The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Councilman Carlos Garcia is defending his seat against challenger Kesha Hodge Washington. The editorial department of the Arizona Republic hosted the District 8 candidates in a public debate. Here it is in full.For analysis on the Phoenix runoff election, be sure to listen to our episode with Republic reporter Taylor Seely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last November, no candidate in Phoenix City Council District 6 or District 8 received enough votes to win the election outright.Residents now get a second chance to try to put their favored candidate onto the council in a runoff March 14. Candidates are Kevin Robinson and Sam Stone in District 6 and incumbent Carlos Garcia and Kesha Hodge Washington in District 8.This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by Arizona Republic reporter Taylor Seely, who covers Phoenix City Hall.Together they discuss the candidates, the issues, and the mechanics of voting in the election. They also go through the details of who will be on the ballot, what they stand for, and what you need to know to vote in the election.Follow The Gaggle and all azcentral.com podcasts on Twitter here.We’re looking to hear from you! Send us a note or a voice memo via email here.Reach the reporter at aluberto@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandaluberto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited the Arizona-Mexico border for his first time since his election to that position. With him were other GOP House members, including a new lawmaker from Arizona, Rep. Juan Ciscomani. This stop was seen as an indicator of how Republicans plan to handle border security and immigration issues. They now hold a House majority in a split Congress.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 reporter Rafael Carranza. He was in Cochise County during the visit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been 14 years since Arizona last had a Democratic governor. At that time, just like today, Arizona’s legislature was ruled by the state GOP. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everywhere you look, it’s clear that the Super Bowl is here. Murals and banners are up, cities are cleaning up, and the fans are flying in.Many guests are staying and partying in Scottsdale. Football-themed events and entertainment are transforming downtown Phoenix, and the game itself is in Glendale.Experts predict that a large percentage of the people attending these events will be tourists, and the state is projected to make hundreds of millions of dollars from Super Bowl 57.The last time Arizona hosted the Super Bowl in 2015, the Pro Bowl also kicked off the next weekend. That year, the state made more than $700 million in 10 days, according to an estimate from Arizona State University.But the Super Bowl's effects can be uneven, and it does come with costs, too.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 reporter Corina Vanek to discuss what goes into putting on a mega-event like the Super Bowl.Ryan Brewer, associate professor of finance at Indiana University, joins the show to break down the costs and economic benefits of hosting the Super Bowl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego announced he was running for U.S. Senate, the Arizona Democrat made clear that it’s in part because of what he views as the misguided priorities of U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema, now an independent, has long made clear she views raw partisan politics as a policy dead end.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A joke that is so overused it's not even funny anymore: Congress can't get anything done.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Residents of the Rio Verde Foothills community just north of Scottsdale are facing dry taps and no immediate solution. The unincorporated land has for years relied on the City of Scottsdale to process the water that gets hauled up to the community.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizonans heard the plans from a new Governor for the first time in 8 years as Democrat Katie Hobbs started her second week in office.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s 2023 and Arizona has a new governor, a U.S. senator without a party affiliation, a more conservative Legislature and familiar issues to face in this new year.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices