Welcome to the sixth 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.
It took over a week for some counties to count all ballots after Election Day, same as it always had. But some lawmakers have ideas for how to speed up that process. Republicans say it’s an effort to get results faster. Democrats warn the changes they propose would disenfranchise voters.
Political correspondents Camryn Sanchez and Wayne Schutsky dig into both sides’ perspective on the issue and the politics that could motivate lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session next month.
More Prickly podcast episodes
Meet the Gen Z Arizonan running for Congress
While 2025 is giving most Arizonans a break casting ballots, voters in the 7th Congressional District will head to the polls this year to pick a new representative. Deja Foxx is just 25, and would be the youngest member of Congress if elected.
This Arizona lawmaker is trying to pick his own Republican candidates for 2026
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.
After 2024 election, Arizona Democrats picked a new chair in surprise move
Democrats elected Robert Branscomb as the Arizona party’s new leader earlier this year. It 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.
Arizona GOP chair's reelection showed divide among the party faithful over Trump
Every two years in January, after voters statewide cast ballots in November, members of the Republican and Democratic parties hold their own elections for their party leaders. Those party chairs will set the tone for their respective parties for the next two years.
These issues will likely dominate debate in the Arizona Legislature in 2025
A new year means a new legislative session for Arizona lawmakers returning to the Capitol in Phoenix. Political editor Ben Giles catches up with field correspondents Camryn Sanchez and Wayne Schutsky for a debrief on the topics and issues — some prickly — that will likely dominate debate this year.
Some Arizona legislators want to speed up counting ballots
Political correspondents Camryn Sanchez and Wayne Schutsky dig into both sides’ perspective on the issue and the politics that could motivate lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session next month.
A look ahead at the most consequential legislative and Maricopa County races on the November ballot
The Arizona secretary of state officially certified the results of July's primary elections, meaning Arizonans now know the candidates who will be running in the handful of competitive legislative races that will determine which party controls the Arizona House and Senate next year.
