(upbeat music) - Coming up next on this special edition of, "Arizona Horizon," it's our annual journalists' year-end prediction show featuring local reporters looking back at their 2024 predictions and forecasting events for 2025.

A journalist year end prediction show is next on, "Arizona Horizon."

- [Announcer] "Arizona Horizon," is made possible by contributions from the friends of Arizona PBS, members of your public television station.

- A good evening and welcome to this special edition of, "Arizona Horizon."

I'm Ted Simons.

Tonight we feature our annual year end show in which we look back at predictions our journalists made on the big news stories for 2024 and hear what they think might make news in 2025.

We welcome our guests, Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

Howie Fischer of Capital Media Services and Jeremy Duda of Axios Phoenix.

We should know that Jeremy's wife is employed by Arizona PBS.

Now, before we get to next year's predictions, let's see how our journalists did with their predictions for 2024.

Producer Mike Sauceda has the recap.

- [Mike] Our panelists started out with the biggest question of the night.

- Who will be elected president in November?

- Donald Trump.

- [Ted] President Trump redo.

- [Howie] President Trump redo, economy is bad.

Joe Biden is fumbling around.

I mean we can make a prediction as to whether he'll even stay in the race, but they spend a lot of money.

But I don't see him, I don't see Biden coming back for second term.

- [Ted] Laurie, who's the next president?

- [Laurie] Well, I think it's gonna be really close, but I think that ultimately it will be Joe Biden.

- [Jeremy] I think Biden, things don't look great for him right now obviously, but there's still a long way out and there's a lot that can happen, a lot that probably will happen.

I think he'll probably squeak through this one, although I'm not sure if he's gonna win Arizona again.

- [Mike] Howie nailed it with Trump going back to the White House, Laurie and Jeremy missed the call on that one.

The next question was almost as impactful.

- [Ted] All right, Jeremy sticking with you.

Donald Trump, will he be criminally convicted?

- [Jeremy] I think he will.

I mean we've got what, three, four, however many cases we have going on.

They looks like they're really eager to get these taken care of before the election.

- Well, not on anything but relates to the January 6th and we've seen recently what's happened with the Supreme Court taking up the issue.

I think he may end up with some criminal issues in terms of the New York case, but nothing related to January 6th.

- Interesting, criminal convictions?

- Yes, I think that he will be criminally convicted in January 6th on maybe one charge and in Georgia.

- [Mike] All three journalists scored points on that one.

Panelist next made their prediction on the biggest Arizona race of 2024.

- Ooh, another close one.

I think it's going to be Reuben Gallego by a hair.

By a half a hair.

Is there such a thing as a half a hair?

- All right, a bonus question.

Will Senator Sinema be in that race?

- [Laurie] No, unless the answer is yes.

- I think that Diego will win.

I think that Sinema, this is a rerun of last year.

I think she's gonna get there and she's gonna say there's no path to victory.

She will find something else to do.

- [Ted] At the last minute?

- June.

- I think probably Ruben Gallego wins this one in a pretty close race.

I do not think Sinema will be in it.

- [Ted] All three panelists, once again got that question correct as well as the bonus question.

Gallego did win his Senate seat and Kyrsten Sinema dropped out.

Arizona's 8th congressional district was wide open as Republican Debbie Lesko left the seat sparking a mad race among Republicans looking to represent the safe GOP district.

- I think it's gonna be Abe Hamadeh.

I mean that Trump endorsement as we saw in 2022, that goes a long way and I think that's gonna carry him to victory in the CD-8 primary.

- [Ted] What do you think, Howie?

- [Howie] I have to go the same thing.

I see Hamadeh is already trashing House Speaker Ben Toma and so again the Trump endorsement and he's got the name ID.

- Speaker Toma has the credentials.

He has the record.

Voting record.

He's a conservative, he lives in the district.

So Abe Hamadeh will be the nominee because he's got the golden seal of approval from the orange guy.

