Arizona's roses, thorns and buds: A 2022 retrospective

The year 2022 was filled with political ups and downs and drama seemingly from every corner in Arizona.  The year began with Gov. Doug Ducey’s final State of the State address. Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, shared his firm views that the 2020 election was not stolen. We covered Ukraine, Uvalde and Roe v. Wade, all before diving into the 2022 midterm elections. We heard from the youth, the independents, and from candidates themselves. We sadly said goodbye to Yvonne Wingett Sanchez as she embarked on her next endeavor, but welcomed The Arizona Republic’s politics team as regulars whom you’ve grown to know. In this episode, we have a special roundtable with some familiar voices to our podcast: Mary Jo Pitzl, Ray Stern, Stacey Barchenger, Robert Anglen, Sasha Hupka and Ryan Randazzo. Together, each reporter will discuss 2022's politics and give their roses – the good things; thorns – the not so good things; and buds – things they are hopeful about.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices