructed behind closed doors.

In this bonus episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by reporters Ray Stern and Stacey Barchenger to hash out the wins and losses in this year's state budget.

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Proponents of the development claim that the sport and entertainment district will be a huge win for Tempe including generating nearly 7000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Opponents claim that the city should put its energy into fixing present issues like creating more affordable housing and tackling the opioid crisis. 

If the back and forth between critics and proponents isn’t enough, there’s the ongoing legal battle after Phoenix sued Tempe, alleging the apartments proposed for the project would create a safety hazard with low-flying aircraft at Sky Harbor International Airport. 

Today, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by The Republic’s Sam Kmack, who covers Tempe and Scottsdale, and Taylor Seely, who covers Phoenix but is a resident of Tempe and recently moderated a debate between the Vote Yes and Vote No groups on the Coyotes area issue.

You can see the full video of the debate here.

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The land sits on top of one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper reserves in the world. The mine, if allowed to go forward, would produce an estimated 40 billion pounds of copper over the next four decades. This is according to Rio Tinto, a global mining corporation of which Resolution Copper is a subsidiary. 

But the land is sacred to the San Carlos Apache tribe. Tribal members say that Oak Flat is a physical cornerstone of their religious beliefs. 

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with indigenous affairs and environmental reporter Debra Krol to discuss the fate of Oak Flat and Resolution Copper, and how this could end up being one of the biggest religious cases in recent decades. 

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What is clear is that Phoenix, and the greater Valley, have an enormous homelessness problem. It's only been exacerbated by rising rents and lack of affordable housing.

In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's housing team Catherine Reagor and Juliette Rihl to examine the how and why behind the Valley's housing and homelessness crisis.

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President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Arizona had the smallest margin of any state in the country. Arizona is working on its fourth straight cycle with a competitive Senate race, which could be a three-way contest next year.

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party to register as an independent earlier this year, and the No Labels and Forward parties are raising their profiles across the state.

Tech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang was in Phoenix last weekend to promote his Forward Party, just days after the No Labels Party qualified as a new political party in this state.

Third parties are nothing new to Arizona or U.S. politics. But they are often viewed as spoilers by both Democrats and Republicans. 

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by AJ Simmons. He is the research director at the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Springfield, and an Arizona native.

He joined the show to discuss the effects of third parties and different voting processes.

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The Republican who took over a Tucson-based seat from retired Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, prominently threw his backing for the House speakership to Kevin McCarthy, when three of his fellow Arizona Republicans had misgivings.

McCarthy rewarded Ciscomani’s loyalty with a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee. 

It was only last year that Ciscomani made his first run for office, narrowly defeating former state Sen. Kirsten Engel to win a seat in the House of Representatives.

Today on The Gaggle, Congressman Juan Ciscomani joins hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl on Zoom to talk about the work he's doing in Congress. 

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Arizona’s lawmakers need to reach an accord with the governor on an annual budget, and there is no shortage of issues to deal with in Washington, D.C. But prominent Republicans remain fixated on election denialism.

In this episode of The Gaggle, the political podcast of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl talk about how the Republican Party looks to move ahead with governing in Arizona and how it will talk to voters about the issues that matter to them before they go to the polls in 2024.

Joining them are John Thomas, a Republican strategist who is helping amplify the message of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is all but declared as a GOP presidential candidate, and Ray Stern, who covers the Arizona Legislature for The Republic.

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As Gov. Katie Hobbs settles into the business of governing, she’s battling a Republican-controlled legislature she hopes will turn Democratic next year. Today we’re talking to reporters in two states where Democratic governors have been hard to find — and their legislatures took two different paths.

In this episode of The Gaggle, national politics reporter Ron Hansen and state reporter Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with two reporters from states whose recent history looks similar to Arizona's present: Michigan and Kansas.

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But the bad vibes between them aren’t really new. It’s part of a split that began 17 years ago that has only widened in recent years. 

In today's episode of The Gaggle, we take a closer look at how these two politicians operate, and which might appeal more to Arizona voters should they go head-to-head in November 2024.

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But with a new split Congress, the joke might be reality, and Arizona’s congressional delegation is helping set the tone. 

Republican Rep. Andy Biggs helped lead a rebellious faction within the GOP in a fight over the House speakership that forced days of drama over that normally routine matter. Republican Paul Gosar is among those who have clamored for aggressive investigation of the Biden administration.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s defection from the Democratic Party gives the Senate a new operating dynamic as well.

As Capitol Hill adjusts to a new normal, important issues like the debt ceiling and border security hang over the nation’s unresolved policy agenda.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by two political experts, Wendy Schiller of Brown University and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, to dissect what to expect from Congress this session.

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Scottsdale has been warning the community for many years that its water processing services is not a permanent solution, particularly in light of the city's drought plan. Rio Verde is not under Scottsdale's jurisdiction, and as such the city is not required to provide any services to the community.

Several solutions have been proposed to address the water crisis, but nothing was solidified before the deadline of January 1, 2023.

How did we get here? And why?

In this episode of The Gaggle, we explore those questions and try to make sense of a very complicated situation. This week, county watchdog reporter Sasha Hupka, who's been covering the situation, joins us. Audio Producer Kaely Monahan fills in for our regular host Ron Hansen, who is out this week. 

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In her State of the State address, she set the tone for her legislative priorities for 2023 and emphasized a desire for bipartisanship. It didn’t take long for some of the Republicans in the Legislature to make clear they have little desire to find common ground on issues like abortion rights.

Hobbs spent much of her speech talking about public education, another area where she and her Republican lawmakers will have to avert a rapidly approaching funding deadline that could abruptly end the school year for some and unleash broad, new doubts about the state’s commitment to education.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by reporter Stacey Barchenger and partner at Ascent Media, Daniel Scarpinato. Daniel helped write these speeches as an aide to former Gov. Doug Ducey. He ended his tenure with the governor as Ducey’s chief of staff.

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So how will all that play out?

Today on The Gaggle, host Ron Hansen is joined by The Arizona Republic's Mary Jo Pitzl and Stacey Barchenger to hash out what the start of a new political era looks like for Arizona. Tops on the list are issues surrounding abortion access, how to tame inflation and how to get approved funding into school budgets. 

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In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2022 retrospective episode from last week. Or catch up on our exit interview with Governor Doug Ducey. 

We’ll be back with a fresh episode in the new year.  As always, thank you for listening, subscribing, and sharing our show.

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The year began with Gov. Doug Ducey’s final State of the State address. Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, shared his firm views that the 2020 election was not stolen.

We covered Ukraine, Uvalde and Roe v. Wade, all before diving into the 2022 midterm elections. We heard from the youth, the independents, and from candidates themselves.

We sadly said goodbye to Yvonne Wingett Sanchez as she embarked on her next endeavor, but welcomed The Arizona Republic’s politics team as regulars whom you’ve grown to know.

In this episode, we have a special roundtable with some familiar voices to our podcast: Mary Jo Pitzl, Ray Stern, Stacey Barchenger, Robert Anglen, Sasha Hupka and Ryan Randazzo.

Together, each reporter will discuss 2022's politics and give their roses – the good things; thorns – the not so good things; and buds – things they are hopeful about. 

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Ducey entered the Governor's Office at a turbulent time. Arizona was dusting off the vestiges of the Great Recession. His tenure included a teacher-led revolt at the state Capitol for higher wages and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

Through it all, Ducey kept Arizona's budget in the black, stood firm to his oath to support the state and U.S. Constitutions, and secured a long-term goal of giving Arizona parents the right to choose the school they want to send their children to.

The Gaggle sat down with the governor in his office at the state Capitol to reflect on his eight years in office. 

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Today, Arizonans are still frustrated about the border and immigration laws haven’t changed, but Arizona voters have.

During the recent elections, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 308, which allows undocumented students to pay for college at in-state tuition levels.

In this episode of The Gaggle, we'll take a closer look at what Prop. 308 will do, who it will help, and how it will impacts Arizona as a whole. 

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These normally forgettable functions of election administration are suddenly the subject of a pair of lawsuits that add a chaotic coda to a disappointing election for Republicans in Arizona and across the country.

After illegally going through with a hand count of their votes, Cochise County did not reach their deadline for certification.

And officials in GOP-controlled Mohave County threatened to delay their election certification, before relenting late Monday.

This could result in two Republicans losing their races.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by reporters Sasha Hupka and Mary Jo Pitzl to make sense of what the issues are, what is being done about it, and what Maricopa County has said in response.

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The biggest news of the cycle is that Democrat Katie Hobbs won the Arizona governor’s race against Republican Kari Lake on Monday evening. Hobbs will be Arizona’s first Democratic governor since Janet Napolitano left office in 2009 to join the Obama administration.

Hobbs likely will be working with a Republican-controlled Legislature. So what will that mean for the state? And what still isn’t decided after a week of counting?

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by reporters Stacey Barchenger and Ray Stern. Together they discuss where the election is now and what might be in Arizona's future.

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In this bonus edition of the Gaggle, we’ll update you on Arizona’s biggest unsettled races and we’ll go over one of the more pressing subplots to the election so far: Did glitches overshadow the results?

As a disclaimer for our listeners, this episode was recorded November 11 in the morning. 

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And the future on this day after the midterm election remains unclear.

Election tabulation problems drew attention in Maricopa County and Democrats made a strong showing with early voting. But the outcome of the state’s top races is unknown because the Republican-leaning Election Day vote totals are still trickling in, and ballots dropped off at vote centers haven't been counted at all.

Eyes are still on some of the most contentious races: governor, secretary of state and Senate, where Trump-supported candidates weren't yet a part of a Red Wave.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen gives an inside look into the Republic newsroom on election night. He is joined by reporters Stacey Barchenger, Mary Jo Pitzl, Tara Kavaler, Yana Kunichoff and Ray Stern as they analyze the early results and discuss what the races' outcomes could mean for the state's future.

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so that you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle appearing throughout the voting period. 

In this bonus episode you’ll hear from Democratic candidate Kirsten Engel who is running for the 6th Congressional District. This district covers parts of Tucson, Pima County and sections of others.

This is Arizona's only U.S. House race without an incumbent running. Representative Ann Kirkpatrick is stepping down. 

We reached out to the Republican candidate for this race, Juan Ciscomani, but he didn’t respond to our request to participate. 

You will hear Tara Kavaler, a politics reporter for the Arizona Republic, ask the questions. This interview was recorded on speaker phone, so please be aware of the lower sound quality.

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is a continuation of our series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period.

In this bonus Gaggle episode, we are taking a slight detour and speaking with our education reporters about school board elections including the candidates, their responsibilities, and why their role is so important to Arizona’s education system. 

You will hear our K-12 reporter, Yana Kunichoff speaking with our Arizona schools reporter, Renata Cló. 

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

In this bonus episode you'll hear from Democratic candidate Tom O'Halleran who is running for the 2nd Congressional District. This district covers more rural Arizona in Apache, Pima and Coconino County, among others. 

It is a retiree-heavy and traditionally Republican leaning district.

The Arizona Republic reached out to Republican candidate for this race, Eli Crane, but he didn’t respond to our request to participate. 

You will hear Tara Kavaler, a politics reporter for the Arizona Republic, ask the questions. This interview was recorded on speaker phone so please be aware of the lower sound quality.

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The national focus on Arizona inevitably revives interest in the baseless election denialism that has defined many Republican candidates across the country and in this state. 

After last year’s state Senate Republicans ordered a partisan review of ballots in Maricopa County, and after nearly two full years of former President Donald Trump falsely claiming widespread fraud in Arizona, the state’s election officials will face a big test.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Arizona Republic reporters Sasha Hupka and Mary Jo Pitzl. They talk us through how voting is shaping up as of now and what complications are already evident.

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This question and answer with attorney general candidates is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

The candidates are Republican Abe Hamadeh and Democrat Kris Mayes. One of them will be replacing Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who has served the maximum two terms. 

Hamadeh did not respond to requests to participate in this interview. 

In this Q&A, you will hear our politics reporter Tara Kavaler asking the questions to Kris Mayes. 

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

In this bonus episode, you'll hear from Incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly who is running for U.S. Senate.

We reached out to the Republican candidate for this race, Blake Masters, but he didn’t respond to our request to participate. Libertarian candidate Marc Victor did participate, but has since dropped out of the race.

You will hear Ron Hansen, a politics reporter for the Arizona Republic, ask the questions.

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

I’m Amanda Luberto, one of the producers for The Gaggle. In this bonus episode we’ll hear from Democratic candidate Greg Stanton who is running for the 4th Congressional District. This district covers Tempe, parts of Mesa, Phoenix and Chandler. 

It’s been referred to as the “big purple corridor” because of its independent-leaning nature.

The Arizona Republic reached out to Republican candidate for this race, Kelly Cooper, but he didn’t respond to our request to participate. 

You will hear Tara Kavaler, a politics reporter for the Arizona Republic, ask the questions.

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The ads on your screens, the flyers in your mailbox, the signs on seemingly every open corner are targeting the most coveted bloc of voters in Arizona: those who refuse to be beholden to either camp. Independents.

In today's episode of The Gaggle, we hand over the mic to them. We hear how some plan to vote, why they choose to be independent, and their concerns for our state and nation. 

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

In this bonus episode we’ll hear from the two candidates running for the 1st Congressional District, which spans the northeast valley and reaches into parts of north-central Phoenix. It is a newly created district, which was mostly the 6th Congressional District before.

Incumbent Republican David Schweikert is facing Democrat Jevin Hodge to represent one of Arizona’s wealthiest districts.

