The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

If you're thinking Arizona is stuck in a "Groundhog Day"-type situation with the 2020 presidential election and all its fallout, think of Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman.The Republican chairman has had a front-row seat to Arizona's election drama over the past three years and has been personally impacted by it. As a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Hickman tried to reach an agreement with the Arizona House and Senate over a review of the county's 2020 election results.When the Senate moved ahead on its own, Hickman was part of the county's battles with that chamber over the resulting ballot recount. Recently, he watched a man who had personally threatened him with lynching because of this decision get sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison.Hickman was a key stakeholder in the county’s elections administration both in 2020, when the process went well, and in 2022, when it wasn't as smooth.This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by Hickman to talk about elections, the growing legal tab for former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium wishes.As the recently elected chairman of the five-member board, Hickman discussed issues past and present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elections are repetitive things in Arizona: the major parties hold their primaries in the summer, general election voting ends in November and it takes days to count the ballots. And then in recent years, we have at least two years of deniers claiming the elections were stolen.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Horne returned to the state school superintendent’s office in January and wasted no time jumping back into his former job.Some viewed his return as jumping back in time, given his outspoken stance on returning to “traditional discipline” in the classroom, his dismissal of contemporary topics such as social-emotional learning and his insistence on a back-to-basics approach on curriculum.But some are pleased with the Republican superintendent's eagerness to decry "critical race theory" and defend a state law that bans transgender students from participating in female sports.Separate from the culture wars, he’s emerged as perhaps the most ardent supporter of Arizona’s universal school voucher program.This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by the Horne for this exclusive interview.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona is hot. No surprise there. But what are the City of Phoenix and Arizona at large doing about it? Listen to find out what needs to happen to keep Arizonans cool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Arizona Legislature this year set records.Not for bills passed or money spent, but for how long it was in session and how many vetoes Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs issued: 204 days spent trying to decide what to do and 143 decisions overruled by Hobbs.Both are signs of the difficult adjustment to divided government at the Capitol, something Arizona has not seen for 14 years.But what actually got done this year, if anything? This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by Arizona Republic reporters Stacey Barchenger and Taylor Seely.Barchenger, who covers the Governor's Office, talked with The Gaggle about how the legislative session shook out and what can be expected next year, when nearly every seat is up for grabs.Seely, who reports on Phoenix city government, joined the show to analyze two major pieces of legislation affecting Arizona cities that were passed this session. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona's empowerment scholarship account, or ESA, is the most extensive in the country. Now, students whose families want to send them to a private school or provide specialized instruction can do so thanks to a taxpayer-funded voucher.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every week on The Gaggle, we dive into political topics and subjects that affect Arizonans. We interview politicians. We ask questions of political analysts. We break down what state and national decisions mean right here at home.This time, we turned over the questions to the listeners.This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl open up the mailbag and answer questions submitted by listeners. They respond to concerns about water allocation, education funding, historic building tax write-offs and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For three years in a row, Arizona's Republican state lawmakers tried to pass legislation to bar what was described as "critical race theory" from being taught in Arizona classrooms. They wanted to restrict schools from teaching anything that could be perceived as judging a person based on race or ethnicity, or cause a person to feel ashamed because of their race or ethnicity.This year, the bill passed though the House and Senate, but Gov. Katie Hobbs promptly vetoed it, saying it would only serve to divide and antagonize. It wasn't the only scolding from the Democratic governor, who has served as a buffer against other legislation rooted in the culture wars.She vetoed the pronoun bill SB 1001 and the bathroom bill SB 1040 – both measures aimed at the hot topic of transgender rights in Arizona’s schools and sponsored by Sen. John Kavanagh.Hobbs disposed of a bill rooted in another issue of the moment: drag shows. She also vetoed a measure that would have barred state financial investments in any operation that adheres to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.And that’s just a sampling of legislation in 2023.Last year, Arizona emerged on the front lines of the culture wars when then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed bills that banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth and required student athletes to compete in the gender category that matches the sex they were assigned at birth. These policies have been enacted in numerous other Republican-controlled states.This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, Steve McIntosh joins host Mary Jo Pitzl. McIntosh is the director and co-founder of Cultural Evolution, a nonprofit that strives to integrate contrasting points of view when examining social issues.Together, they discuss the sudden popularity of culture war issues, why they have emerged in a warlike context and their effect on politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the All-Star break for baseball. The good news for the Arizona Diamondbacks is the team is tied for first place in the National League West. The bad news is fans still aren’t flocking to Chase Field. And part of the problem may be Chase Field itself.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 4th 1776, 56 men signed a document declaring the newly formed 13 colonies as one United States of America.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices