We're already nostalgic for 2022
As the year officially wraps up, we decided to take a break from our break for one last recap post.
We’re still on vacation until Jan. 2. But we missed you, so we scraped together one last recap post for your slow-week reading pleasure.
Now that 2022 is almost over, we can finally stop talking about the 2020 election.
Unfortunately, we’ll now have to relitigate the 2022 election until at least 2024. Sorry — them’s the rules!
To wrap up this momentous year, we planned to run down the year’s top five stories. But we realized our top story is really just one story: the midterms. That one story, though, includes thousands of stories within it.
Keep reading through our recap to see our predictions for the coming year. You should know that our predictions last year were wildly off, and we basically didn’t even mention the election, so that should tell you how seriously to take them.
The big story’s little stories
Democrats pulled it off. The long-suffering left-leaning Arizonans scored big wins in major state offices in a year that was Republicans’ to lose, taking the governorship, secretary of state, attorney general and a U.S. Senate seat.
Arizona went full MAGA in the primaries, which backfired bigly in November. The Legislature remains in Republican control, though, giving a new generation of lawmakers and politicos the opportunity to figure out how a divided government will operate.
Arizona’s 2022 election landed us in the national and international news, usually not in a good way. There were the armed, outfitted drop box watchers. There were threats of hand-counting ballots Cyber Ninjas style and AZGOP efforts to prevent people from voting by mail. There was Kari Lake stealing the show with her never-ending stream of antics. There was that whole debate over debates after Katie Hobbs refused to take the stage. There was, regrettably, Mark Finchem and the unexpected return of Tom Horne.
U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, throwing the fate of abortion to the states and changing the dynamics of the 2022 races mid way through the election year. In Arizona, we still aren’t sure which laws now govern the practice. While abortion access on its own was and is a huge story, it also factored heavily into the elections, helping Democrats win over more voters.
Two Arizona counties transformed into national main characters after election screw-ups. In the primary, Pinal County ran out of ballots, leading to the ouster of its elections director and an investigation into the problems. In the general, it was Maricopa County, where printers failed at dozens of voting centers, leaving long lines and a host of conspiracy theories.
And who can forget Cochise County? The politicians there did everything they could to get people across the nation to remember their names, first by trying and failing to conduct a full hand count (illegal), then by refusing to certify the general election results (also illegal).
After the election, losing GOP candidates began the now-familiar practice of claiming it was rigged, pointing to those printer problems and other theories instead of looking in the mirror or doing anything resembling a post-mortem analysis. Lake and Finchem still haven’t conceded, and are instead fundraising off their fantasies of the courts ordering a do-over. Two statewide races, for AG and state superintendent, went to recounts because of a new state law increasing the barrier for automatic recounts.
While it would be nice if those election deniers conceded, it’s not actually necessary. We’re moving on anyway. We’ll have a whole new set of leaders on the Ninth Floor, in the statehouse and in both state political parties. The status quo is gone. Welcome to the new Arizona.
Honorable mentions:
Democrat in name only no longer: U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema snuck in a big end-of-year announcement, one last chance to steal the spotlight: She’s no longer a Democrat. Instead, she’s now an independent, which was mostly met by groans of “good riddance” from her party-mates. She likely wouldn’t have survived a Dem primary, and now we’re all facing the serious potential for a three-way U.S. Senate race in 2024. What fun!
Bipartisan budget: The 2022 Legislature had no choice but a bipartisan budget, proffered in the waning days of a too-long session, after GOP holdouts continued to, well, hold out. It will be a sign of budgets to come.
The school doomsday clock keeps ticking: While schools got a raise in this year’s budget, they are once again staring down an archaic spending limit that will prevent them from actually using that money come March. Gov. Doug Ducey promised Democrats a special session to increase the limit, then added a bunch of other ideas into the mix, tanking the whole concept, but giving reporters something to write about in the slow news month of December.
Border containers and migrant buses: Ducey illegally piled up shipping containers in gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border as a show of strength, blaming the Biden administration for failing to manage the border properly. The Biden administration is suing the state over it. The governor also copied a Texas plan and started busing migrants from the southern border to the East Coast.
Adios, Doug: Speaking of our current governor, he pulled off a rare two terms in office without leaving for another job, getting indicted or dying. Not to be flippant, but it’s been awhile since that’s happened here. He leaves behind a legacy of universal vouchers and business-y government, and he probably still owes us public records requests from 2015. The subject of rampant next-step speculation, the former ice cream slinger is now looking for a new job.
It’s a subpoena party: The subpoenas kept coming for Arizonans with ties to Jan. 6 and the fake electors scheme after the 2020 election. AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward unsuccessfully fought her subpoena. Maricopa County officials and the secretary of state say they will comply. Will there ever be charges? It’s anyone’s guess.
Brittney Griner: As 2022’s days grew more numbered, Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was finally released from a Russian prison in exchange for an arms dealer, ending an international nightmare for the basketballer.
Bold, wild, likely incorrect predictions
Ducey will land the top gig at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Then, he’ll announce that he’s an independent now, and he’s running against Sinema in 2024.
The Legislature won’t get a budget before the June 30 deadline.
Ward won’t actually step down as AZGOP chair, leaving Democrats to celebrate their good fortune.
We’ll have four special sessions this year, at least two of which will accomplish nothing.
The bust of Carl Hayden that mysteriously went missing from the state Capitol in 2021 will return, displayed alongside a new bust of Hayden created by now-retired House Speaker Rusty Bowers.
Election losers will keep fundraising off their losses, amassing just enough money to pay off the frivolous lawsuits they filed.
Lawmakers will permanently lift the aggregate expenditure limit because everyone is sick of saying those words together.
Tell us: What’s your bold prediction for 2023? The wilder, the better!
Kyrsten Sinema and Kari Lake retire from politics to open a boutique bed and breakfast, called K & K, in Bisbee, which specializes in "wild berry" flapjacks. All is harmonious until Donald Trump calls and, thinking he's speaking to Kari, offers the VEEP slot to Kyrsten. Hijinks ensue as the two women undermine each other to get selected as running mate: scorpions in pantyhose, etc.
Twitter Celeb Clue Heywood runs for City Council Yasmin Ansari’s seat, which she vacates to work for Kris Mayes. Clue proceeds to host “Dive Bar” night in the city owned Suns suite and causes an international scandal when Doug Ducey and the Saudi Prince (obviously intoxicated) engage in a duel with swords. Elon Musk buys the Suns to bury the dust up because he’s a “party like it’s 1700” absolutist.