KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the biggest stories of the week from Arizona and beyond.
To talk about the results of a special election in a southern Arizona congressional district, a lawsuit challenging a new state law related to a Scottsdale-based business and more, The Show sat down with Daniel Scarpinato of Winged Victory Agency and Jason Barraza of Veridus.
Conversation highlights
MARK BRODIE: Jason, let me start with you. With the special election in the 7th Congressional District. This was held for a long time by the late Congressman Raúl Grijalva. His daughter Adelita Grijalva won that election. Not much of a surprise, but I’m curious if there are any lessons in what we saw in the vote that we can carry forward with us.
JASON BARRAZA: The lesson here is that when you have someone who is that connected to the community, how do you knock that person off the pedestal that they’re on? We knew that Adelita was going to come out victorious in this race. That was no surprise.
It has been waited for by the Democrats nationally. She’s going to be able to bring more strength to them and lessen the impact that Republicans can have in Congress. So it’s a good win all around.
BRODIE: Daniel, a lot of political pundits and all look to special elections often, especially after a presidential election, to look for signs for what might be coming in the next year. Is there anything we can take from this, or is it such a heavily Democratic district and the daughter of the person who held the seat and somebody who had been in public life herself? Is there maybe not much that we can take from this lesson-wise?
DANIEL SCARPINATO: There’s not much we can take from it lesson-wise. I think in many ways, this was more of a legacy seat. What I will say is, in a prior life — as I’ve mentioned on here, born and raised in Tucson — and when I was a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star 20 years ago, Adelita was starting her career on the Tucson Unified School District Board.
I don’t know that I probably agree with her on much in terms of public policy or politics, but I think she’s a lovely person, and I’m very happy for her. And what my hope is, is that even though she is a progressive, that she’s kind of less of an (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), less of somebody who’s going on cable news and focused on Twitter, and that she actually is someone who’s serious about policy and partnering with people like Juan Ciscomani, who’s a Republican who represents the neighboring district.
I think she actually could really be part of the solution to our politics today. And I’m hopeful for that because I actually think she is a serious person. And I think we could use more of that in our politics and with the folks representing our state in D.C.
BRODIE: Hey Jason, I’m curious, what kind of member of Congress do you anticipate that she will be? Not sworn in yet, and there is some controversy over when that might happen. But I’m curious, what kind of Congress member do you think Congresswoman-elect Grijalva might be?
BARRAZA: I think she’s going to be a strong member of Congress. I do expect her to be — to your point, Daniel — a little bit quieter at first because I would expect her to be more of a learner first. Let me see how this process is going to work.
She knows that she is going to be in that seat for a long time. She is going to hold this seat for a long time. She has time to make an impact, so she doesn’t need to rush out. To your point, I don’t think that she’s going to look to become the firebrand from that seat, because she could do a lot of work and a lot of good for Arizona, for the country, for or the Democratic Party from that.
BRODIE: Any significance, Daniel, to the fact that the state’s delegation is whole now? I mean, it hadn’t been. It had been missing someone for quite a while now.
SCARPINATO: Yeah. I mean, again, I think we need good representation, and we need good people out there. She has not been a bomb thrower. People do get Potomac fever. It’s a real thing. So here’s hoping that she can be part of the solution.
And like I said, she is a progressive, but there’s so many issues facing this state and the country that just are not partisan. And I think it would be good if we could get back to that.
BRODIE: Daniel, let me stick with you. This week, Gov. Hobbs appointed Jimmy McCain, the son of the late Sen. John McCain, to the Arizona Board of Regents. You obviously served with Gov. Ducey, so you’re familiar with the process of figuring out who should be on the Board of Regents. I’m curious what you make of this appointment.
SCARPINATO: So I don’t know Jimmy well. I do know members of his family. I know his mother very well, and his sister. I think it’s fair to say he’s from a good family. He has served his country. He has an impressive educational background.
Again, I don’t know him, and I don’t want to get inside his head. I suspect some of his endorsements — like in the ’24 election — had more to do with the politics of the moment. Some of the issues back and forth between the McCain family and President Trump.
I actually think he’s likely a conservative in his heart. And so, from my perspective, I think this is probably the most conservative pick that Republicans could hope for from Gov. Hobbs for the Board of Regents.
I think he’s exactly the type of individual who we should want engaged in public service, and certainly a board that’s focused on our institutions of higher education. He’s more than qualified. So to me, he seems like somebody who would be a great addition to the Arizona Board of Regents.
BRODIE: Well, he pretty well famously said that he had reregistered as a Democrat, though. So do you still think that in his heart he’s a conservative?
SCARPINATO: Again, I don’t know him, but … we’ve seen this. There’s been a lot that’s happened politically in the last few years. But I think given the family he was raised in, his background, I don’t think he’s somebody who’s going to go onto that board and be a partisan. I think he’s somebody who’s going to be serious. You don’t serve in the military and have the family he has and not be serious about these things.
So I’m not known for coming on the radio and praising picks by Gov. Hobbs, but I think this is a good one.
BRODIE: Jason, what do you make of this selection?
BARRAZA: I think it’s a good pick. I also don’t know Jimmy very well. But I would say that I think he’s going to be capable of doing the job. I think it’s a pick that should be considered.
I think that the real question here is the previous pick, Liz Archuleta, was there for a year, was never brought forward in the Legislature for confirmation. And her term expired.
What happens one year from now? Mark your calendars on what’s going on. Will this have been acted on, or are we going to be in a similar situation?
SCARPINATO: Well, here’s what I would say to that. First of all, what I like about this pick is Liz Archuleta was very much someone aligned with the progressive, liberal politics of Flagstaff, a politician deeply engaged in DEI policies up there. And so it was much more of a political partisan pick.
I think that what is great about this one is it doesn’t feel that way. And a year from now, we’ll be in the midst of an election. I don’t know what the Senate is going to do. But I think that what we’ve seen is with the check and balance from the state Senate, it has very much moderated the picks by Gov. Hobbs. A lot of the people she’s now choosing as agency heads are former Ducey appointees and employees who were actually dismissed in a very political way when she first came in.
So I think what we’ve seen is exactly what voters want, which is some balance. And so by the Senate doing their work, it has resulted in rather than a very progressive politician from Flagstaff being on the Board of Regents, potentially the son of John McCain. And I think that that seems like a win-win for Arizonans.
BRODIE: Jason, let me ask you about what you’re bringing up in terms of Jimmy McCain needing Senate confirmation. There’s obviously some bad blood between the Arizona Freedom Caucus members and the McCain family. Daniel referenced that earlier. Do you think that he has anything to worry about in terms of getting confirmed by the state Senate?
BARRAZA: I think he does. I think that any nominee from Gov. Hobbs is going to have an issue at stake. And I think that they’ve purposely created a system that will do that.
SCARPINATO: They did confirm her other appointee to the Board of Regents. So I don’t think it’s been unilateral. Like I said, there’s some fabulous people who have been installed of late, Katie Ptak, who now runs the Department of Child Safety — again, somebody who served in our administration. (Arizona Department of Economic Security Director) Michael Wisehart, who had been at DES under our administration.
So there’s a number of people who I think have been confirmed. I think it’s the people who were kind of the more extreme leftist type nominees who initially were rejected. And since then, we’ve seen, I think, people who are more interested in governing. And I think that’s a good thing.
BRODIE: Well so, Jason, given what Daniel said earlier about Jimmy McCain being a serious pick, sort of a policy person, not a partisan — does that give you any optimism that maybe his nomination will not face the kind of challenges that you seem concerned about?
BARRAZA: No, because I think that the name is going to muddy the waters. The McCain name is something that is cherished here in Arizona. To your point, the Freedom Caucus hasn’t necessarily had a good relationship with that name. I don’t think that they’re looking to mend ties between the McCain family and the Freedom Caucus in order to benefit Gov. Hobbs.
