Stay ConnectedHelping you keep up with what matters in Arizona’s political news. Each week we interview politicians, public figures or journalists to break down one local issue and how it affects your life in Arizona.
Coming to you every Wednesday morning, The Gaggle is hosted by The Arizona Republic’s national political reporters Ron Hansen and Stephanie Murray, and is produced by Amanda Luberto.
The course of the 2020 political season leading up to election day has been inexorably altered as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to render large, in-person gatherings a social taboo.
Campaign events have largely been cancelled. The Democratic and Republican National Conventions were held virtually. As questions over the safety of in-person voting loom large, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is preparing her office, which oversees elections, for more mail-in voting this year than ever before.
But President Donald Trump has made clear his discomfort with mail-in voting. In April, he claimed that it leads to widespread voter fraud.
"I''m not gonna say which party does it, but thousands of votes are gathered and they come and they’re dumped in locations and all the sudden you lose elections that you think you’re gonna win," Trump said at a White House press briefing. "I won’t stand for it."
exists, but that hasn’t appeased some of his supporters who are growing concerned.
Then in August, Trump made comments that sparked backlash about withholding funding for the United State Postal Service in order to prevent mail-in voting. Concern over potential voter suppression arose after social media posts went viral showing mailboxes being removed and mail sorting machines at post offices being taken out of circulation.
Will voting in the 2020 general election be safe and secure? What do constituents need to do to ensure that their ballot is counted? Those are the questions tackled on this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen welcome special guest Hobbs to the show.
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Socialism. Guns. Water. Those are some of the top issues for voters from Arizona's 4th Congressional District. Also top of mind are keeping taxes low and ensuring the election this November is safe and accessible for all the district's voters, including Indigenous constituents.
It's for those reasons that Congressional District 4 is not considered a competitive area for Republicans in the 2020 election. Represented by Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, the district covers most of Western Arizona. It also includes north central Arizona, including most of Yavapai County, and wraps itself around Phoenix from the east.
In this week's episode, listeners visit Congressional District 4.
It's part of a miniseries The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast launched this year. Leading up to the election, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen introduce you to the district leaders and residents, explaining how the most pressing issues for voters could affect the 2020 election.
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This November, Arizonans will cast their votes not just for the leaders they hope to see guiding their futures, but for the multiple voter-driven propositions that will shape their communities.
What are the props on the ballot this election cycle and what do voters need to know about them? This week Arizona's politics podcast, The Gaggle, dives into four measures, two of which made it on the ballot and two that did not.
Joining hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by education reporter Lily Altavena, business reporter Ryan Randazzo and state legislature Andrew Oxford.
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Every four years supporters of the Democratic and Republican parties pack convention centers and arenas to nominate their candidate for president. This year, that tradition is a bit different. Instead of large crowds and in-person festivities, Zoom meetings and video live streams took its place.
The COVID-19 pandemic ousted the traditional convention, but the parties messaging is the same: both say it's the most important election ever.
In 2020, Arizona is a battleground state. The Grand Canyon state has been a historically red state. Arizona has only gone to the Democrats once since 1952. That was in 1996 when republican presidential nominee Bob Dole lost the state to President Bill Clinton.
Last week, we saw Democratic leaders speak at the virtual convention. This week, the Republican party takes center stage.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down the messaging of both political conventions and whether or not their appeals will find a home in Arizona.
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Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut, is vying to become Arizona's second Democratic senator. Kelly ran uncontested in the Democratic Senate primary and will face off with Republican Sen. Martha McSally in November.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, Kelly joins hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen to discuss how he would use his position in the senate. He also weighs in on healthcare and gun reform.
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Arizona's Congressional District 2 has a history of voting for both Republicans and Democrats, but as COVID-19 upends life for residents across the state, the question of which direction the district will lean in the 2020 election is in flux.
The district is located in the southeast corner of Arizona, abutting Mexico and New Mexico. It includes parts of Tucson, Willcox, Benson, Sierra Vista and Bisbee. It’s represented by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick.
In this week's episode, listeners visit Congressional District 2.
It's part of a miniseries The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast launched this year. Leading up to the election, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen introduce you to the district leaders and residents, explaining how the most pressing issues for voters could affect the 2020 election.
This year, the district will play a large role in races like Arizona's U.S. Senate seat between Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Mark Kelly, the U.S. House seat between Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick and Republican Brandon Martin and the presidential race between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
In recent years, the district has swayed in favor of Democrats. In the 2016 election, when Arizona as a whole favored President Donald Trump by a margin of 3.5 points, Kirkpatrick's district had a 4.8 point margin in favor of Hillary Clinton.
But factoring in the district residents' decisions this year on who to vote for are prominent issues such as access to quality and affordable health care, job security, economic prosperity, and immigration and border security.
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Arizona's primary election may have lacked the gravitas of November's much-anticipated general election, but there were key races to watch.
This includes races in the state Legislature, which could determine whether Democrats retake the state House of Representatives for the first time since the 1966 elections.
Democrats also had to choose their opponent to run in the congressional race against the embattled, five-term Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz. Other big name tickets included Joe Arpaio's attempt to regain his former job as sheriff.
Where did voters land? And what, if anything, could this tell us about November's election? State Legislature reporter Andrew Oxford joined hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen to break down the election results in today's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast.
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When it comes to negotiating the next coronavirus stimulus package, House Democrats and Senate Republicans are at odds. Again.
In May, Democrats, who control the House, proposed a $3 trillion plan that extended the $600 emergency unemployment benefit until January. Their plan also included an additional $1,200 stimulus check and additional funding for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
Republicans rejected the plan, but did not unveil their own until earlier this week. Their $1 trillion proposal also includes an additional $1,200 stimulus check for millions of Americans. It also offers legal protections for small businesses and schools against liability claims, with the hopes that such protections will encourage them to reopen.
However, the proposal also caps federal unemployment assistance to 70% of a workers' pay rather than extending the $600 unemployment bonus. That program would be phased in over the next two months. While it's being rolled out, unemployed Americans would only receive a $200 boost to their unemployment claims.
Democrats were challenging the Republican proposal even before it was officially fleshed out publicly.With markers laid down on both partisan sides, only one thing appears imminent:gridlock. And it comes at a time when many Americans are being pushed to the financial edge.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcasts, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen talk to business reporter Ryan Randazzo about the effects a delayed stimulus bill could have on the state of Arizona. They also discuss whether or not the state has the financial ability to step in and help those are unemployed while Congress stalls.
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In March, in-person schools shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden transition was difficult for teachers, students and parents alike.
In recent weeks, the debate on when and how to reopen schools for in-person curriculum has made headlines across the country. The pressure to reopen this fall was amplified by President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Arizona schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman is leading in the effort to reopen schools along side Gov. Doug Ducey. In an exclusive, one-on-one interview with hosts of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, Hoffman breaks down the new steps the state is making towards getting students back into classrooms.
Hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen discuss with her how they plan to keep teachers safe and the changes students will see in classrooms.
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What's it like to be a migrant or correctional officer in an immigrant detention facility located in a global hotspot during a pandemic?
At the Eloy Detention Center in southern Arizona, correctional officers and immigrants' rights advocates and lawyers are decrying dangerous conditions they say have exacerbated the outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility.
The Arizona Republic reported July 9 that 128 staff members at the center tested positive for COVID-19. The 128 members make up nearly 41% of the workforce at Eloy. In June, a correctional officer at the facility died from potential COVID-19 complications.
The center is run by CoreCivic, a for-profit private prison company based in Nashville. It is under contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, host Ronald J. Hansen speaks with immigration reporter Daniel Gonzalez. Hansen and Gonzalez break down the lengthy list of allegations against CoreCivic and ICE, how the company and agency have responded, and how the 2020 election plays into immigration decisions made by the federal government that might affect detention centers like these.
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