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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

NEW: AZ Senate President Warren Petersen (R) praises the Trump administration for ending the DOJ investigation of Phoenix PD which he calls a “witch hunt”

Screen shot of a statement from Arizona Senate President on the Trump administration ending the DOJ investigation into Phoenix PD.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Shake it up! Co-endorsed Trump candidate Karrin Taylor Robson’s consultants bail. "It takes special skill to botch a GOP primary with the Trump endorsement, but unfortunately that's what this candidate has single-handedly assured,"

axios.com

Scoop: Trump aides dump 1 of the 2 Arizona governor candidates he backed

The exodus from Karrin Taylor Robson's campaign came after Trump's advisers spent months urging her to air TV ads promoting his endorsement, sources tell Axios.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Breaking: Chaos continues for the Arizona Democratic Party. Chairman Robert Branscomb now faces call to resign over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. Steven Jackson, the chairman of the LD8 Democrats in the East Valley, drafted a letter urging Branscomb to step down.

Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman Robert Branscomb to step down over his fight with Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and others

Picture of the letter calling for AZ Democratic Party Chairman to step down over his fight with Sens Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Spiciest veto of the year?: Gov. Hobbs kills Sen. Jake Hoffman’s transportation bill by taking at not so subtle shot at his recent record of dodging a speeding ticket with the help of legislative immunity

Screen shot of Governor Hobbs’ veto letter

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

NEW: The Arizona House passed a bill allowing for a memorial to slain journalist Don Bolles who was assassinated nearly 50 years ago investigating a shady land dead. Bill now heads to the Senate.

Screen shot of the the vote total of a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Breaking: Arizona Senate passes a bill to plug a $122M funding gap for the department that serves 60K disabled people. The bill is now headed to Gov. Hobbs’ desk.

Screen shot of the vote total for a finding bill

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

HAPPENING NOW: Republican candidate for governor, Karrin Taylor Robson, backs President Trump’s tariffs and urges him to “keep fighting.”

Screen shot of Karrin Taylor Robson’s statement of President Trump’s tariffs

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

UPDATE: Trouble in Mudville?: The D-Backs’ Chase Field bill (HB2704) won’t be heard in committee tomorrow. The chairman said it doesn’t have the votes right now.

Screen shot showing the Diamondbacks stadium bill has been pulled from the Senate appropriations committee agenda tomorrow.

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Yvonne Wingett Sanchez @yvonnewingett.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

SCOOP: Occasional Trump golf partner and regular rally attendee, Jay Feely, is seriously considering a run for Congress in Arizona’s CD05 to replace Rep. Andy Biggs, according to a source. Feely was a former professional NFL kicker and CBS sideline analyst.

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Cody Lillich @codylillich.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Border encounter numbers have plummeted in the Tucson and Yuma sectors. Feb. 2025 is the lowest number in both sectors in the publicly available data we have from CBP dating back to Oct. 1999. Tucson Sector: 1,336 Yuma Sector: 243 @dwelch.bsky.social @azfamily.com

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Bonus podcast just dropped! Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seidel on legislative efforts to keep the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Regular pod coming on Sunday.) www.azfamily.com/2025/03/13/p...

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

During her first two years in office, Hobbs vetoed nearly one-third of all the bills passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature (excluding ballot referrals and other measures that don’t require the governor’s approval)

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

New podcast has dropped! Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield talks about legislation to speed up the vote count. Then Dennis and Colin break down the nominees for the 2025 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Bad Company? Really?) www.azfamily.com/2025/02/17/p...

azfamily.com

Politics Unplugged Podcast: Jen Fifield

Faster elections and Hall of Famer rockers.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

FYI: A bill that bars lawmakers from using legislative immunity to get out of traffic tickets is scheduled for debate in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Because this special privilege is outlined in the state Constitution it would need voter approval.

A screen shot of a House committee agenda where a bill to limit the use of legislative immunity is scheduled for a hearing

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Another state lawmaker avoids a ticket because of legislative immunity. Sen. Jake Hoffman was clocked driving 89MPH in a 65MPH zone. DPS statement below:

Screenshot of a police statement confirming that state Senator Jake Hoffman was stopped for speeding but was not issued a ticket because of legislative immunity

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

New episode of the pod is here! Congressman Greg Stanton on why he views Elon Musk as a threat to our democracy. Then Dennis and Colin look back at the best and worst Super Bowl halftime shows. www.azfamily.com/2025/02/10/p...

azfamily.com

Politics Unplugged Podcast: Congressman Greg Stanton

Rep. Stanton on Elon Musk and the current state in D.C.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

JUST IN: State Sen. Mark Finchem’s seat mate in the House has filed a bill to abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. If passed, the measure would go to the voters in 2026

This is a screen shot of a bill that would abolish legislative immunity for all traffic stops. This is a response to a state senator using the immunity clause to get out of a traffic ticket

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Kyrsten Sinema Update: the former Arizona Senator is reported to have lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to become the next director of national intelligence

Screen shot of a report that former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Siname lobbied for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

NEW: A Republican-led House committee advanced HB2578 (6-1) which dedicates a memorial to journalist Don Bolles who was killed in 1976 by a car bomb while investigating organized crime in Phoenix

This is a picture of the House Committee on Government shortly before they passed a bill to memorialize slain journalist Don Bolles

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Bill of the day: A GOP-led House committee advanced HB2125 that allows for jury trials in divorce cases. Question: how would feel about laying out the intimate details of your marriage in front of 12 strangers?

This is a screen shot of the fact sheet on House Bill 2125 that allows jury trials in divorce cases

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: 4 Republican lawmakers get pissed a state bars them from bring their own booze on to the golf course. So they file a bill to repeal that law and call it the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2025”

search.app

HB2411 - 571R - I Ver

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Also, a link to that Kris Kristofferson story involving Toby Keith at Willie Nelson's 70th birthday, as reported in Rolling Stone...

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

This Sunday on the Politics Unplugged podcast: reporter Stacey Barchenger on the names to watch in the 2026 election. Then, Dennis and Colin remember musicians lost in 2024. Here's a playlist of the artists we mention: open.spotify.com/playlist/5Jr...

open.spotify.com

Remembering musicians lost in 2024

Playlist · colinstanton · 18 items

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

NEW: Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers filed a proposal last night urging the Arizona Department of Transportation to name State Route 260 the “Donald J. Trump Highway.”

Cover sheet of an Arizona Senate proposal urging the department of transportation to designate State Route 260 the “Donald J. Trump Highway”

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Wayne Schutsky @wschutsky.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

A diverse collection of groups from across the political spectrum are calling on Gov. Katie Hobbs to complete an independent review of how the state carries out executions. www.kjzz.org/politics/202...

kjzz.org

Critics call on Hobbs to complete 'independent' death penalty review

A diverse collection of groups from across the political spectrum are calling on Gov. Katie Hobbs to complete an independent review of how the state carries out executions.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

We also speak with former state lawmaker Athena Salman and the restrictive abortion laws that are still on the books. And our panel weighs in on the future leadership of the state Democratic Party.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Sen. John Kavanagh (R) insists his “bathroom bill” is aimed at stopping boys and girls from showering together at school but can’t provide a single example of where this has happened. search.app?link=https%3...

search.app

Arizona lawmaker reintroduces bills on bathroom access, pronouns in schools

Arizona state Sen. John Kavanagh is reintroducing legislation on bathroom bans and pronouns for transgender students.

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

You can also watch this one here. (A reminder - no pod next week as we take time off for Thanksgiving.) www.azfamily.com/2024/11/25/p...

azfamily.com

Politics Unplugged Podcast: J.P. Twist

Let's take a look at the 2026 governor's race.

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

I’ve mentioned on the pod how astonished I was to learn New Order played Billy Barty’s Roller Fantasy - one mile from my house - when I was in high school. Turns out there is audio evidence. God bless the internet. —Colin youtu.be/-2mxdn0fJ9s?...

youtu.be

New Order - Live, Billy Barty's Roller Fantasy, Fullerton, CA, USA, 23rd Jun 1983

YouTube video by The Cassette Converter

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Tonight on Politics Unplugged, coming up at 5:30 on 3TV... will Governor Katie Hobbs face a primary challenge in 2026? (Adrian Fontes? Kris Mayes?)

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Arizona Sen. elect Ruben Gallego (D) draws a line in the sand with Donald Trump’s immigration and border security proposals.

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Cody Lillich @codylillich.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

NO CHARGES: Scottsdale Police and Pinal Co. Attorney's Office declined any charges after investigating the (now-former) chief of ASU Police Michael Thompson and his actions during protests in April on the Tempe campus.

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Coming up this weekend on Politics Unplugged (the TV show and podcast).

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Andrew Nicla @andrewnicla.com · 21/11/2024

made a list of folks who cover or who make political news in AZ. Got the classics like @yvonnewingett.bsky.social, @jerodmacevoy.bsky.social, @brahmresnik.bsky.social, @dwelch.bsky.social, @azcapmedia.bsky.social, @jeremyduda.bsky.social, @ronaldjhansen.bsky.social + more. bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Dennis Welch @dwelch.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

ICYMI: here’s President-elect Donald Trump’s statement on Matt Gaetz withdrawing his Attorney General nomination

Screenshot of Matt Gaetz withdrawing his name from consideration for Attorney General

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Politics Unplugged with Dennis Welch @politicsunplugged.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

We’re officially official! We got a poster! Woot woot 🎉🥳🎈🎊🎁

A picture of the politics unplugged poster

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