The AZ Political Podcast

The deaths of Rebekah Baptiste, Emily Pike and Zariah Dodd in 2025 drew severe scrutiny to the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). Jim Sharpe sat down this week with Sen. Carine Werner to discuss her office's investigation into the department and proposed legislation aimed to prevent and better serve children within the DCS system.

Public school advocate Beth Lewis discusses a new proposal that could appear on Arizona ballots in November that would place new guidelines on the ESA program. 

On this week's episode of the AZ Political Podcast, John Cohen, a former high-ranking Homeland Security official, sits down with Jim Sharpe to talk about all the recent immigration news. During the episode, Cohen says that federal immigration operations conducted elsewhere are negatively affecting efforts in Arizona to capture dangerous criminals residing illegally in the U.S. — and are hurting law enforcement's reputation in general.

Noble Predictive Insights CEO Mike Noble breaks down his Arizona Power Rankings, which are based on a formula designed to gauge electability. 

Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely discusses his run for Arizona's 1st Congressional District seat and why he jumped into the race after originally declaring his candidacy for another district. 

For this week's episode of the AZ Political Podcast, Jim sits down with Senate President Warren Petersen. The two discuss the 1,500 bills expected to be introduced this year, immigration and border issues, education, and a one billion dollar tax cut Republicans hope to see pass. They finished the conversation talking about Petersen running for Attorney General, and if he will remain Senate President. 

For this weeks episode, Jim sits down with Democrat Stacy Peason of Lumen Strategies and Republican Sean Noble of DC/London. The three jump into the biggest political headlines of the year, starting with January and going all the way into December. They talk about the Charlie Kirk assassination, Andy Biggs and David Scheikert running for Governor, Kari Lake and much more!

This week on the AZ Political Podcast, Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller sits down with Jim Sharpe to talk about the proactive way Miller's office is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a time when many are working against ICE. They also take time to discuss Brad Miller's path to political office and what many people might not know about him.

This week's episode of the AZ Political Podcast features Tim Stringham, a former military lawyer and recovering politician. In this episode, Stringham breaks down the idea that U.S. Senator Mark Kelly could be recalled to active duty in the Navy in order to be court martialed. Stringham, who served in the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, ultimately thinks Sen. Kelly won't end up in front of a military judge.