2025 isn't an election year, but that doesn't mean that Arizona politics will be boring.

Newly elected Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego is preparing his move to Washington DC. Heading to the National's capitol as well, are seemingly diametrically opposed members of Congress that Arizonans voted in for the first time this year. Democrat Yassamin Ansari and Republican Abe Hamadeh are among a new batch of freshman in Congress.

Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs didn’t flip the Legislature like she wanted and is actually facing an even more conservative group of state lawmakers. In the background, she is also preparing her run for re-election in 2026.

This week on The Gaggle, a politics podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl are joined by Republic politics reporters to give a sense of what they're looking at for the year ahead.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices