AZ Political Podcast: Stan Barnes recaps Arizona’s primary elections

PHOENIX – You get the weird, the wild and the winners (often rolled into one) on this week’s AZ Political Podcast — when political strategist Stan Barnes, a man named as one of the “top-five most-influential Republicans in Arizona,” helps me sort through the post-Primary triumphs and tragedies.

I ask Stan (a top-five dude in my book) what the sage advice was that he gave to Republican Kari Lake in the 2022 gubernatorial race and whether it still holds true as she moves on to face off against Democrat Ruben Gallego in the 2024 US Senate General Election. (Advice, by the way, Lake did not heed.)

We discuss why you might as well start calling Republican Abe Hamadeh, “Congressman Hamadeh,” and how impressive his primary victory in Congressional District 6 is to Stan.

Also, with “Mr. Top-Five” being a former state senator and state representative, we have to discuss the state legislature. Stan and I talk about how former secretary of state and former Republican gubernatorial nominee Ken Bennett — a man who was once president of the state Senate — could lose by as big of a margin as he did on Tuesday.

And, weirdly, Stan ties together how a Republican state legislator’s poor conduct during a traffic stop could end up helping Republicans keep control of the state Senate. It sounds bizarre – but so was the way state Sen. Justine Wadsack handled the Tucson cop who pulled her over for allegedly going twice the speed limit.

Catch all of the bizarre glory that made up this week in Arizona politics — on this week’s AZ Political Podcast.

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