The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs issued a ‘new’ apology and acknowledged discrimination took place at the legislature related to then Democractic Senate Aide, Talonya Adams. Hobbs, who in 2015 was the Senate Democratic leader, said in an interview with The Arizona Republic that she recognized that her initial response fell short of taking accountability and that it was unnecessarily defensive.Adams said she was discriminated against on the basis of race and sex – that when she repeatedly raised questions about her pay and working conditions with supervisors, she was fired – a maneuver she argued was retaliation for questioning the process.Adams, who is African American, filed a discrimination lawsuit contending she was unfairly being paid less than white, male colleagues. A motion filed by then Senate lawyer Michael Moberly said Adams ‘simply expressed a desire to discuss a potential raise because her workload had increased, and she had not received a raise during the time she had been employed at the Senate.’As it turned out, the legislative policy adviser affirmed Adams did earn less than many white, male colleagues.A federal jury last month awarded Adams $2.75 million, ruling she ‘was’ fired for questioning the pay gap. Because of laws capping damages, she will actually receive no more than $300,000.Hobbs released a three-minute apology video via Twitter earlier this month – a mea culpa that included everything from Talonya Adams to her lack of accountability to her limited experience with racism. But was this apology sincere or a part of a larger strategy to help her become the next governor of Arizona?In this week's Gaggle episode, national politics reporter Ron Hansen examines this question and more of the fallout between Secretary Hobbs and Adams with Stacey Barchenger, the Republic’s state politics reporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods died of a heart attack on October 23, 2021, at the age of 67. He spent years as a Republican politician in Arizona, often crossing party lines to side with Democratic causes. Woods was known as a fighter who stood up for what was right, even when it wasn’t popular. He will forever be remembered as an authentic Arizonan. The former Republican Arizona Attorney General was celebrated at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix on November 23rd. The memorial brought crowds of family, friends, and those who respected Woods.To remember his life as a politician, a lawyer, and a person, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen invite EJ Montini to the show. Montini is a columnist for the Arizona Republic who wrote about Woods after his passing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August, when COVID-19 seemed to be receding as a health problem, and as public schools ramped up for in-person education lessons with masking mandates, Gov. Doug Ducey offered parents who didn’t like those rules an alternative. He said the state would provide vouchers worth up to $7,000 per student to those approved for a grant intended to sidestep masking, promote in-person learning and use federal emergency stimulus funds to do so.Stacey Barchenger, who covers the Ducey administration for The Arizona Republic, has gone over the records to see how the early stages of the controversial new program are working out.A closer examination of the program reveals that it’s not just the U.S. Department of Education, public schools across Arizona and public health officials who are unhappy with it so far.In this week's episode of The Gaggle, host Ronald J. Hansen speaks with Barchenger about the demand for vouchers, how the state is doing at approving requests, the allocation of money and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen are taking off this week to celebrate Thanksgiving. If you didn't catch the series, Democracy in Doubt, last week about Arizona's ballot review, all five episodes are available. Happy Thanksgiving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GOP lawmakers from at least 18 states trekked to the desert during triple-digit heat to study the process, pose for pictures, battle members of the mainstream press and help push former President Donald Trump’s baseless concern for a stolen election.The election review was started almost singlehandedly by Senate President Karen Fann at the behest of Trump, his allies and some members of her own caucus, and now it’s coming to an end.In the fifth and final episode of Democracy in Doubt, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen dive into those who championed the ballot review, like One America News’ Christina Bobb, why Ken Bennett was treated like a pariah, Trumps return to Arizona, who claimed the numbers were ‘made up’ and the fallout of those involved.In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic dug into the election review by examining text messages, emails, public records and court records, many made public after the news outlet sued the state for access.Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts dismissed the 'audit' as worthless. But it also helped the GOP and related interests rake in millions and keep the cause of Donald Trump alive.In episode four of a five-episode series, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen dig deep to find out if the Arizona election review was about election integrity or just Trump – how Arizona State President Karen Fann chose partisans with little experience with ballot reviews, which former GOP chair consulted from the shadows and more.In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic examined a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access. Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nearly 8-hour insurrection on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol failed to overturn election results. Congress certified Joe Biden’s presidential win after hours of violence and bloodshed.In episode three of a five-episode series, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen detail the narrative of a stolen election pressed by Trump, Gosar and Biggs. It was echoed by millions of the president’s followers and encouraged state Senate President Karen Fann to push ahead with a partisan ballot review. Once again, Arizona found its way back into the spotlight as a hotbed of partisan extremism and a magnet for those pushing election conspiracies. In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic examined a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access. Republic reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Maricopa County. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second of a five-episode series, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen break down Rudy Giuliani’s audacious pitch in Dec. 2020 to reverse Arizona election results ­– a plan that would involve the help of Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Senate President Karen Fann. Trump and his allies, including Giuliani, had for weeks pointed to purported irregularities in Arizona, claiming they contributed to a stolen election. A day earlier, Giuliani headlined a meeting at a Phoenix hotel where he and other Arizona Republicans presented claims of widespread voter fraud.The next 35 days would see divisions within the party, talk of subpoenas, more White House calls and then, Jan. 6.In a four-month investigation, The Arizona Republic interviewed dozens of people who were in and around the effort to alter the election outcome and the ballot review that for months sustained outrage over Trump’s loss. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.The Republic also reviewed thousands of pages of documents obtained through public records requests and in an ongoing lawsuit against the Senate and the company it hired to conduct the ballot review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the course of four months, The Republic examined a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access. Reporters spoke to decision-makers, consultants, staff, contractors, campaign aides and others tied to the review of the presidential and U.S. Senate races. Some talked on the record about their experiences, while others spoke on the condition they not be identified in order to speak candidly about private conversations.  The Republic uncovered efforts to circumvent the popular vote to engineer an illegitimate Trump victory. Once the results were certified, Trump and his allies shifted to a campaign to pressure local Republicans to overturn election results from voters using an early ballot system largely shaped over decades by their own party.In this first of a five-episode series, Democracy in Doubt, The Gaggle hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen walk you through the origins of the Arizona election review and how that state plunged into a fog of election conspiracies riven with partisanship and targeted by opportunists from across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives ended months of infighting among Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema helped broker.The historic legislation, along with a still-unfinished social spending bill, serves as a reminder of the Arizona Democrat's central role in what seems politically possible in Washington.  A deal with the liberal wing of House Democrats allowed the physical infrastructure plan to proceed. It will boost spending on the nation's various deteriorating structures such as roads and bridges, water systems and expand broadband internet coverage.Progressive Democrats expect a vote on the $1.75 trillion human "Build Back Better" bill later this month. How will Sinema's moderate policies affect the Biden agenda, Democratic fortunes in the 2022 midterm elections, and her own future in the Senate?In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen speak with Kyle Kondik. Kondik is a political analyst and the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices