The Breakdown, Episode 9: Surprise, surprise

Republican candidate and former Arizona state Sen. Debbie Lesko celebrates with her husband, Joe, after voting results show her victory in a special primary election for the Congressional District 8 seat. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

The special primary election in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District was decided last night, and the result was surprising to some politicos.

But a surprise in the general election – a Democratic winner – remains highly unlikely.

Democrats in the Legislature are hoping to prompt a surprise of their own. They’re trying to force a dialogue around gun reform following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that claimed 17 lives. But their Republican colleagues are resisting changes related to guns as well as medical marijuana.

And Gov. Doug Ducey has been asked to commute a former Phoenix police officer’s prison sentence. A decision by Ducey to follow the recommendation of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency would not only be unusual from this governor, but he’d be stepping into a controversial case centered around the officer-involved shooting of an unarmed man.

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Music in this episode included “Little Idea” and “Enigmatic” by Bensound.