- [Mike] Again, a trifecta of winners with Abe Hamadeh winning that seat.

Our panelists then took a stab at predicting which sitting GOP Congressman might lose his seat.

- [Laurie] I think that David Schweikert's in trouble.

He won two years ago with like 50.4% of the vote.

- At least one, possibly two.

I mean Schweikert and Ciscomani, the Democrats.

If they had spent some really targeted those races last year, they probably, they might've won.

I think Schweikert is definitely in the most trouble.

That was the closest race and he might have some tough opponents.

- See, I think that Ciscomani is most likely to lose, 'cause again, he's the new guy.

Look, if Schweikert survived all the stuff with the scandals and having to pay back money and the rest of it, I think he's there.

- [Ted] This question produced a clean sweep of losing.

Both David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani held onto their jobs in Congress.

The next question, who would win the Democratic primary in Ciscomani's district six?

- Oh Lord, not sure.

I mean, you know- - [Ted] Too tough to call.

Too close to call?

- It's too close to call.

We'll make it too close to call.

Well, Laurie, what do you think?

I think it's gonna come down to Connor O'Callahan I think is his name is relatively unknown.

Long time lived here, left, has come back.

- I'm leaning towards Andrei Cherny.

He's got connections, he's gonna have the fundraising.

He has some experience.

I think this will be the time he gets outta that primary.

- [Ted] Once again, nobody got that one right.

Kirsten Engel won the Democratic primary but lost to Ciscomani in the general.

The next question was, who'll control the US House and Senate?

- I think that the Senate goes down, the House stays in Republican hands.

- I think the Democrats are gonna hang on to the Senate.

I do think though that the Republican.

Wait, who's got the House?

- [Ted] Republican.

- Republicans.

Yeah, I get 'em mixed up.

I think that they will lose the House.

- I think the Democrats will take back the House while they're losing the Senate.

- [Ted] Republicans took the Senate and held onto the House with Howie gaining two points on that one.

Jeremy, one, and Laurie, none.

Next, our panels speculated on whether Democrats would finally win a chamber in the state legislature.

- This is a tough predicament because people have been predicting for a lot of years and they'd finally get over the hump.

I think they will take one chamber.

Probably the House.

I don't have a hard time seeing 'em take both though.

- [Ted] But he chamber that they don't take, will Republicans increase their margin?

- I don't think they will.

I think there's even a shot we could see a split Senate.

- Interesting.

What do you think, Howie?

- I like the idea of the split Senate.

I say a 15-15 Senate, which we haven't had, you know, since Randall Gnant was Senate president.

- Interesting.

Let's go Senate and House.

What's the make up?

- I think that Democrats will either take the Senate or more likely tie it up.

- [Ted] The Democrats had no such luck and Republicans even increased their hold on the Senate and the House.

Each panelist was awarded one point.

Next, they turned to how many vetoes Governor Katie Hobbs would issue.

- I see.

Oh, I can't remember what I went with last year.

Let's go with 66.

- So I think it's gonna be, you know, 98.

- [Ted] 98.

All right, what do you got?

66, 98.

What do you got?

- I'm gonna go for 90.

- [Ted] Laurie won on that question with Governor Hobbs Vetoing 73 bills in 2024.

Next, the panelists took a stab at predicting when the legislature would end its 2024 session.

- I'm gonna think, I'm gonna say May 20th.

I think they're gonna get it a little earlier than people think.

Certainly not like last year.

It's an election year.

They want to get out or they want to campaign.

Both sides have their eye on the legislature, so they're gonna try and get outta there.

I think a little bit, a bit early.

Certainly not August.

(chuckles) - You took my date.

- Oh, I was gonna say that.

- So on the idea that under wins, right?

- [Ted] Yes.

- I'll go with May 19th.

(panelists laughing) - Tactical.

What do you think?

- [Howie] I think it's gonna be June 15th.

- [Ted] Howie not only won this question, but nailed the date right on the nose.

They did end on June 15th, getting one point there.

The next question was about a proposition for open primaries.

- Howie, Make Elections Fair Act.

First of all, you're gonna make the ballot.

And if so, does it win?

- It does make the ballot recognizing there are two competing measures.

I'm assuming the main one doesn't.

I don't think it wins.

- I think it makes the ballot.

I think it wins and I think that the powers that be immediately sued to get it thrown out, - I think it makes the ballot.

And whether it wins is hard to call, but I'm leaning towards, yes.

I think it probably wins I think.

- [Ted] After some tough legal challenges, it did make the ballot but was defeated in the election.

Howie gets a full point there with Laurie and Jeremy each getting half a point.

Next, our panelists speculated on the success of a measure to protect abortion, - Arizona Abortion Act.

Make the ballot, succeed?

- It'll make the ballot and I think it'll win pretty easily.

- [Ted] Pretty easily.

What do you think, Howie?

- I think it'll make the ballot.

I think it'll be approved.

I think that presidential year and a lot of people are really upset.

Now the caveat is what does the Supreme Court do?

It's Supreme Court goes back to no abortions, have to save the life of the mother.

I think the thing gets 78%.

If the Supreme Court goes back to 15 weeks, I think it wins by 59%.

- [Ted] Laurie.

- I'm with you on that.

I think that it makes a ballot and it wins.

I don't think it will necessarily win by as much as 59% if we have the 15 week law.

- [Ted] The abortion measure passed by nearly 62% with all three scoring points.

Next, our panelists turned their crystal ball to the economy to predict whether 2024 would include a recession.

- Well, Donald Trump has said there'll be a depression if he loses, so I'm gonna go with no.

- (chuckles) Okay, that's right, 'cause you.

Howie, recession next year?

- No, I don't see it.

I think that that we're gonna have the soft landing.

I mean I think there'll be a few months of things getting into maybe a bit of deflation, but I don't see the kind of what legally constitutes a recession happening.

- [Ted] What do you think, Jeremy?

- I think, no, I think economic conditions are not going to be great kind of like they are now for, even though some benchmarks are pretty good, a lot of folks are just going to view it as bad as of inflation 'cause of some other factors.

But I don't think it'll, anything that qualifies technically as a recession, - [Ted] All our panelists' crystal balls were correct.

There was no recession.

Next on the docket, sports.

Let's go with Suns.

Will they go back to the playoffs?

- They'll go into the first round and they will lose there.

- [Ted] First round loss.

All right, Laurie, Suns.

- I think that they will make the finals if they are healthy.

- [Ted] Okay.

- And that's a big if.

- [Ted] That's a big if.

Jeremy, Suns in the playoffs.

- I think they'll get to the Western Conference finals with the same caveat that if the big three are healthy.

If they're not, I think they'll still get to the second round.

- All right, Diamondbacks, Jeremy, playoffs?

- I think they will.

Yeah, I think they can make it to the NLDS.

I don't getting further than that.

Oh, now that the Dodgers have Ohtani.

I don't know.

Yeah, it's gonna be a bit of a- - [Ted] Kind of changes the cards.

It's a bit tougher.

- Oh, I think they could go to the National League Championship Series, but beyond that, no.

- [Ted] No, okay.

What do you think, Laurie, Diamondbacks?

- They'll make the playoffs, absolutely.

Then they made it all the way last year.

Well, almost.

Yeah, I think they'll make it to the second round.

- [Ted] All three correctly predicted that the Suns would get to the playoffs, but only Howie predicted a loss in the first round.

The Suns were swept by the Timberwolves.

Our panelists were swept in their prediction about the Diamondbacks who did not make the playoffs.

The show ended with the traditional sure shot long shot predictions by the journalists.

- My sure shot is that the recall, which will be launched in January against Katie Hobbs will fail, fail miserably.

Even assuming they get the signatures as well.

I don't think they will.

There's just no way voters are gonna say, "Oh, we wanna put her back on the ballot."

Long shot is that while I believe that Trump will win the presidency, I think he will lose in Arizona because of the abortion issue and some of the other stuff on the ballot.

- [Ted] Interesting.

What do you got, Laurie?

Sure shot, long shot.

- I think the, my sure shot, well not sure, but I think that the fake electors will be indicted, but only four of them.

For the long shot is we've had all of those Republican, remember this is also a county race year.

All of the Republican county officials who've been beaten by about the head and shoulders and threatened and everything else, I think every single one of them will win reelection.

- [Ted] Wow, all right.

- In Maricopa County.

- The Arizona Supreme Court will say the 15 week ban and not the territorial ban is what is going to be in effect.

The long shot, I'm gonna say U of A's budget struggles continue and they will have to privatize the basketball program.

- [Ted] Howie scored no points on this losing on his sure shot of Governor Katie Hobbs being recalled and Donald Trump losing Arizona, neither of which occurred.

Laurie got a point for her prediction.

Arizona's fake electors would be indicted.

She lost on her long shot that all Maricopa County elected officials who fought election denialism would be reelected.

Republican Stephen Richer lost in the primary to Justin Heap.

Jeremy was wrong on his prediction that the Arizona Supreme Court would uphold the 15 week abortion ban instead of the 1864 ban.

But he was correct that the University of Arizona's budget woes would continue, but the school never privatized its basketball program.

Howie was the winner with a score of 13.5, while Laurie and Jeremy tied at 9.5.

- All right, boy, you're gonna be impossible to deal with, aren't you?

- I've been impossible to deal with for years.

- Yes you have.

All right, congratulations, Howie.

- Okay.

- I don't congratulate.

- Yeah, okay, you guys can do whatever you want and congratulations are over.

It's on what have you done for me lately and we're gonna find out with our new predictions.

Laurie, we'll start with you.

Let's start with mass deportations.

Will the Trump administration conduct mass deportations?

- Oh absolutely.

It was the corner cornerstone of his campaign as recently as December.

He's been since his election.

He said yes he is.

His border czar has said on day one there will be mass deportations, so yes.

- Howie.

- I think he's going to, if you wanna call it mass deportations, he's going to go after the criminal elements.

I don't see sheriffs and National Guard and everyone else coming in the streets and going after all 11 million people who are not here legally.

But I think that there will be deportations of those they have identified as either criminal or have already been issued orders to leave.

- Mass deportations, Jeremy?

- I think so.

I mean this was such an important part of Trump's campaign platform, I think.

It won't happen on day one the way he's been saying.

I mean that obviously there's some logistical issues that need to be taken care of.

But there will be mass deportation.

I think not just of the criminal element.

I think of kind of a wider deportation.

- Let's do a bonus here with that, the logistics here.

Will he declare national emergency and use the military in this process?

- I'll say yes for the emergency, but the military just for more in the same way that Arizona governors do for kind of the administrative stuff saying, "Oh, we're deploying the National Guard."

But it's not really kinda what people picture when they hear that.

- And that's really crucial because I don't see having Army privates and sergeants and lieutenants knocking on people's doors.

I don't see any way you use the military to actually round people up.

- [Ted] What do you think, Laurie?

- I think that he'll threaten.

That in the end I don't think that he would do that.

I do think he will declare a national emergency.

I do think that he will use the National Guard, but I don't expect to see tanks going into Maryvale, if that's what you're thinking.

- All right, Laurie, will Donald Trump end the Ukraine war in 2025?

- Well, he said he would end it before he even takes office, so I'm expecting any day now for the missiles to stop.

But gosh, I hope so.

Wouldn't it be nice?

He says he has a very good plan.

He won't tell us what it is, so I'm going to say yes.

- Is that like Nixon's secret plan to end the war in Vietnam?

- If I tell you- - Which was pulling out, but we'll leave that aside.

I think that by this time next year we will be in a stasis situation.

There'll be sort of a, I wouldn't call a ceasefire.

Trump will take credit, but I think it'll have nothing to do with it other than the fact that the aids is just drying up on both sides.

So I think it'll just be some sort of a neutral position with the Russians holding on some property.

- Is that a yes?

- I think he will claim credit for whatever happens.

- I think it'll take, probably take till 2026 to get kind of a formal end into the war.

But there'll probably be very little shooting by then.

Both sides are pretty exhausted.

- Okay, let's keep it moving here with Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

Will he do it?

- I think so.

He's talked so much about it.

It's kind of gonna be kind of hard to walk that back without doing at least something.

- What do you think, Howie?

That's pretty serious stuff.

- I think he will, but I don't think they'll last.

I think at the moment that avocados go up to $12 a piece and tomatoes cease to be available, a lot of folks are gonna say, "Excuse me."

And then Mexican, all the stuff we send down to Mexico.

Not gonna last.

- So it'll be a yes and then a no?

- Yes.

- I think the same thing.

I think it'll be a yes and then a very quick no and he will declare victory.

He will find that he gets some concession from both Canada and Mexico and he'll declare victory and say that he solved the problem.

But every economist says that it would be a disaster for the economy to declare a general tariff on our closest trading partners.

- All right, Laurie, sticking with you.

Will there be your recession in 2025?

- No, I don't think so.

Unless the caveat being, unless his general tariff goes into effect and in a long term way.

But inflation seems to be holding, I do not think we will have a recession.

- I don't think so.

The stock market has already reacted to his election.

All of its promises.

I think that the folks who buy and sell stocks have said, "Yeah, well, we're fine."

I'd even predict that we're gonna reach another Dow record.

- [Ted] Yay or nay, recession?

- I don't think so, no.

- [Ted] No.

All right, let's keep it moving then.

J6 pardons, will Trump pardon, I kind of wanna say all of them, but let's just say most of them?

- Oh, I think definitely.

And I think that's gonna happen very quickly once he's inaugurated.

- [Ted] What do you think?

- Yes, I think that he's gonna have to separate out those.

When you've got video images of certain people beating police officers using weapons, using tear gas, I think he'd be hard pressed to say those are innocent victims here.

But I think like Jeremy does, I think that he's gonna take 75% of them.

- [Ted] 75%.

I was gonna say- - The lion's share of them will be quickly pardoned, I believe.

But like you and I would certainly hope that those who have been beaten police officers over the head would not get a pardon?

- Laurie, will the Department of Justice, the New Department of Justice indict a news organization?

- No, I don't believe that they will.

I think instead there will be the continued unending day-to-day demonization of reporters and news organizations.

I think there will probably be civil lawsuits against them.

We've already started to see that.

And I think they may unravel some policies having to do with the protection of anonymous sources.

But I would not expect to see a criminal conviction.

- Howie.

- And that's the problem.

I don't think you can do criminal convictions.

I mean this the burden of proof, yes.

The old stating is a prosecutor could indict a hamburger.

And I don't doubt that that's true, but I think there are enough professionals there, even with some of Trump's people at the top to say, no, we don't wanna go down this path because we're gonna end up getting slapped by the Supreme Court.

- I think no indictments.

I think we'll see investigations, threats.

Probably civil lawsuits like Laurie said, but I don't think indictments, no.

- Let's get local here.

Jeremy, will lawmakers in any way, shape or form touch ESAs this session?

- Oh, not a chance.

- [Ted] Not a chance.

- Governor Hobbs will talk about it a lot, the Democrats will talk about it a lot, won't happen.

- [Ted] No way, no how?

- I think they will nibble on the edges in terms of saying we need some accountability, perhaps some auditing, perhaps add more staff to Tom Horn's staff to go ahead and audit.

But beyond that, cutting back, not gonna happen.

- I think that they may add some staff to audit.

Clearly Tom Horn needs some help given all of these fake children that we're paying to educate.

But if they do anything definitive, it will be mostly to raise the amount of money that you can get out of an ESA.

- Okay, so they might just do something then in some way, shape or form?

- Yeah, yeah.

- All right, good.

We got a yay on that one.

Sticking with you Laurie, early election, the ballot drop offs.

A lot of attention on that right now.

Will that be a subject in the next session?

I think it'll be one of the first bills that they pass and send to Governor Hobbs.

And I think it'll be one of the first vetoes that she sends right back to them.

And then it will be sent to the ballot for 2026.

- Wow.

What do you think, Howie?

- I think, I don't know if it is even gonna get sent to the ballot.

I think what's gonna happen is after she vetoes that, I think she's gonna be under a lot of pressure, 'cause there are a lot of people from her own party who say, "Look, we have become the quote, unquote, laughing stock that we're sitting here two weeks out and trying to figure out how we're doing it."

I think she's willing to compromise in some areas in terms of if we extend early voting up till the voting day and then allow for certain liberal form of dropping off ballots, perhaps with ID, I think she will compromise.

- I don't think she's gonna compromise and I think she's already kind of drawn that line in the sand.

I think they'll send it to her, she'll veto it and then they're gonna send it to the ballot.

- All right, with that in mind, how many, gimme a number.

How many vetoes for the governor of this session?

- I'm gonna say 105.

- [Ted] 105?

- Not as many as her first term.

More than last year.

They have slightly larger majorities in both chambers.

You have new folks you're gonna want to kind of push the envelope and make her veto stuff, so it's gonna be more than less.

- So the downward trend is adios?

- Right, it's gonna go up, down.

- I think we're gonna be less.

I think it's gonna be down to in the 75 range, because I think, and we'll talk about this in my long shot, I think that things are gonna get screwed up in the house by themselves and they're gonna have problems sending stuff to her.

- [Ted] Gimme a number, Laurie?

- I think it's gonna be about 92.

We had 143 the first year, 73 the second year.

I'm gonna split the difference kind of.

Go with 92 for the reasons that Jeremy said.

- Will the governor sign any bills this session that she has previously vetoed?

- Well, let's see.

We've taken care of the tamales, so I would say no because why give the, it doesn't do her any good with the Republicans or with constituents and it just gives the Republicans a chance to paint her as issue washy.

- [Ted] What do you think, Howie?

- Other than the issue where I think she's gonna agree to a compromise on the bill she vetoed about election deadlines.

I don't see her coming back and saying, "Oh no, I was wrong."

And this isn't even an election year.

- I don't think so.

Most of the stuff she vetoes is very partisan stuff that's sent up there to get vetoed.

I think probably.

She'll probably find something she can say that she's compromised on, you know, got an election year coming up for her 26th.

- Okay, all right, Sine die, gimme a date - I think it's gonna take a while.

I'm gonna say June 25th.

- [Ted] Howie?

- August 15th.

- [Ted] Laurie?

- August, oh my goodness.

June 30th.

- Okay, very good.

That was nice.

I didn't have the August one.

Howie, we'll start with you on this one.

How many Republicans will announce for governor?

- By this time next year I'd say four.

- What do you think.

Laurie, we'll go with you.

How many Republicans will announce for governor?

- I was gonna say five.

And it's only mostly because they're auditioning for lieutenant governor.

- Interesting.

Okay, so basically shoot for the stars, land on the moon.

- She took my answer.

I was gonna say five.

- Five.

- You'd have at least a couple who are angling to get that running mate spot now that we have that.

- All right, will any Democrat announce a run for governor?

- I think, no one besides Hobbs.

They may be a token opposition.

Someone who we're not really gonna pay much attention.

But in terms of serious challengers, I don't think so, no.

- [Ted] What do you think, Howie?

- I don't think so.

I think that you could find anybody.

You get the signatures and become a what you name on the ticket.

The only caveat is that if as much as Adrian has said, Adrian Fontes has said, I'm not gonna run.

We get to November of next year and all of a sudden Katie's floundering somewhere.

