The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast

The race for Maricopa County Attorney has grown heated and competitive this year.Facing off are candidates Allister Adel, a Republican, and Julie Gunnigle, a Democrat. Allister Adel, the sitting county attorney, was appointed to the office in October 2019 by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. This came after her predecessor, Republican Bill Montgomery, was named to the Arizona Supreme Court by Republican Governor Doug Ducey. She’s received the support of police unions and several Republican politicians. Her opponent, Julie Gunnigle, grew up in Arizona before becoming a prosecutor in Illinois and Indiana. She’s been vocal in her support for criminal justice reform and has the support of various left-leaning organizations and even received a shoutout from celebrity singer John Legend.  To give you a better picture of these candidates and their philosophies, The Gaggle podcast spoke with each of them about criminal justice reform, reproductive rights and marijuana legalization.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona's 1st Congressional District was designed to be competitive. The district is immense. It stretches from the Navajo Nation in the northwest corner of the state, to the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff. From there, it heads south, covering Show Low and Globe. Then it switches west to include Casa Grande and the city of Maricopa, just south of Phoenix. It's covers such an incredible land mass that it's actually larger than 26 states. In 2016, the district went to President Donald Trump by one point. That same night, it voted in Democrat Tom O'Halleran to Congress.Four years later, how do voters in the district feel? Which issues are most pressing to them? And how will they vote come November? We talked to Rep. O'Halleran and voters in the district to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can a lengthy ethics investigation and a charismatic opponent mean the end for Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican from Arizona's 6th Congressional District?Schweikert's district is home to some of Arizona's wealthiest residents. It's also home to a host of working-class entrepreneurs, he said. Topping their list of important issues this election are the economy, COVID-19 response, health care, and education. Facing off against Schweikert is Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, a Democrat who's made ground appealing to voters across the aisle.This week, listeners will visit two congressional districts. Congressional District 6 and Congressional District 1. These races are expected to be the most competitive of all nine in Arizona.We hear how Republican, Independent and Democrat voters in the districts feel about the incumbent candidates and their challengers. 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.NOTE: A previous version of this description misspelled Dr. Hiral Tipirneni's name. It has since been corrected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The race between retired astronaut and Democrat Mark Kelly and Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) could determine the control of the Senate and makeup of the Supreme Court. On Tuesday night, voters heard from the candidates directly. In a debate hosted by The Arizona Republic, Arizona PBS, KJZZ-FM (91.5) and Arizona Public media, the candidates responded to questions about health care, guns, China and national security.The debate came after the release of a statewide Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll released Friday that showed Kelly led McSally 49-40 among likely Arizona voters. Will the debate impact voters choice? How did Kelly and McSally respond to topics about the COVID-19 pandemic? In this week's episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen break down the top moments from the U.S. Senate debate.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Patriot Movement AZ was once seen as a fringe group within the Republican Party. Now they are impacting local policy while garnering national attention for their public actions. Investigative reporters Rob O'Dell and Richard Ruelas spent six months diving into the history of the group and reviewing thousands of online posts to learn how the group thinks.O'Dell and Ruelas chat with Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen hosts of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, to breakdown the findings of their investigation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once a reliably red state, Arizona has become increasingly purple over the last decade. When it comes to the 2020 election, it's districts like Arizona's 9th Congressional District that could swing outcomes on the federal level. The 9th Congressional District falls in the heart of the Valley. It includes east Phoenix, Tempe, south Scottsdale and parts of Mesa and Chandler. It's home to some of Arizona's largest employers, such as State Farm Insurance and Arizona State University. The district was originally drawn as one of three competitive House seats in Arizona. Back when it was created, Republicans had a 3 percentage point advantage. Today, Democrats have an 8-point edge. What does that shift mean for President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden? How could changing sentiments in one congressional district shape the outcome of November's election?To find out, we talked to Representative Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), who has served the district since 2018. We also talked to three different voters — one Democrat, one Republican and one Independent — to get their pulse on 2020. We asked them about which issues matter most to them, including climate change, health care and the Supreme Court vacancy. And we found out who they'll vote for in November.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the 2020 election draws near, Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden are racing to shore up support from suburban voters in the battleground state of Arizona. Analysts say suburbanites will be the decisive voting faction in this year's election, making them the most important group for each of the presidential candidates to win over. But the suburbs aren't a monolith. The residents make up diverse populations with different concerns, backgrounds and religious affiliations. So how are the Trump and Biden campaigns going after them? This week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, breaks down the two campaigns' strategies and efficacy. Plus, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen examin how the candidates are polling among Arizonans.Audio in this episode courtesy of the azcentral.com video team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Smart and Safe Arizona Act, a recreational marijuana measure (on the ballot) Prop. 208, an education funding measure (on the ballot) Second Chances, Rehabilitation and Public Safety Act (not on the ballot) Stop Surprise Billing and Protect Patients Act (not on the ballot) 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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices