The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Arizona is a battleground state in national elections and could sway the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.  But how did we get here? How did the state go from reliably red to purple, with the possibility to shift blue in 2020, in just a decade? To understand, go back to 2010 when Arizona surprised the nation by passing Senate Bill 1070, a sweeping and highly controversial immigration law, oth...

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., is expected to face off against retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, a Democrat, in November.  In the midst of a fraught race, one which will determine who controls the Senate, McSally published a memoir, "Dare to Fly: Simple Lessons in Never Giving Up." The book is an up-close look at the Senator. It sheds light on her childhood, her early years in the Air Force, her m...

Earlier this year, "The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast," launched a miniseries profiling each congressional district in Arizona.  In this week's episode, we're taking a look at the West Valley's Congressional District 8. It's home to popular spots in the state like State Farm Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals play, as well as the popular concert venue Gila River Arena.  It includes Glendal...

The killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes has brought police practices and accountability to the forefront of American discourse. In cities across the nation, protesters have taken to the streets, demanding justice and change. Phoenix is no different. This week The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, is examining two solutions proposed...

This week, The Gaggle will discuss the status of police oversight in Phoenix. Reporters Jessica Boehm and Uriel Garcia will talk about the call to “defund the police.” They’ll explain what it all means and the likelihood of these proposals coming to fruition. But before that, you should understand the backstory about police shootings in Phoenix. Last July, the Arizona Republic released an in-depth...

The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a pivotal point in Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s leadership in Arizona. Amid conflicting signals from the White House, governors across the country have played an outsized role in managing the health and economic crises.  In addition to the pandemic, many governors are being questioned about their responses to police brutality in wake of th...

Arizona mayors who broke with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's approach to the coronavirus said the governor has made no direct contact since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Flagstaff and Tucson mayors Coral Evans and Regina Romero told The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast they had communication with the Ducey administration early on in the pandemic through morning conference calls with Ben Bli...

On May 25, George Floyd was killed while in the custody of four Minneapolis police officers. The officers' actions leading to his death violated the policies of the Minneapolis Police Department.  Floyd’s death became a catalyst for protests across the country, including protests in Phoenix. Local protesters decried Floyd's death, as well as the death of 28-year-old Dion Johnson. Authorities alleg...

Earlier this year, "The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast," launched a miniseries profiling each congressional district in Arizona.  In this week's episode, we're taking a look at the east Valley's Congressional District 5. The district includes Gilbert and Queen Creek, as well as eastern Mesa and parts of Chandler. Representing the dyed-in-the-wool conservative district is Republican Andy Biggs...

The Navajo Nation, located in parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, is one of the hardest hit places in the state from COVID-19 cases and is now leading the country in per-capita infection rates. Most recent numbers show 2,344 persons per 100,000 on the Navajo Nation were infected by the new coronavirus. In second was New York with 1,806 cases per 100,000. Since early March the Navajo Nation has ...

Since his first press briefing March 2 to extending the statewide stay-at-home order April 29, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has filled a momentous, and at times controversial, timeline of actions regarding the new coronavirus. His incremental progressions have evoked bold responses from constituents, business owners and political leaders on both sides of the aisle; and his administration's decisions...

When the Arizona Legislature adjourned March 23 as a precautionary health measure to combat the new coronavirus, the session's abrupt end killed dozens of bills that had progressed in the state chambers, leaving them with no path to the governor's office. Lawmakers' original plan to reconvene April 13 was scrapped after Gov. Doug Ducey implemented a stay-at-home order March 30 that is currently in...

President Donald Trump's Arizona visit on Tuesday is his first since the Feb. 19 rally at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. This time he's visiting a Honeywell facility, which turned to producing N95 respirator masks at the end of March. The visit comes at an interesting time. The 2020 campaign season has halted its usual door-to-door tactics in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting to digital ou...

After an extended spring break, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey closed schools for the rest of the school year on March 30, citing the risk of COVID-19. Now families have set up virtual classrooms in their living rooms or at the dining room table. Many were left scrambling to keep their kids learning. In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ro...

The coronavirus pandemic is changing the 2020 Election season. In any other presidential election year, you'd see people knocking on doors, holding rallies, headlining high-dollar fundraisers and gathering signatures for ballot measures.  This spring, candidates have had to change their strategies for reaching potential voters. Some have found more success with it than others. In this week's episo...

What is it like for those in positions of power to respond to a health crisis? Will Humble was the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services from 2009 to 2015. He served in that role for both Democratic and Republican governors. In doing so, he oversaw the state's response to H1N1 and Ebola.  Humble said the most important thing is for the public to hear a "symphony of voices" during a...

The outbreak of COVID-10 has already hit Arizona's economy, leaving lawmakers, economists and residents to wonder how bad this could get and how much longer the downturn will last. Two weeks ago, Arizona's unemployment insurance website crashed after it was overloaded by 30,000 people filing for unemployment for the first time. This was eight times the amount of people who had filed the previous w...

Last month, "The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast" launched a miniseries profiling each Congressional district in Arizona. In this week's episode, we're taking a look at southwestern Arizona’s Congressional District 3. It’s home to border towns like Nogales and Yuma, as well as the University of Arizona in Tucson. The majority of it's population lives in the greater Tucson area.  Representing t...

The way government officials respond to COVID-19, from Washington down to City Hall, will impact our state for years to come.  There is a wrenching debate between those who are most focused on the public health aspects of the pandemic and those who are trying to balance that with concerns of profound economic damage, as well as weighing civil liberties. In Arizona, those competing concerns have be...

The results are in: former Vice President Joe Biden has overwhelmingly beaten Sen. Bernie Sanders in Arizona's primary. The results are not a surprise, given Arizona voters’ preference for more moderate candidates over far-left ones. Considering its recent battleground status, moderate Democrats like Sen. Kyrsten Sinema tend to perform best in Arizona, as they're able to capture the votes Democrat...

Every decade, the U.S. government counts the number of people in the country. That census count helps determine the amount of money each state receives from the federal government.  It also determines how many people each state sends to the House of Representatives.  An inaccurate count means that Arizona could miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars over the decade for public entities like ou...

With the 2020 elections around the corner, Democrats are hoping to keep the momentum from their 2018 wins going strong enough to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020 and win back the White House. But the Democratic presidential candidates continue to fight amongst themselves over how far left they want to take the party. While Democrats have yet to unite behind a single nominee, the GOP is buildi...

Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick recently began treatment for alcohol dependence. Her decision to do so came after the Representative, who presides over Congressional District 2 in southern Arizona, took a fall in a Washington-area subway. She was left with staples in her head, cracked ribs and a fractured spine. In a statement, she said: “I am finally seeking this help after struggling to do so in t...

The day before President Trump landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor, volunteers for the Republican party trained at the Trump Victory Leadership Initiative. The initiative is part of the Republican strategy to keep the White House and win down ballot elections.  In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen pull back the curtain on the...

As our population continues to grow, our state's political landscape continues to change.  Once a reliably red state, Arizona has become increasingly purple. It's now a key battleground state in the 2020 election. Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen, hosts of "The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast," we wanted to see how the purple trend is playing out in person. To find out, they're trav...