You will hear Tara Kavaler, a politics reporter for the Arizona Republic, ask the questions to each of the candidates. First you will hear from David Schewikert, followed by Jevin Hodge.

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The death launched a historic cross-border investigation that ultimately changed how the Border Patrol functions.

But José Antonio isn’t the only person to have been killed across the border between Mexico and the United States. His story became an example of those families who are still fighting for justice.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Arizona Republic reporters Rafael Carranza and Maritza Dominguez. Alongside producer Amanda Luberto, they told José Antonio's story in season three of the Republic's investigation podcast, Rediscovering. 

After visiting Ambos Nogales for the 10-year memorial celebration, Rafael and Maritza share how José Antonio's case is still impacting the family and our legal system.

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The Gaggle and The Arizona Republic’s political team are connecting with candidates so you can hear them make their case to voters in their words. 

This is part of a series of special bonus episodes of The Gaggle throughout the voting period. 

In this bonus episode we’ll hear from the two candidates running for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state’s top education boss. Incumbent Democrat Kathy Hoffman is facing Tom Horne, the Republican former attorney general and former superintendent from 2003 -2011, where he served two terms. You will also hear from Yana Kunichoff, our K-12 reporter, who spoke with each candidate.

You will hear Yana ask the questions first, with incumbent Kathy Hoffman answering first followed by Tom Horne. 

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Ballot measures play a big role in deciding how Arizonans want their state run, but it can be confusing to sort through what each really stands for and if you want to vote yes or no.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Arizona Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Ryan Randazzo, who have written about the different measures now before voters.

They discuss the key initiatives, how they got to be on the ballot, who supports them, and who opposes them.

Follow The Gaggle and all azcentral.com podcasts on Twitter here.

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In a year marked by historic inflation and a seismic Supreme Court ruling on abortion, many political experts are expecting unusually heavy turnout. If that happens, America’s young adults could play a big role.

But what do they want, or care about? Are they Democrats? Republicans? Or independents?

In this episode of The Gaggle, we’re talking to some young adults to find out what’s on their minds. 

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Just this week, Maricopa County’s top prosecutor reversed herself and said she wouldn’t prosecute women for getting an abortion. 

Facing a charged political environment, Arizona officials have struggled to clarify what is legal and what is now forbidden after the U.S. Supreme Court in June erased federal abortion rights.

The Pima County ruling sparked another round of anger and anguish from Democrats. Most Republicans preferred to let the latest development pass quietly.

In this episode of The Gaggle, Brookings senior fellow and founding director Center for Effective Public ManagementElaine Kamarck (@EKamarck) joins our host, Ron Hansen to discuss how abortion restrictions may impact midterm elections.

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Almost immediately, that projection set off a firestorm in the White House, capped by then-President Donald Trump suggesting that the election was stolen. The backlash in Arizona came swiftly.

Protesters gathered at the state Capitol, claiming a stolen election even as the votes were still being counted. Maricopa County became the national epicenter of the so-called “big lie” that widespread fraud allowed Biden to claim victory.

By the end of 2020, the Arizona Republican Party assembled “alternate electors” to justify setting aside election results in Washington, D.C. 

About the same time, Arizona state Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, set her chamber on a fateful path as well. She launched an unprecedented review of Maricopa County’s ballots in search of the fraud so many had claimed in Arizona.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Arizona Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Robert Anglen, who helped cover the ballot review and the fallout since then.

They discuss the year since the ballot review concluded, what it accomplished, and how it will affect the 2022 elections come November.

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What can be expected is that there will be a representative for the whole spectrum of opinions: from election deniers to abortion rights supporters.

This is the expected outgrowth of a newly drawn political map where most races are not competitive in general elections.

But what about the 11 state house races around Arizona where there is a little suspense over who will sit in the state Legislature for the next two years?

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by state politics and issues reporter Ray Stern to make sense of the many Legislative races that will be on your ballot come November.

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The kids are back to school. Members of Congress are back in Washington.

The midterm elections are looming, and control of both chambers of Congress is in question. 

Currently, Democrats lead with 220 members in the 435-person House of Representatives, which has lit a fire under Republicans to regain the House. 

But a Republican takeover might not be as easy as predicted. For answers, some are looking right here in Arizona.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Kyle Kondik. He is the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a non-partisan newsletter from the University of Virginia on campaigns and elections.

Together they discuss the status of Arizona's federal races, the Senate and the House races, which could offer clues to how the country might be voting as well.

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The federal Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the nation’s water projects, gave the seven states and 30 tribes that use the Colorado River eight weeks to come up with a plan to conserve more water. 

The goal was to conserve an extra 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water, thereby stabilizing the rapidly dwindling reservoirs. 

However, no plan was reached and the clock keeps ticking.

In this episode, we’re talking about an issue many of you have sent our way: Arizona’s water crisis. How bad is it? And what are government and policy leaders doing about it?

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He signed into law House Bill 2853, expanding school vouchers to allow all parents to use them for private school tuition or other educational costs. It's being lauded as the biggest school-choice victory in the nation.

Supporters say it will increase opportunities for Arizona students and families to choose the education they want without being limited by financial situations, but critics argue it casts a blind eye to the already struggling public school system in the state.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by K-12 education reporter Yana Kunichoff to break down what the law really means for the future of the state and what it means for Ducey's legacy as governor. 

Later in the show, Darleen Opfer, vice president and director of RAND Education and Labor, discusses potential obstacles Arizona parents could still face and where the expanded voucher program places the state in the national conversation.

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The historic legislation provides up to $52 billion dollars from the U.S. government to help spur production of semiconductor factories, advanced technologies and research facilities across the country. 

The Biden administration hopes it will open doors to new commercial breakthroughs in emerging fields such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. 

With the passage of the CHIPS Act, the U.S. is ready to once more become a world leader in semiconductor production and challenge China’s domination in that industry.

One of the states that could stand to benefit from the law is Arizona, which has long been a desirable location for tech companies from Motorola to Intel. 

In today’s episode, The Gaggle investigates what the new federal initiative could mean in a state trying to expand its high-tech footprint. 

The president of Arizona State University Michael Crow and Mesa Mayor John Giles join our host Ron Hansen in the conversation. 

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Kari Lake clinched the Republican nomination for governor and will go head-to-head with Democrat Katie Hobbs. 

Republican Blake Masters will face off with incumbent Democratic Mark Kelly for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

In the Secretary of State race, Republican, and notorious conspiracy theorist, Mark Finchem will face off with Adrian Fontes, the Democratic former Maricopa County Recorder. 

So what does this say about Arizona’s electorate as we head into November? Are Trump-style Republicans primed to take hold in our state? Or will the majority of Arizonans turn to Democrats in the fall?

In this episode of The Gaggle, we’re setting the table for the midterm elections. We’ll talk about how voter choices in the primaries will help determine what happens in November.

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As of Thursday evening, gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake, clinched the GOP nomination. Adrian Fontes beat Reginald Bolding for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. 

But there are still ballots to count, and it hasn’t been smooth sailing. From pens smudging ballots in Maricopa County to Pinal County running out of ballots, the August primaries gave those suspicious of elections more to complain about. 

In this special bonus episode of The Gaggle, we’re taking a closer look at issues that have handicapped the election process and what the response has been. We’ll also take a look at the gubernatorial race. 

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In the U.S. Senate race, Blake Masters beat out his four rivals on the Republican ticket. 

And in the state Senate, House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who famously rejected Trump’s requests to help sidestep voters in the 2020 election, is losing to Trump-endorsed David Farnsworth. 

Eyes are still on one of the most contentious races. The Republican gubernatorial contest between Trump-backed Kari Lake and Mike Pence-backed Karrin Taylor Robson is in a virtual tie. The winner will face Democrat Katie Hobbs.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen gives an inside look into the Republic newsroom on election night. He is joined by reporters Stacey Barchenger, Mary Jo Pitzl, Tara Kavaler and Ray Stern as they analyze the early results and what they could mean for voters in the November general election.

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But their differences now really define them. 

With thousands on hand, Trump took aim at the Biden administration and Republicans who haven’t joined his false claims of a stolen election. Those include Pence and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

Meanwhile in Peoria, Pence and Ducey held a more intimate gathering of hundreds of supporters in hand for gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, a GOP rival of Lake's. 

Both sides are battling for the future of the GOP. Trump commanded a much larger crowd. Does that mean he’s winning?

In this week's Gaggle, host Ron Hansen is joined by Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger to unpack what a Trump and Pence endorsement can do for Arizona's primary candidates. 

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Arizona, the state with the closest contest in the 2020 election and some of the staunchest Trump allies on Capitol Hill, is a recurring topic in the hearings.

Because Arizona's state Legislature was controlled by Republicans, Trump and his allies made the state one of the key targets of their pressure campaign to sidestep voters.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Republic reporter Richard Ruelas. Ruelas has covered the extremist groups involved at the insurrection. Together, they recap how Arizonans were linked to the Jan. 6 uprising and the hearings that followed. 

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House Bill 2721 ensures that all Arizona entities investigating police departments have police officers on the investigation team from the same agency being investigated. And those officers must make up at least two-thirds of the investigating body. 

The bill is sponsored by Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican from Fountain Hills – who is currently running for the Arizona Senate. 

On its heels is another bill that would criminalize recording video of police within eight feet or less. Both bills were recently signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey. 

The Phoenix Police department has been under intense scrutiny after allegations of abuse, excessive force and discrimination by the department’s officers came to light. The Department of Justice opened a far-reaching investigation into these claims last year. 

In this episode of The Gaggle, we take a closer look at how these new laws will affect policing and police accountability in our state. 

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More money for infrastructure, education and water issues and raises to state employees are included in the spending package.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, guest host Amanda Luberto talks with Arizona Republic state politics reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Stacey Barchenger to break down how the legislation will affect you, and the whole state, moving forward.  

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The 5-4 ruling now leaves it to the states to set their own abortion laws. 

In some states, abortion rights are protected no matter the national ruling. In others, abortion became immediately illegal. 

Arizona is in a gray zone.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen in joined by two Arizona Republic reporters to help give a better understanding on where Arizona stands in a post-Roe world.

The show is first joined by health reporter Stephanie Innes and later on, state politics reporter Ray Stern. 

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It can only mean one thing: elections are around the corner. 

We are picking through the notable races and candidates you should pay attention to ahead of the primaries on Aug. 2. In this episode, we take a closer look at who’s running for a congressional seat in Washington D.C.

Lorna Romero of Elevate Strategies and a Republican, and Eric Chalmers of Strategies 360, a Democrat, walk us through who's running, who stands out, and who has the likeliest chance of winning a seat in Congress.

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Here in Arizona, the race to replace him is in full swing. with no one really offering what he has.

As the Aug. 2 primary approaches, The Gaggle is covering the state's most competitive races, including who is running and how they stack up. Last week, the focus was on the state Legislature.

This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is first joined by Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger to discuss the Republicans and Democrats squaring off in the governor's race.

Later, Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl joins to inform about the secretary of state's race, a contest getting attention for the first time in a long time.

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In this episode, our own state politics reporter, Ray Stern will help us make sense of the primaries to watch in the state House and Senate.

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Salvador Ramos opened fire with an AR-15-style assault rifle in a fourth-grade classroom before an officer killed him to end the rampage. It is the deadliest school shooting since the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. 

The violence in Texas still shocks, but it doesn’t feel new.

The political response seemed more combative, more quickly, in another sign of America’s all-too-familiar political stalemate over gun violence.

Polling shows large majorities of Americans favor at least some greater restrictions on access to firearms, yet the issue is scarcely discussed on Capitol Hill.

At the state level, it’s a different story.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Republic reporter Rafael Carranza, who reported from Uvalde. UCLA professor Christopher Poliquin also joined the show to discuss how lawmakers react to these tragedies. 

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After the recent massacre in Buffalo that police believe was at the hands of a white racist, Rogers crossed a line in a vague social media post that fueled a conspiracy that the slayings were part of a federal false-flag operation.

Nearly all her Arizona Senate colleagues voted for an ethics investigation, but they limited their scrutiny to a seven-word post after the slayings in which she noted that “Fed boy summer has started in Buffalo.”

They rejected a Democratic measure to immediately expel her. The Senate Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday on the investigation into Rogers and her tweet.

In this episode, Brian Levin, a national expert on hate and extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, joins The Gaggle. He explains how Rogers and the rise of extremists in Arizona compares to what is happening more widely across the country.

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Matta worked under Republicans and Democrats and oversaw 32 elections. He ran nearly 203,000 test ballots to verify the accuracy of the state's election machines.

Now, Matta is moving into the private sector as the state prepares for elections that will again test public confidence.

In this episode of The Gaggle, we speak to Matta about his tenure as an elections security officer, what he saw during his years of service and why he trusts our elections process.

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The main driver of inflation has been consumer demand and supply chain issues that have lingered as the COVID-19 pandemic slows down. 

It is currently affecting Americans day to day, and more than half of the country says it's now impacting their long-term financial goals. In a speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden addressed the rising inflation issues but spoke more about putting the blame on Republicans rather than a plan to combat it.

Voters have a chance to show their frustration at the polls this election year.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by pollster Paul Bentz. He's senior vice president at High Ground Public Affairs Consultants and joins The Gaggle to discuss how inflation going to impact voters' decisions in the upcoming election. 

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And now added to the list of regulations that will be lifted is Title 42. 

Title 42 is a public health code that was established in 1944 as a part of the Public Health Services Act. It gives the United States the ability to deny entry of non-citizens in the case of disease that could be seen as a serious danger to the U.S.

It was rarely used but was put into effect in March 2020 when the spread of COVID-19 became more serious. Since then, it has been used more than 1.7 million times by Customs and Border Protection. 

President Joe Biden’s administration announced it will rescind the current policy later in May after more than two years, but not everyone agrees that it’s the right move.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by Arizona Republic reporters Rafael Carranza and Clara Migoya to parse through Title 42, how it is affecting Arizona's border, and what the future holds.

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Adel's resignation sparked a dash to qualify for the election to replace her and a lightning round of interviews for an interim boss.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has appointed Republican Rachel Mitchell as the interim county attorney to finish out Adel's term, which ends this fall.

Candidates to run for the office in the 2022 election had just two weeks to file paperwork and gather signatures to qualify for the August primaries in their bid to take over one of the largest prosecutorial teams in the country. All this begs the question: What's next for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office?

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More than 2,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border at Tijuana into San Diego. President Biden has ordered border agents to process any Ukrainians seeking sanctuary in the U.S.

He says the United States will accept up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. 

But why exactly are Ukrainians coming to the U.S. through Mexico from Europe amid the war in their homeland?

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We are in the wild west of marijuana production and that means some corners are cut and standards aren’t always consistent. Some cannabis companies have failed to keep their products free of contaminants. 

Arizona, like most states with legal marijuana and testing rules, requires growers to submit the products to state-licensed labs before marijuana is sold on dispensary shelves. But in unlike other states, regulators here don't do their own testing to ensure the weed is safe.

In this bonus episode of The Gaggle, an azcentral.com podcast,  Arizona Republic business reporter, Ryan Randazzo talks about how he got a lab to test products he bought, and how results came back showing some of that cannabis was contaminated with a pesticide.

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Supporters say the abortion restriction protects women from the emotional and physical trauma of undergoing abortions and saves lives. Supporters of the bill impacting transgender youth say it protects children and women’s sports.

One of those proud supporters is Cathi Herrod.

Herrod is the president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a socially conservative non-profit advocacy organization. Those who have followed state politics since the center’s start in 1995 probably have heard of her. The center has have been instrumental in helping pass numerous socially conservative laws in its 27 years.

The center promotes what it refers to as the foundational principles of life, religious freedoms and family values. Herrod has served as president since 2006.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Yvonne Wingett Sanchez sat down with Herrod to discuss her recent successes and the center's future legislation.

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Those who oppose abortion rights Pro-life advocates are hailing the new law as a huge success in the fight to protect the unborn. But those who support abortion rights describe it as heavy-handed government intrusion into personal medical decisions … as well as deepening racial disparities in health care access.

By enacting one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, Arizona joins other Republican-led states chipping away at Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion rights, that is currently expected to be reined in by the high court this term.

This week on The Gaggle, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by Arizona Republic politics reporter Stacey Barchenger. Together they break down what Arizona’s upcoming abortion law does and what it does not do, how this plays into the agenda for Ducey and Republicans nationally.

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After sweeping across China and Europe, the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, made its way to America. The nation was suddenly locked in quarantine. Grocery store shelves were barren of essentials. Workers were laid off by the millions. Life as we knew it was upended and no one how bad it would get or how long it would last.

Around this time, Gov. Doug Ducey took some of his first executive actions on COVID-19. All elective surgeries were halted to make room in hospitals for coronavirus patients. Restaurants were closing but were allowed to start serving alcohol to go.

Two very strange years later, it seems that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Yvonne Wingett Sanchez is joined by two Arizona Republic reporters to help take stock of it all. 

Stephanie Innes covers health and walks through the timeline from March 2020 to March 2022. Russ Wiles is a business reporter and he shares how Arizona is surviving financially and economically compared with the rest of the country.

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Her time as County Attorney comes to an end amidst scrutiny that she is not fit for office after her staff raised concern regarding her battle with alcohol abuse. 

Arizona Republic investigative reporter Robert Anglen recently noted that 180 cases fell apart because of her procedural failures. 

Her impending departure means there will be a special election to replace her, and not a lot of time to qualify to run. As of yesterday, Julie Gunnigle, who ran against Adel in 2020, collected enough signatures to run.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Ron Hansen talk with Robert Anglen about Adel's resignation and what will happen next to replace her.

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Precinct committee members, or PCs, are not people the casual voters will know, but they play a key role in shaping party politics and who runs for political office.

Republicans quickly pushed through election changes that reflect the state's new political boundaries after last year's redistricting process. The governor signed the bill the same day.

To the surprise of the grassroots and lawmakers themselves, the law also eliminated elections for PCs. 

Changing the law it requires a legislative super-majority, and the Democrats aren't eager to help Republicans fix their mistake. Sparks are flying on both sides of the aisle.  

In this episode of The Gaggle, The Republic's state government reporter, Mary Jo Pitzl, joins hosts Ron Hansen and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez to discuss the unexpected drama.

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Another participant, Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff, was censured by the Arizona state Senate for threatening comments she made to her colleagues. 

It was the first time in three decades a senator was publicly censured by her own party. It was a move applauded by Gov. Doug Ducey, who had been slow to condemn her remarks.

The rise of extremism in the Arizona GOP has grown over the past few years, with concerns also raised over the actions of Kelli Ward, chair of the Republican Party of Arizona. Recently, the U.S. House Committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol issued subpoenas to her.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen talk with political historian Matthew Dallek. They discuss how these fringe views became more mainstream and what it means for the future of politics.

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Among those on hand were several notable Arizonans, including U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, a former Fox 10 anchor.

Also last weekend, far-right extremists heard from U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and state Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff.

The Conservative Political Action Conference and America First Political Action Conference drummed up grievances against Biden and promoted former President Donald Trump.

In today's episode, The Republic's Stacey Barchenger joins Gaggle hosts Ron Hansen and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez to dissect the what happened and what it means in Arizona.

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He’s still getting lobbied by some in that orbit, and Bowers is still pushing back. His support was recently sought He recently received a recent effort to get his support on a bill to decertify the 2020 presidential election results. That effort was previously unknown. 

At the outset of this year’s legislative session, Bowers emphatically killed one bill that would have banned voting machines and mail voting, among other things. Bowers assigned the bill to 12 House committees, effectively ensuring its demise.

He also came out against another bill that would set aside the 2020 presidential results. Bowers called the legislation “profoundly unwise.” That bill was introduced by Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, a loyalist to former President Donald Trump.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen wanted to hear directly from the speaker. He is an artist by trade who is charting a decidedly different path than many in his party these days. 

The Gaggle met with Bowers in his office to discuss his relationship with Republican Party, previously unseen documents related to the 2020 presidential election results, and his future.

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But the truth of the matter was that they were anything but.

Now the House committee investigating the January 6th attack subpoenaed two Arizonans who signed that false document. 

In this week's Gaggle reporter Richard Ruelas joins Yvonne Wingett Sanchez to explain what was happening with the Arizona GOP electors.  

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She returned to her office in March, only to step away in August 2021 while she entered rehab for anxiety, alcohol abuse and an eating disorder.

Now, according to an investigation by Arizona Republic reporter Robert Anglen, staffers have expressed concern over her sobriety and absence in key meetings.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, Anglen joins host Ron Hansen is joined by Robert Anglen to discuss these allegations and what the next steps could be for Adel.

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This is the stage set for schools this semester. Last week on The Gaggle we heard from our own education reporter and the executive director of Arizona Schools Administration about what the situation looks like on the ground. This week, we turn our attention to the capitol and the bills that could affect schools and their ability to defend against the coronavirus.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen talk with Mary Jo Pitzl, state government reporter, and Stacey Barchenger, who covers the Ducey administration for The Arizona Republic about how the Arizona legislature is dealing with COVID and schools.

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The COVID-19 variant omicron is twice as contagious as the delta variant and at least four times as contagious as the first strain we experienced in March 2020. Currently, the omicron variant has resulted in the highest number of COVID-19 cases Arizona has seen in months. 

This has some parents nervous about their K-12 children returning to class in 2022. But schools that don’t return in person run the risk of losing school funding.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen talk with Yana Kunichoff. She is the k-12 education reporter at the Arizona Republic.

She joins the podcast to dive into what is going on within Arizona’s public school system about the coronavirus, how schools are staying open and what that could mean for parents and students moving forward.

Later in the episode, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez talks with Mark Joranstaad, executive director of the Arizona Schools Administration, for a look on in the inside of the operation.

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Lots of questions are circling the copper dome at the Capitol. But one in particular is loitering in the wings: Can Arizona lawmakers come together to make real decisions this year? Or will they get bogged down in political fights?

Ray Stern, Arizona state politics reporter, and Mary Jo Pitzl, state government reporter, join The Gaggle today to hash out what the 2022 session holds for Arizona. 

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Tax cuts, COVID-19 response, school choice and school spending and border security are among topics Ducey mentioned in his speech. The governor also invoked the words of his high school football coach, who told players to play the game to the bitter end. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen talk with Daniel Scarpinato. He served as Ducey’s chief of staff from 2018 to 2021 but has been a part of his team since 2014. He advised Ducey on the Governor's State of the State speech and is now a partner at Ascent Media, a national advertising and political consulting firm.

They break down the final State of the State speech, what can be expected from Ducey's last year in office, and the shifting political winds that will affect the 2022 election cycle. 

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As we look ahead into 2022, the hosts of The Gaggle, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen, cover some of the biggest stories we are prepping for this year. Joined by fellow Arizona Republic reporters, The Gaggle breaks down redistricting, the Senate race and what Gov. Doug Ducey might do next.

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As the year comes to a close, the hosts of The Gaggle, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen, cover the biggest stories from 2021. Joined by fellow Arizona Republic reporters, The Gaggle breaks down the Jan. 6th Capitol riot, the ballot recount, the rise of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, the unease of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., within her own party, and how COVID-19 affected universities. 

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Adams said she was discriminated against on the basis of race and sex – that when she repeatedly raised questions about her pay and working conditions with supervisors, she was fired – a maneuver she argued was retaliation for questioning the process.

Adams, who is African American, filed a discrimination lawsuit contending she was unfairly being paid less than white, male colleagues. A motion filed by then Senate lawyer Michael Moberly said Adams ‘simply expressed a desire to discuss a potential raise because her workload had increased, and she had not received a raise during the time she had been employed at the Senate.’

As it turned out, the legislative policy adviser affirmed Adams did earn less than many white, male colleagues.

A federal jury last month awarded Adams $2.75 million, ruling she ‘was’ fired for questioning the pay gap. Because of laws capping damages, she will actually receive no more than $300,000.

Hobbs released a three-minute apology video via Twitter earlier this month – a mea culpa that included everything from Talonya Adams to her lack of accountability to her limited experience with racism. But was this apology sincere or a part of a larger strategy to help her become the next governor of Arizona?

In this week's Gaggle episode, national politics reporter Ron Hansen examines this question and more of the fallout between Secretary Hobbs and Adams with Stacey Barchenger, the Republic’s state politics reporter.

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Woods was known as a fighter who stood up for what was right, even when it wasn’t popular. He will forever be remembered as an authentic Arizonan. 

The former Republican Arizona Attorney General was celebrated at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix on November 23rd. The memorial brought crowds of family, friends, and those who respected Woods.

To remember his life as a politician, a lawyer, and a person, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen invite EJ Montini to the show. Montini is a columnist for the Arizona Republic who wrote about Woods after his passing.

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Stacey Barchenger, who covers the Ducey administration for The Arizona Republic, has gone over the records to see how the early stages of the controversial new program are working out.

A closer examination of the program reveals that it’s not just the U.S. Department of Education, public schools across Arizona and public health officials who are unhappy with it so far.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, host Ronald J. Hansen speaks with Barchenger about the demand for vouchers, how the state is doing at approving requests, the allocation of money and more. 

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The election review was started almost singlehandedly by Senate President Karen Fann at the behest of Trump, his allies and some members of her own caucus, and now it’s coming to an end.

In the fifth and final episode of Democracy in Doubt, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen dive into those who championed the ballot review, like One America News’ Christina Bobb, why Ken Bennett was treated like a pariah, Trumps return to Arizona, who claimed the numbers were ‘made up’ and the fallout of those involved.

In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic dug into the election review by examining text messages, emails, public records and court records, many made public after the news outlet sued the state for access.

Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.

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In episode four of a five-episode series, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen dig deep to find out if the Arizona election review was about election integrity or just Trump – how Arizona State President Karen Fann chose partisans with little experience with ballot reviews, which former GOP chair consulted from the shadows and more.

In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic examined a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access. Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.

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In episode three of a five-episode series, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen detail the narrative of a stolen election pressed by Trump, Gosar and Biggs. It was echoed by millions of the president’s followers and encouraged state Senate President Karen Fann to push ahead with a partisan ballot review. Once again, Arizona found its way back into the spotlight as a hotbed of partisan extremism and a magnet for those pushing election conspiracies.

 In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic examined a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access. Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.

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The next 35 days would see divisions within the party, talk of subpoenas, more White House calls and then, Jan. 6.

In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic interviewed dozens of people who were in and around the effort to alter the election outcome and the ballot review that for months sustained outrage over Trump’s loss. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.

The Republic also reviewed thousands of pages of documents obtained through public records requests and in an ongoing lawsuit against the Senate and the company it hired to conduct the ballot review.

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 The Republic uncovered efforts to circumvent the popular vote to engineer an illegitimate Trump victory. Once the results were certified, Trump and his allies shifted to a campaign to pressure local Republicans to overturn election results from voters using an early ballot system largely shaped over decades by their own party.

In this first of a five-episode series, Democracy in Doubt, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen walk you through the origins of the Arizona election review and how that state plunged into a fog of election conspiracies riven with partisanship and targeted by opportunists from across the country.

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The historic legislation, along with a still-unfinished social spending bill, serves as a reminder of the Arizona Democrat's central role in what seems politically possible in Washington.  

A deal with the liberal wing of House Democrats allowed the physical infrastructure plan to proceed. It will boost spending on the nation's various deteriorating structures such as roads and bridges, water systems and expand broadband internet coverage.

Progressive Democrats expect a vote on the $1.75 trillion human "Build Back Better" bill later this month. 

How will Sinema's moderate policies affect the Biden agenda, Democratic fortunes in the 2022 midterm elections, and her own future in the Senate?

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with Kyle Kondik. Kondik is a political analyst and the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

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The general public now has 30 days to look over the proposed maps and share their thoughts before the finalization date of Dec. 22. The final decision will impact Arizona politics for the next decade. The draft maps are online for the public to view on the Independent Redistricting Commission website. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Ron Hansen talk with the head of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission Dr. Erika Neuberg about what has been proposed so far. Then, Arizona Republic reporter Ray Stern joins the show to break down what this will mean in upcoming elections.

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Arizona is one of the few states that uses an independent commission, rather than having state lawmakers draw their own maps. The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, as it is known, has two Democrats, two Republicans and one independent member who sits as the chair of the panel.

The IRC presented a draft of a new map on Oct. 5, to receive feedback from the public. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with Yurij Rudensky, a redistricting expert for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program.

Rudensky breaks down how Arizona's redistricting process compares to other states, and how public input can make a difference. 

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There are three separate but important things happening. The first is the $1.2 trillion physical infrastructure bill that passed the Senate and waits action in the House. 

The second is the broader $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill that comprises much of President Joe Biden's political agenda. That measure is being scaled back because of concerns raised by both Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. 

Third, Congress still needs to raise the debt celling to approve borrowing for previous spending. The deadline for that is in early December, and if Congress fails to raise the debt figure, it could create chaos in global financial markets. For now, Senate Republicans want Senate Democrats to pass that provision without their support.  

How does all the proposed Congress spending impact the nation's and Arizona's economy? 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with Arizona State University economics professor Dennis Hoffman. He breaks down how the long term investments could impact Arizonans.

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Former Fox10 television news anchor Kari Lake is running for the Republican Party and was awarded the highly sought-after endorsement by former President Donald Trump at the end of September. Of her four competitors for the GOP spot, other candidates like Matt Salmon are looking for another shot at office.

On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is the party frontrunner. But Marco Lopez has experience in former President Barack Obama’s administration that could make him attractive to some voters. And Aaron Lieberman just announced he was retiring from the state House to focus on his gubernatorial bid.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen talk with Arizona Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger about the upcoming governor's race, including who is running and where they stand on key issues. 

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Over the weekend, members of the non-profit Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, followed Sinema, D-Ariz., into a bathroom at Arizona State University.

Activists recorded and shouted their grievances at her for not supporting more accommodating immigration reforms.

Progressives' frustration with Sinema go beyond Arizona voters. A Saturday Night Live skit portrayed her as the senator derailing legislation central to the Biden administration, including the $3.5 trillion human infrastructure package.

Sinema has said that is too expensive for her vote, but hasn’t said what she would support.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen, speak with Emily Kirkland, executive director of Progress Arizona, a progressive community nonprofit. She's breaking down why the left is angry with Sinema and what they're doing about it. 

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Leading the way through the ballot recount has been Senate President Karen Fann. She signed onto subpoenas to obtain materials from the county, and helped press the county to hand over its ballots and tabulation machines. And she has presided over various public proceedings involving the review.

A year ago, most people didn’t know who Fann even was, but now she has international recognition. 

This week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl. Mary Jo has covered the state legislature on and off for a long time and has watched Fann navigate the Capitol for more than a decade.

She recently sat down with Fann to find out how she became synonymous with Maricopa County's ballot review.

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Cyber Ninjas, the Florida company that oversaw the review for the Senate, found President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by a slightly margin than the certified results showed, and raised questions about thousands of ballots cast in the election.

Arizona Republic reporters spent the weekend absorbing the ballot review results and tracking reaction from across the political spectrum. In this bonus episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen, speak with Jen Fifield, Mary Jo Pitzl and Ryan Randazzo to break down the results.

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But what is infrastructure? And could a massive investment like this make a meaningful impact on your life? 

Projects could be underway as soon as next year if the legislation passes the House of Representatives and is signed into law by Biden. 

Those projects include broadband expansion, water projects, funding for tribal communities, public transportation, airport updates and more.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen spoke with various Arizonans to learn how this bill could impact their daily lives. 

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Over the summer, White and Moore independently offered their expertise multiple times to the Arizona state Senate’s review of Maricopa County’s ballots. Clear Ballot had no formal role in the analysis. 

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, rejected their offer. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with White and Moore who give us a sense of what they’ll be on the lookout for once the ballot-review report is released.

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Still to be released are nearly 2,900 more documents that the Senate has kept hidden because they don't believe it's required under the state's Public Records Law. In those documents are conversations between contractor Cyber Ninjas and the lawmakers who ordered the ballot review.

This week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Yvonne Wingett Sanchez is joined by two Arizona Republic reporters: Jen Fifield and Ryan Randazzo. They provide insight on how the documents were obtained, what they discovered, and what it says about the election audit.

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We'll go over some of the early highlights and how the ballot review began, who's paying for it and other tidbits we think are worth watching.

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Harris, who lost a race for the state Legislature in November, is the mastermind behind the “Voter Integrity Project,” an ongoing canvassing effort that began in December.

Last weekend a couple dozen volunteers out to prove former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election gathered in Queen Creek. Using a mobile app that provides names, addresses and publicly available voting information of registered voters, volunteers set out to ask voters questions such as, “Can you verify the voters registered to this address?” and “Did you vote by mail or in person?”

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Away from the discourse on what schools should and should not enforce, doctors are treating young kids who are being affected physically and mentally.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, co-hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by Valleywise Health Center pediatrician Dr. Salil Pradhan and Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist Dr. Angela Veesenmeyer.

They take The Gaggle inside what they are seeing day to day and what they think Arizonans can expect in the new few months.

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Many are fearful of Taliban rule because of their barbaric behavior and disregard for women and children. Afghans and civilians who helped the United States during its invasion of the country after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as interpreters, drivers and in other capacities are fearful they will be viewed as traitors. They worry the Taliban will kill them and their families. 

The images streaming out of Kabul depict desperation, with civilians begging to flee their country. Some scaled the sides of one American airplane preparing to take off. They fell to their deaths. Others ran alongside the plane, screaming as it gained speed.

Evacuation flights for U.S. citizens and Afghan refugees are underway. Many worry not all of their family and friends will be able to escape — particularly those who have cooperated with the U.S.

President Joe Biden meanwhile, is facing intense criticism from both sides of the aisle for the withdrawal. He stands by his decision to exit war-torn nation.  

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, host Yvonne Wingett Sanchez speaks with Aaron Marquez, a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan. She also speaks to an Afghan refugee who served as Aaron’s interpreter, whose real name is not used in this episode for safety concerns. He is instead referred to as Alex. 

Years ago, Marquez and Alex spent time traversing Afghanistan in their official capacities, helping to rebuild parts of the nation and strengthening relationships with local officials. Aaron then helped Alex build a life in Arizona, and go to college here. 

Now, the two are fighting a different battle: they fighting to evacuate Alex’s family.

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It also has become clear who is paying for the review: Pro-Trump, conservative groups aligned with the "Stop the Steal" effort that preceded the Jan. 6 march on the U.S. Capitol that led to a deadly riot.

A final report of what Cyber Ninjas found during the audit is expected to come in the next few weeks. Arizona Senate President Karen Fann has said the review has never been about overturning the results of the election. Instead, she has said it’s about examining election procedures and to help ensure the election was conducted fairly and with integrity. She and other lawmakers have indicated they intend to use the results of the review to help pass election-related laws. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, co-hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are joined by two Arizona Republic reporters: Jen Fifield and Mary Jo Pitzl to help dissect the state of the ballot recount.

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Some health experts say Arizona is experiencing another COVID-19 surge, and the return to in-person learning has many parents and school administrators questioning how the school year will look.

Why the uncertainty and how did we get here again?

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with Republic reporter Alison Steinbach for a COVID-19 update, and education reporter Yana Kunichoff about what parents can expect this school year.

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A network that includes himself, a Texas millionaire, a Flagstaff gas station, the Arizona Department of Revenue, Ducey's staffers, and potentially $100 million in tax refunds. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by USA Today investigative business reporter Craig Harris. Harris' investigation resulted in a five-part series about how Gov. Ducey governs. 

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The COVID-19 pandemic forced parents to become more aware of their children’s curriculum as they attended school virtually. While school officials maintain educators are not teaching students that racism is systemic, some parents — and Arizona lawmakers — want to make sure it isn't allowed to happen. 

As in-person school board meetings returned, parents packed local school board meetings denouncing critical race theory during public comment. Conservative media and Republican politicians have taken cue from former President Donald Trump as he continues to criticize the study. 

But what is critical race theory? When did it begin?

In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down the rhetoric surrounding critical race theory. 

Joining the show are Jamal K. Donnor, an associate professor at William and Mary School of Education, and Arizona Republic city reporters Joshua Bowling and Renata Cló. 

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Since then, new promises have been made. People with pending marijuana charges in most Arizona counties were able to have them dismissed. And those with charges, convictions and arrests on their record can try to get their record expunged.

Arizona has had its recreational marijuana program for about six months. Are those promises being met? In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by business reporter Ryan Randazzo to take a closer look.

Randazzo covers everything from solar energy to sports betting for The Republic. He has covered marijuana news since 2018. He discusses what promises have come to fruition, how much money legal recreational marijuana has made for Arizona, and where that money is going. 

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Listen now to hear these voicemails left by Republican party chair Kelli Ward and Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani seeking to speak directly with Republican supervisors.

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Sinema's first high-profile demonstration of her approach is the framework for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal she recently co-negotiated, and President Joe Biden endorsed. Twenty-one senators, 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans, have also signed on to the tentative framework, which could start soon start making its way through the legislative process.

Sinema has other bipartisan legislative plans in the works. She is working closely with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, on a plan to increase the federal minimum wage and separately with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that seeks to address the ongoing waves of asylum seekers arriving at the southern border, which have strained the Border Patrol and local communities. 

But can Sinema's approach to bipartisanship in an era marked by extreme partisanship help deliver legislation beyond spending money on the nation's roads, bridges and water systems?

In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University. 

Binder breaks down Sinema's position in the U.S. Senate to lead negotiations on infrastructure and how she compares to other centrist Democrats. 

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This week on The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by reporter Mary Jo Pitzl to break down the details of the budget and dissect who it helps most.

Later in the episode, The Gaggle is joined by reporter Rob O'Dell to discuss the failed school vouchers program and deliberate if it could come back again.

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The framework was rolled out Thursday. It calls for massive investments into the nation’s roads and bridges, water systems, internet connectivity, cybersecurity, the buses we use to get across town and get our kids to school. It would clean up lead-filled pipes, upgrade power grids and clean up drinking water for ten million Americans and more than 400,000 schools and child care facilities.

It’s important to note that this framework is not finished legislation. It’s a deal among a segment of the Senate.

Sinema talked with members of Arizona’s press corps after a deal was announced. She maintained on Thursday that the deal she helped broker is evidence that bipartisanship is not dead.

Listen to this bonus episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast for a quick breakdown of what this infrastructure plan would mean for Arizona.

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It's always hot and dry with little rain in Arizona, but the water crisis is reaching a dire point. Since the turn of the century, Arizona and the West have been in one of the biggest "megadroughts" of the last 1200 years. And it’s being revved up by human caused heating.

This week on The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen talk with Kathy Jacobs to get a sense of what can be done and how bad the situation is really.

Kathy is the director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on water policy, climate change adaptation and drought planning among others.

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While he lost that race, McCarthy established himself as a voice of a faction of Arizona conservatives who see both major political parties as failing them.

McCarthy viewed his loss to McSally as an early sign of a rigged election, a baseless claim that has wider support after former President Trump has pushed the same narrative following his defeat.

McCarthy is trying to form another political option in Arizona, the Patriot Party, and that has caught the eye of Republicans trying to reshape that party.

During the annual Arizona GOP meeting to elect party leadership he was booed off stage by attendees.

Is McCarthy still a Republican? What does he want for Arizona policy? How will he influence the 2022 elections?

Listen to this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen to hear an unfiltered conversation with McCarthy. 

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This week on The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen talk with Arizona Republic media critic Bill Goodykoontz about what this attention means for the state's national image. 

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She testified about the longstanding, unmet need for more federal judges in her state. 

Arizona is one of the nation’s fastest-growing states, but the number of judges has been stagnant for most of the past three decades. This has caused a legal backlog. It's been more than 30 years since Congress passed a broad expansion of the judiciary. In that time, the nation’s population has grown, technology has raised an array of previously unimaginable legal concerns and globalization has upended the economy.

Democrats and Republicans agreed at the February hearing that the nation is overdue for more judges. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down why and how this legal bottleneck affects Arizonans.

Joining the show are Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, and Rep. Greg Staton, D-Ariz., a judiciary committee member. 

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Governor Doug Ducey’s proposed state flat tax of 2.5%, phased in over two years, is expected to cut state revenue by an estimated $1.9 billion each year. Taxpayers would start seeing lower tax rates as soon as next year. It’s being sold as “a tax cut for every Arizonan” but not everyone in the legislature sees it that way. 

This week on The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen, reporter Mary Jo Pitzl shares who the biggest winners and losers would be if this deal passes.

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