He's gonna see, I feel a draft I'm telling you.

- We don't like caveats there.

Is it yes or nay for Democrats?

- None really.

- Okay, what do you think?

- No other major candidate other than Hobbs.

Democrats never challenge each other.

The major ones in these races.

- [Ted] All right, Laurie, how many Republicans will announce for attorney general?

- Like 30.

I'd say five.

They want this job back.

I think that they'll ultimately winnow that down.

But in terms of getting out there and exploring, I'd say five.

- [Ted] What do you think, Howie?

- I think it's gonna be closer to seven.

And a lot of it depends whether Andrew Gould, who tried last time gets the job as US attorney.

- Okay, we got a three and we got a seven.

Where are you, Jeremy?

- I'm gonna say three.

I think we already have the two with Petersen and Glassman and I think we'll probably get one more serious candidate in there.

And I think everyone else is gonna say there's not really room for anymore.

- All right, Jeremy.

Kyrsten Sinema, what will she'd be doing after she leaves?

What would she be doing this time next year?

- Either lobbying interest group, something along those lines.

Something where she'll still have some influence in DC but obviously out of the elected game.

- In DC, not in Arizona?

- I think in DC, yeah.

- Howie?

- I like that answer.

I mean it's not like she's gonna be a Kari Lake and be in charge of some Voice of America or something.

- (chuckles) Well, you never know Laurie, what do you think?

- Well, you know, I think Democrats despise her, Republicans have no more use for her.

I think that she could well end up to be the spokes model for Uggs.

You know, boots.

(panelists laughing) Or barring that, she'll wind up on a cushy corporate board and have the money to trot the globe.

- Well, she winds up with Uggs.

You win the whole thing hands down.

So it doesn't matter what anybody else said.

Real quickly, will the Suns go to the playoffs?

- Yes, and I think that they will.

I wanna say they'll go all the way baby, but it's just such a health issue.

I'm gonna say second round.

- First round, like last year.

- First round.

All right, what do you think, Jeremy?

- Second round if Duran's healthy, first round if not.

- All right, Jeremy, will the Diamondbacks, will they go to the playoffs?

- I don't think so.

I think we'll get close, but I think we're kind of, we're starting to see that they might be losing some folks, some key players, so I think grudgingly no.

- I'll give 'em a wild card slot.

- [Ted] All right, Howie, sure shot, long shot.

We've hit that time of the program.

- Sure shot, next Supreme Court Justice Maria Elena Cruz.

She's a Court of Appeals judge, Democrat.

Be the first Black on the Supreme Court.

First Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court.

Long shot.

There's gonna be a rebellion among House Republicans.

Steve Montenegro was not liked by the conservatives and there's gonna come a point during the session where things are gonna blow up.

- Interesting.

Laurie?

- Well, first of all, I wanna talk about the Diamondbacks 'cause you didn't ask for my opinion.

- Oh, I'm sorry.

I forgot that.

- I think that they will not make the playoffs.

I think that it used to be the Dodgers were in our pool, now they're in our way.

- [Ted] Okay.

- So, they won't make it.

So for my sure shot, I'm gonna say that a deal will be struck early in the year on state land trust funding for schools in time for the spring ballot.

My long shot is going to be that there will be chatter at least, or an outright push by the Trump administration to jail Katie Hobbs.

- Oh, you're gonna go for that story, aren't you?

- Well, why not?

- All right, what do you think, Jeremy?

- Sure shot, I think Attorney General Kris Mayes will initiate at least one lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Should probably sign on to others with other Democratic governors and AGs.

She'll initiate at least one.

Long shot, Arizona gets a professional hockey team again next year.

- Wow ,okay.

Some good sure shots, some good long shots, some good predictions.

And you did well last year, so we'll leave that alone.

- Yes.

- Good to have you all here.

Thanks for joining us.

That's it for now.

I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us on this special edition of, "Arizona Horizon."

You have a great evening.

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