The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Gov. Doug Ducey's time in Arizona's highest office is coming to a close in little over a year, which means that the race to replace him is starting to accelerate. The primary election is on August 2, and eight candidates are looking to take his seat. Former Fox10 television news anchor Kari Lake is running for the Republican Party and was awarded the highly sought-after endorsement by former Presi...

The liberal wing of the Democratic Party seems to be nearing its breaking point with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. 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' frus...

Over the last nearly 10 months, ballots from the 2020 election have been counted and recounted to ensure that there was no election fraud and that Arizona really did vote President Joe Biden into office. While the election review is still happening in other ways, the official reports from Cyber Ninjas confirmed that there was no fraud and that Joe Biden did win Arizona's 11 electoral votes. Leadin...

Ten months ago, President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Arizona’s 11 electoral votes. But a review of Maricopa County's 2.1 million ballots ordered by the Republican-controlled state Senate only ended last week. 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...

The U.S. Senate passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package on Aug.10, a win for President Joe Biden and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who co-negotiated the bipartisan legislation.  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...

Benny White, a prominent Pima County Republican data analyst and Larry Moore, the founder of Clear Ballot, one of the largest vote-tabulation companies in the nation, have analyzed voting patterns using public records.  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...

Last week 22,000 documents related to the ballot recount of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County were released to the public. Those include thousands of text messages and emails that shed light on key players and their involvement in the months long election audit. Still to be released are nearly 2,900 more documents that the Senate has kept hidden because they don't believe it's requ...

In today's bonus episode, we're talking about some of the 22,000 records released by the republican-controlled senate. These records are related to the review of the 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa county from the 2020 election. On Tuesday night, Ryan Randazzo, Jen Fifield and Robert Anglen began poring through those records. They include emails, text messages and videos. We'll go over some of the...

Canvassing efforts to examine the legitimacy of voter ballots for the 2020 presidential election could be illegal, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a New York-based policy institute, but that hasn’t stopped Liz Harris. 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 Decembe...

As debates about mask mandates in schools rage on in Arizona, pediatric cases of COVID-19 are on par to surpass the cases from the winter surge. Vaccines have proven to be beneficial to people who are contracting the coronavirus, but currently children under the age of 12 years-old are too young to be vaccinated. Away from the discourse on what schools should and should not enforce, doctors are tr...

The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has upended the lives of Afghans as the Taliban takes power. 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 fear...

The ballot review of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 election has gone on for 16 weeks. The recounting and scanning has come to an end though. The pallets of ballots have left the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and are back at the county’s Elections Department. It also has become clear who is paying for the review: Pro-Trump, conservative groups aligned with the "Stop the Steal" ef...

As parents prepare to send their kids back to in-person classes, the state is experiencing a rise in cases of COVID-19. This is in large part because of the delta variant of COVID-19, which is now the dominate strain in the state. 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 t...

As Ducey's time as Governor is set to end in 2023, his eyes are on a more national position. An investigation by the Arizona Republic discovered that the governor was involved in a complex network of interests. 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 wee...

Critical race theory has become a rallying cry for both Republican politicians and conservative parents alike.  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 allow...

In mid-January this year, Arizona residents over the age of 21 legally were allowed to buy recreational marijuana. Passing Proposition 207, known as the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, came with the promise of increased economic revenue and new business opportunities. Since then, new promises have been made. People with pending marijuana charges in most Arizona counties were able to have them dismisse...

The Arizona Republic reported that former President Donald Trump and his allies sought to speak directly to members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors after the Nov. 2020 election. The Republic obtained voicemail recordings from Maricopa County through a request under the Arizona Public Records Law, which allows anyone to seek public records from local, county, and state governments. List...

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is a staunch supporter of passing congressional legislation by bringing both Republicans and Democrats on board, an approach that has taken on increased urgency in the 50-50 split U.S. Senate.   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 endors...

This week is the constitutional deadline to pass the Arizona state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. $2-4 million in surplus and the plan being rejected by 2 Republican members lead to the state budget being decided on at the eleventh-hour. 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 t...

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has helped clinch a long-elusive deal on infrastructure. President Joe Biden has endorsed the plan, which was cobbled together over the past weeks behind closed doors by Sinema, and nine other more moderate senators from both parties. The framework was rolled out Thursday. It calls for massive investments into the nation’s roads and bridges, water systems, internet co...

The Arizona cliché "it's a dry heat" resonates for a reason. The temperature has been in triple digits for weeks, there are wildfires raging all over the state, the lakes are too low to utilize for the fires, and there's no rain in sight. 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...

Daniel McCarthy, a successful businessman, made a name for himself in Arizona politics after mounting an unsuccessful U.S. Senate primary run against former Sen. Martha McSally in 2020.  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...

Whether you turn on CNN or Comedy Central, the chances of hearing something about Arizona news on television is high. National news and comedy shows alike are covering the ongoing Maricopa County election audit, political moves from Arizona's senators and more. This week on The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen talk with Arizona Republic media c...

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Feb. 24 to hear arguments from federal judges across the country about the need to expand the bench including Diane Humetewa, a federal judge in Arizona and the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.  She testified about the longstanding, unmet need for more federal judges in her state.  Arizona is one of the nation’s fastest-growing state...

A spending plan of over $12 billion for fiscal 2022 was introduced to the Arizona House on Monday. The plan calls for some pay raises, some money for education and calls for a controversial flat tax. 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 a...