Welcome to the ninth episode of Prickly, a podcast from KJZZ’s Politics Desk. Subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Prickly newsletter.
In our last episode, field correspondents Camryn Sanchez and Wayne Schutsky introduced you to Gina Swoboda, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party.
In this episode, they cross the aisle for a conversation with Robert Branscomb, who Democrats elected as the state party’s new leader earlier this year.
- Branscomb’s election was a bit of a surprise – despite Democratic candidates’ poor performances up and down the ballot in 2024, former chair Yolanda Bejarano had the support of key Democratic officials, including U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and Gov. Katie Hobbs.
- Branscomb traces his involvement in Democratic Party politics to 2008, when then Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ran and won for president.
- Democrats underestimated voters’ concerns in 2024, something Branscomb attributes to the economy.
How do you know what to pay attention to or what our elected officials are doing to represent us? Subscribe to Prickly from KJZZ’s Politics Desk.
