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From speeding tickets to sassy interviews, here are the nine stories we missed in December.

Last time we talked, we gave you the rundown on all the hinky stuff elected officials did in 2024.

But the year wasn’t over yet. And while we were taking a break, politicians continued their shenanigans through the holiday season.

From ​​Kyrsten Sinema’s sassy exit interview to Kari Lake being handed the keys to an international news station (kind of), here are the nine big stories we missed in December.

#1: Lake Finally Gets a Job?

After losing back-to-back bids for governor and U.S. senator, Kari Lake is finally being rewarded for her MAGA loyalism after Donald Trump tapped her to lead Voice of America, the government-funded, pro-America international news outlet that was started in the 1940s to counter Nazi propaganda. Except Trump doesn’t have the power to appoint her to the gig unilaterally — that’s up to a committee — and nobody knows when or if she’ll finally find gainful employment. The former news anchor said she wants to focus on “great journalism” and won’t turn Voice of America into “MAGA TV.” Meanwhile, she took Time magazine to task for “FINALLY” naming Trump the Person of the Year in 2024 — while accidentally tweeting out the cover of the 2016 edition (shown above) in which Time also named Trump its Person of the Year.

#2 Wadsack Gets an Education

Outgoing Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack agreed to take defensive driving courses rather than going to trial in her criminal speeding case, which started in March after an officer clocked her red Tesla zooming down a residential street at twice the speed limit. She initially tried to get out of it by arguing she was exempt from prosecution while the Legislature was in session. The pinned tweet on her Twitter page includes her rant claiming Tucson Police have “violated tens of thousands of Tucson citizens” while directing people to a new website, NoRadarNoTicket.com, and its accompanying newsletter.¹

#3 Crosby Gets a Court Date

Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby’s attempt to use his elected office as a legal shield didn’t work out, either. An Arizona appeals court said he’s not protected by legislative immunity from his felony charges for delaying certifying election results in 2022. His counterpart, Supervisor Peggy Judd, pleaded guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges for the same offense. Crosby’s trial is scheduled for January 30.

#4 Everyone Gets Vouchers

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced he would hand out 85,000 school voucher reimbursements of up to $2,000 a pop without first checking what the vouchers were spent on. That didn’t sit right with Gov. Katie Hobbs, who wrote a strongly worded letter pointing to fraud in the program, most recently a Utah couple that got $110,000 worth of vouchers by using fake birth certificates. The letter asks Horne to “reconsider” his decision, but there’s no indication he plans to.

We unfortunately can’t use a fake birth certificate scam to boost our subscription numbers — we need real subscribers like you to click this button.

#5 Sinema Gets Chatty

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema broke her rule of avoiding all contact with the press by giving an exit interview to Semafor in which she patted herself on the back for protecting the filibuster and refused to say if she voted for Donald Trump for president this year. The Phoenix New Times’ TJ L'Heureux described the interview as “oscillat(ing) between Sphinx-like opaqueness and blistering candor.” For example, she responded to a question about her vote that sunk a pro-union nominee by stating, simply: “Don’t give a shit.”

#6 Hobbs Gets Blowback

Arizona is set to resume executions after a two-year hiatus. But anti-capital punishment advocates are demanding she release the full, independent review of the state’s execution process that’s seen botched lethal injections in the past. Hobbs fired federal Magistrate Judge David Duncan after he conducted a negative review of Arizona’s death penalty processes, and her office has only released the outline of Duncan’s arguments, not his full report. A warrant of execution has been issued for Aaron Gunches, who was convicted of murder in 2002.

#7 Branch Gets the Boot

Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch got the boot from the Navajo council without any explanation. Branch previously released a report on sexual harassment allegations against Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren that he was later cleared from, and took steps to start a misconduct investigation into an insurance administrator. Nygren said Branch’s firing was uncalled for, and spearheaded by a council member “with a penchant for reporting inaccurate information.”

#8 Department of Abled Child Safety

A five-year U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Arizona’s Department of Child Safety culminated in a report alleging the department violates the rights of children with disabilities. Parents who use American Sign Language weren’t given interpreters, a hearing-impaired mother had no idea her kids were being taken away and staffers were caught calling people "loony" and "psycho." To avoid legal trouble, the department has to pay damages to caregivers and revise its policies.

#9 Sun Gets Revenge

Not only did disgraced and replaced former Democratic Rep. Leezah Sun get herself elected to the Tolleson Union High School District Governing Board in November — she also got elected as the Legislative District 22 Democratic chairwoman last month. And she helped a key ally, Markus Ceniceros, who once stole campaign signs on her behalf, win third vice chairman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party and second vice chairman of the legislative district. Her first meeting as a school board member was on Friday, and she successfully nominated another ally, Steve Chapman, to be the school board president.

Meanwhile, legislators are shuffling back to the Capitol to kick off the new legislative session next week.

With dozens of new faces at the Capitol, an even further-right Republican caucus running the House and Senate, and the same Democratic governor on the Ninth Floor, we’re looking forward to a doozy of a session in 2025.

1. We signed up for Wadsack’s newsletter but haven’t received the first edition yet. We’ll let you know if it’s as good as Sen. Mark Finchem’s Substack.