The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Votes are still being counted, but an early look at Arizona's 2022 primary race shows in what direction it's heading. Maybe the most important thing to know is that former President Donald Trump's preferred candidates are doing well.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The battle for the soul of the Republican party took center stage in Arizona. Last week, our state saw visits on the same day from former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. They talked about some of the same priorities, from border security to economic growth.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol has been meeting publicly for over a month now. So far, its investigation into the uprising has uncovered new information making it clear former President Donald Trump and his political team were involved in inciting the mob.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just a year after being implemented, the independent office that investigates police misconduct is under threat of being a little less independent. 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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the start of a new fiscal year looming, Republicans and Democrats came to a deal that resulted in a state budget of nearly $18 billion for 2022-23.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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the longstanding constitutional right to abortion. It came months after a leaked document suggested the Court’s decision to strike down Roe V. Wade.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drive down any street these days and you’re likely to see campaign signs sprouting up like strange mushrooms all along the corners of intersections and roadsides.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gov. Doug Ducey heads the Republican Governors Association, offering him national relevance in the final year of his tenure in Arizona. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early voting in the Arizona primaries is rapidly approaching. With that in mind, The Gaggle is focusing on the notable contests. While, many eyes are focused on the governor’s race and whether or not Senator Mark Kelly will keep his seat in Congress, we can’t forget that the state legislature can really move Arizona’s political needle.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On May 24, America experienced another horrible mass shooting. An 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde, Texas, massacred 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices