The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Judges are getting more scrutiny these days, from the U.S. Supreme Court to Arizona’s top justices to local jurists. U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have been the topic of numerous news stories that raise ethical questions about the justices' actions as members of the high court.  In southeastern Arizona, Cochise County Judge John Kelliher Jr. has drawn outsize attention for his conduct: Four formal complaints about this courtroom demeanor in two years. What does all of this mean for the public confidence in the judicial system? Are we reaching a tipping point of lack of confidence more broadly? Or is this just all par for the course in a time of political teeth-gnashing? In this episode of the Gaggle, we prob those questions and more. Hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down first with Arizona Republic reporter Sarah Lapidus. She has followed Kelliher’s track record with the Judicial Conduct Commission and explains why he continues to draw complaints that lead to high-profile reprimands. Then, Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers School of Law, shares his views on what is going on at this moment in time and how the judicial process is perceived. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona is just two months away from the July primary. Voters will decide who represents them on the November ballot for the Republican and Democratic parties. But the results of that election will require a little bit of patience. All 15 Arizona counties are looking for more poll workers to volunteer before the primary as millions of Arizonans are expected to vote. The state's largest counties say recruiting is going smoothly, but the sweltering heat, summer vacations and the popularity of a presidential election is expected to bring in more volunteers in November. In February, the Legislature passed a law that would guarantee the state's new recount margin wouldn't impact the deadlines. Because of this, the primary election was moved from its usual spot in August to July 30 for the first time this year. An early election does mean earlier results, but not necessarily fast results. The new election calendar comes with a provision that mandates poll workers in every county to hand count the number of ballots turned in on Election Day. This is not a hand count of results, but to double-check the number of early ballot envelopes dropped off by voters. This week on Election Dissection, an elections series of The Gaggle podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka go through the themes heading into the July primary and what you need to know before heading to the polls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the home stretch of the legislative session. Maybe. Lawmakers are running out of bills to vote on, and budget talks are slogging along behind closed doors. The House is in the midst of a two-week break. But there is one exception to this very unhurried schedule: Ballot referrals. These are proposed laws that go directly to the voters, avoiding the governor and her veto stamp. Others are amendments to the state Constitution, which require a vote of the people. This month, two new referrals popped up like blooms on a saguaro cactus. Why are these measures showing up months into the legislative session?  In this episode of The Gaggle, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by Paul Bentz, pollster for the political consulting firm HighGround. Together they discuss what might find its way onto the ballot this year and why Arizonans could expect a longer-than-normal ballot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 presidential race, Arizona’s congressional races and potentially several abortion-related measures command a lot of attention this election year. But there’s another set of really important races that are also on the ballot: the Legislature. Republicans have two-seat majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate. That means if Democrats could make a net gain of even one seat in either chamber, Arizona would have a divided government that mirrors the house and senate in washington. And if they pick up control in both chambers, well, that would be the first time since the 1960s, so we can only wonder what that might be like in this long-red state. In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's Ray Stern to discuss where Democrats have to win if they really intend to flip control of the Legislature and who is trying to do it. But first, in several key districts, we have to get through some competitive primary races.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans have always had the numerical advantage in Arizona. A little more than a third of the state is registered with the GOP. But Republicans have slowly yet steadily lost ground to Democrats in this state. Why is that? It's more than just changing demographics. In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona to tease apart Arizona voter's preferences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a U.S. Senate race often dominated by Republican front runner Kari Lake, it’s easy to forget that Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is running for the GOP nomination, too. He’s got a low-key demeanor and his personal style doesn’t seem to linger the way Lake’s combative politics does. When Lake entered the Senate race in November with former President Donald Trump’s prominent endorsement, many people thought the nominating race was over. But Lamb has stuck around. In this episode of The Gaggle, Sheriff Lamb shares his views in an exclusive interview on the 1864 abortion law, why he wouldn’t have voted for Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s bipartisan border security bill and ultimately why he wants your vote on the July 30 primary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, April 24th, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, announcing that 11 Arizona Republicans and seven others have been charged for falsely certifying that Donald Trump won the state in 2020. This is despite of the fact that Arizonans narrowly favored Joe Biden.  While the names of those charged have yet to be officially revealed, clues in the the 58 page indictment make it clear that the architects of Trump's national campaign to steal the election are also facing charges in Arizona. Some of those individuals appear to be Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyers Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb, and Trump advisers Boris Epshteyn and Michael Roman. Trump, who is asking voters to return him to the White House this year, is “unindicted coconspirator 1,” according to the indictment. In this special episode of The Gaggle, state politics reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Stacey Barchenger sit down at The Republic's capitol bureau to hash out what we know from the indictment and what may happen next.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is a booming business. With a few dollars anyone can create a deep faked voice online. ChatGPT and other AI writing programs can take a student essay and polish it to a Ph.D. level. Manipulated videos can show an official saying or doing something outrageous -- and fake. With such powerful technology at everyone's fingertips the question arises: how can we keep our election systems safe from bad actors using AI? In this episode, our election dissectors, Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka, speak with Don Palmer, the vice chair of the Election Assistance Commission. This is a bipartisan commission that was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and it is tasked with certifying voting systems across the country. It also supports state and local election officials in their efforts to ensure accessible, accurate and secure elections. Palmer explains both the pros and cons of AI and why it's important to set parameters on how it can be used. You will also hear an example of deep faked voices of our hosts. Listen closely and see if you can tell the AI from the real voices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her second year, Gov. Katie Hobbs has used her veto stamp much less than her first year. By this time last year, the Democratic governor had denied a record-breaking 63 bills presented by the GOP-dominated Legislature. This year, Hobbs is at 42 vetoes. Her second red stamp came across House Bill 2570, or the Arizona Starter Homes Act. Introduced by Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, it was intended to make homebuilding more efficient and thus more affordable. But Hobbs said the bill couldn’t guarantee affordable home prices. She argued it went too far because it cut much of the local control cities have over development. This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by housing expert Mark Stapp, the Fred E Taylor professor of real estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He says the solution is more complicated than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, April 9, the Arizona state Supreme Court ruled to uphold near total-ban on abortions dating back to 1864. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the exact parameters for Arizona went into question. Just months before, then-Governor Republican Doug Ducey signed a law that limited abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, when Roe v. Wade went into effect nationally, Arizona had an abortion law dating back to its territorial days. So the question became: which ruling would be the law of the land in Arizona? At the time, the state Court of Appeals overruled and instated the 15-week law. This week, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed this decision, allowing the 19th century law to take affect. Today on The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl dissect Arizona's new, but ancient, abortion law and how it will impact the state politically and legally. First, state politics reporter Stacey Barchenger joins the podcast to break down why the justices allowed at 160-year law to stand and who will benefit politically from the decision. Later, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias joins The Gaggle to investigate the legal fallout from the court's decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine there is a ballot with several candidates seeking the same seat. And you like most of them. But you can only pick one because that’s what the rules require.  When that happens, the vote in a multi-candidate race is split – and the outcome often is the candidate you least like wins. This is called vote splitting, a phenomenon that happens when a race attracts at least three candidates who have similar positions or maybe similar demographics. This makes it attractive for a contrasting candidate to benefit from the divided vote and prevail. It’s happened time and again across the nation and here in Arizona. Think Paul Gosar. He emerged from an eight-candidate field in 2010 to win the GOP primary in a heavily Republican district. It cemented his standing as an incumbent and he hasn’t lost since. There’s a move afoot to stop vote splitting by introducing “approval voting,” a system where voters could vote for all of the candidates in a given race who appeal to them. And they could do that without ranking them. This is something the Center for Election Science, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit focused on voting reform, is pushing. In this episode of The Gaggle, Mary Jo Pitzl examines the effect of vote-splitting, the potential issues it can cause, and some of the unintended consequences of the practice. You'll also hear about the related practice of ticket splitting, which factored prominently played a big role in the 2022 general election.  Joining Pitzl via Zoom are Nina Taylor, the organization’s CEO, and Chris Raleigh, director of advocacy and communication and a specialist in campaign management.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trust in the election system in Arizona is eroding. Some may even say it's broken all together. One side says the vulnerability of voting machines and delay in election results is what makes the system distrustful. This was most obvious during the Maricopa County recount of the 2020 ballots that lasted months. The other side says it's the new found distrust in the system that makes it broken. But either way a question remains among most American, and specifically Arizonan, voters: how can we make elections better? This question fuels the work of David Becker. He is a co-founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and he believes that technology and reliance on data can help us toward improving elections. He also helped launch the Election Official Legal Defense Network, which connections election officials with free legal advice. This week on Election Dissection, an elections series of The Gaggle podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka sit down with Becker to discuss why he's confident in the safety of our elections systems, how America ended up in this position and why he's keeping an eye on those who oppose Donald Trump come next January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rents in Arizona have jumped significantly since the pandemic. In 2021, metro Phoenix made national headlines when rents skyrocketed by 30%. An investigation by the Arizona Attorney General's office reveals that a group of nine landlord companies have been using a software that allows them to see what other properties are charging and thereby "fix" their rental prices to match. Attorney General Kris Mayes is not having it and is seeking restitution for those affected. But that could take years. What about renters who need help now? In this episode of The Gaggle, producer Amanda Luberto sits down with Stacey Barchenger, our state politics reporter, and Catherine Reagor who covers real estate issues. They hash out what could happen and what resources renters have access to right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko has had enough of Washington, D.C. Lesko has represented the northwest Valley for six years after winning a special election to fill the spot for Trent Franks, who stepped down after allegations of sexual harassment involving his female staffers. Lesko has been a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, voting against his impeachment and voting in Congress to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. But when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was being pushed out of office in a Republican-led coup, Lesko decided that she was done with Capitol Hill. This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Ron Hansen is joined by Laura Gersony to dive into the crowded Congressional District 8 race to replace her. The Republic's two national politics reporters dissect the approach and positions of the candidates eyeing the open seat and discuss who has a chance of winning the primary in August. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The battle over copper mining at Oak Flat, an area sacred to Native tribes, has been waged for two decades. On March 1, the dispute marked a significant milestone: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowly rejected the argument from the grassroots group Apache Stronghold that mining activity would destroy First Amendment religious rites observed by Native tribes. The court voted 6-5 to uphold a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction that sought to halt the transfer of federal land to Resolution Copper for the mining project. The suit, Apache Stronghold v. United States, was filed in January 2021 in federal district court. After losing that ruling, the Native rights group took the case to the appeals court, where a three-judge panel rejected Apache Stronghold's assertion that the mine would pose a substantial burden to their First Amendment religious practice rights. Oak Flat, located just shy of 70 miles east of Phoenix, is regarded as one of the most sacred sites to the Apache people. It has been at the center of debate on religious protections. Apache Stronghold, with the backing of the nation's largest religious freedom law firm, Becket Law, is resolute in its commitment to fight for the religious site's protection. However, with this narrow ruling – a victory for Resolution Copper – the question now is: what’s next for the Apache people? In this episode of The Gaggle, Mary Jo Pitzl and Kaely Monahan sit down with Indigenous Affairs Reporter, Debra Krol, to find out what's next for the sacred site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suspicions about Arizona's voting returns have been growing for several years. It hit its peak in 2020, in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden's narrow win over Donald Trump in this swing state. In response, the Arizona state Senate launched what it called an audit of all Maricopa County ballots cast in November 2020. In reality, the organizer couldn't even vouch for the hand count of 1 million ballots. This recount stirred not only conspiracy theories, but also worries from citizens that their ballots were not being counted. Attention switched to the early voting system, which allows people to vote by mail, in the 2022 election. Kari Lake, who lost the governor's race, contends that she did not win because of ballot tampering and is still arguing that point in court, even as she runs for U.S. Senate. As Arizonans head into the newest presidential election, debate continues on the best way to vote: drop off boxes, vote centers, in-person or by mail. These options are the subject of legislation and litigation leading up to the big day in November. This week on Election Dissection, an elections series of The Gaggle podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka examine different voting practices, their origins and their critiques. County recorders for Maricopa and Yavapai, Stephen Richer and Michelle Burchill, discuss how they're keeping constituents reassured this election year. Rep. Rachel Jones, R-Tucson, explains why she’s sponsoring a ballot referral to end vote centers. You'll also hear opinions on polling places from Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, Sen. Bennett, R-Prescott, and Rep. Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone knows 2024 is an election year but amid the chatter of who will be president of the United States is a wide selection of smaller, important local Arizona elections. Residents in the small town of Litchfield Park will have the opportunity to cast their vote to be an official charter city. It's the first city in the Valley to do so in 40 years and will grant them independence from the state on things like when their elections are held and term limits on elected officials. Tempe voters have the chance to elect who will sit on their city council. They will also vote on a proposition that will impact Tempe's ability to grow. In this episode, producers Amanda Luberto and Kaely Monahan are joined by Republic reporters to discuss not only who is running and what is on the ballot, but why voters should turn out for these hyper-local elections. We’ll also hear about one state senator who is trying to make changes to how cities can run their elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The clock is ticking for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to make a decision on running again for her seat. The collapse of her bipartisan border security bill unceremoniously ended her hopes of adding a deal on perhaps the most difficult issue in congressional politics to her legislative scorecard.  Since quitting the Democratic Party in December 2022, Sinema’s fundraising has plummeted and she is about 20 percentage points behind her challengers in most of the polling on the race. Democratic frontrunner, Ruben Gallego, and Republican front runner, Kari Lake, both have outraised Sinema, I-Ariz., of late. Sinema ended 2023 with her worst fundraising quarter in three years — and she spent more than she brought in.  All of which begs the question, does Sinema have a path to reelection, and what does that mean for the race if she’s stepping out of politics? In this episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report to look at how the Arizona senate race is stacking up and if there are any hints that Sinema might run for re-election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. has newly-released an $118 billion national security bill. It includes approximately $20 billion for border provisions, including $650 million for the border wall and funding for asylum judges, expanded detention capacity and other programs. In a interview with CBS' Face the Nation, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says that the deal will address a multitude of issues including the record surge of migrants. But Republicans in both the Senate and the House are stirring against the proposal, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying it's "dead on arrival." In this episode of The Gaggle, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down with The Republic's immigration and border reporter, Rafael Carranza to hash out what is in the bill and whether or not it's truly "dead on arrival." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A busy election year is here. It starts with the March 19 presidential preference election, followed by the Aug. 6 primary, and then the Big One: the Nov. 7 presidential election. On that day, voters all over the country will be ponying up to the polls to fill in the bubble of the candidates they want most. This year, the presidency is on the line. But first comes the preference election. This election, also referred to as the primaries, isn't the same date in every state. Republican voters in New Hampshire and Iowa have already decided that former President Donald Trump is their pick to represent their party. Democrats in Iowa vote on March 5. In Arizona, only Democrats and Republicans can vote on Tuesday, March 19 for which candidate they want to put forward into the big fight come November. Independent voters are out of luck for the preference election. But how does all of this work? Who gets a say and why does it matter? This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka kick off a new series called Elections Dissection. Each month this year, they'll be breaking down a new elections process so you understand how voting in Arizona works. In this episode, Mary Jo and Sasha talk with the man who brought preference elections to Arizona, a politician whose career was defined by a botched preference election, and an active county recorder who is working to avoid confusion at the polls.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices