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 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 enacting some of the strictest policies in the state, including nightly and weekend-long curfews.
The response started when Navajo Nation President Jonathon Nez declared a state of emergency and days later closed the nation to visitors after three confirmed cases were reported.
More than half of the Navajo Nation's cases involve residents in Arizona counties.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by breaking news reporter Chelsea Curtis to break down the Navajo Nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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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 to cut off data from university researchers modeling state-specific COVID-19 case projections has led to national scrutiny and a swift reversal.
Dissent from all angles has rendered impossible a scenario in which the governor can take action without accounting for political consequence.
This week on The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, national political reporters Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen parse the messy web of politics that has affected Gov. Ducey's decision making. Joining the hosts are Arizona Repubilc reporters Maria Polletta and Ryan Randazzo.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Audio in this episode was collected from Channel 3, Channel 15, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, Thomas Hawthorne and David Wallace.
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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 effect until May 15. Now, bills pertaining to education, suicide prevention, criminal justice reform, short term rentals, taxation, and even road kill face uncertain futures.
This week on the Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, national political reporters Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down the prominent bills from this session with Arizona Republic reporters Andrew Oxford, Maria Polletta and Lily Altavena.
Oxford, Polletta and Altavena explain what the bills would've done and how likely they were to pass.
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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 outreach instead. Trump's stop in Arizona marks a potential return to in-person campaigning.
In this bonus episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen interview Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee. She outlined how the RNC plans to support Republican candidates in Arizona during this unprecedented time.
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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 Ronald J. Hansen are joined by education reporter Lily Altavena. Together, they break down how schools pivoted to distance learning, as well as the potential long-term impacts of this shift.
You'll also hear directly from Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman.
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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 episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down how the campaign season has essentially halted during the pandemic.
They dig into the presidential race, senate race, ballot measures and more.
In this episode you'll hear:
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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 health crisis. This includes hearing from government officials, doctors and nurses.
But does he feel as though that's happening today? How does he rate Arizona's response to COVID-19? Find out in today's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, with hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen.
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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 week. In a two-week time span, more Arizonans applied for unemployment than during an entire year of the great recession.
While local industries such as construction, grocery stores and some trucking companies have seen minimal impact, industries foundational to Arizona like tourism and recreation, which typically flourish in the spring, are struggling.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, business and economy reporters Russ Wiles and Ryan Randazzo share some of the key factors economists are studying to better understand when Arizona might recover and how badly it could suffer.
Follow Russ Wiles on Twitter: @azmoneynews
Follow Ryan Randazzo on Twitter: @utilityreporter
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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 this district is Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. He’s been in Congress since 2002, making him the dean of the state’s congressional delegation. Grijalva joined hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen to talking about the political issues most important to his community, including immigration and the rising cost of living.
You'll also hear from voters directly on which ssues are most likely to drive them to the polls.
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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 been on public display for more than a week as Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has openly urged Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to more aggressively respond to the threat of coronavirus.
Similar battles have played out in the Phoenix City Council and the state Legislature.
In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcasts, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen are joined by state government and politics reporters Maria Polletta and Andrew Oxford. The reporters discuss how Ducey, the state legislature and our congressional delegation are reacting to the pandemic and what that means for Arizonans.
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