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.
There’s a familiar character in Arizona politics now trying to exert influence over the state Republican Party – or more specifically, what candidates will represent the GOP in November 2026.
In this episode, field correspondent Camryn Sanchez sat down for a conversation with Sen. Jake Hoffman, the West Valley Republican on the hunt for his own preferred candidates for statewide offices, including secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction.
- Hoffman, the chair of the Legislature’s far-right Freedom Caucus, doesn’t consider himself far-right, or divisive, despite efforts to primary at least one incumbent Republican holding statewide office.
- Hoffman points to President Donald Trump’s success on the ballot as evidence that people are clamoring for “fearless fighters” from the political right.
- While he acknowledges his campaign choices run contrary to the state party’s neutrality in GOP primaries, Hoffman cites his election as a Republican national committeeman as evidence that his voice should hold sway over party politics.
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