Governor of Arizona

Arizona Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$95,000
2025 FY Budget:	$8,996,800
Term limits:	Two consecutive terms
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Arizona Constitution, Article V, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs Democratic Party Assumed office: January 2, 2023
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other Arizona Executive Offices
Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Superintendent of Public Instruction• Auditor• Agriculture Director • Insurance and Financial Institutions Director• Lands Commissioner• Labor Director• Corporation Commission• State Mine Inspector

The Governor of Arizona is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch and the highest state office in Arizona. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms. The same individual may not be elected governor again until one complete gubernatorial term has passed.

Arizona has a divided government where neither party holds a trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the office of governor, while the Republican Party controls both chambers of the state legislature.

Arizona has a Democratic triplex. The Democratic Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

See also: Arizona State Legislature, Arizona House of Representatives, Arizona State Senate

Current officer

The 24th and current Governor of Arizona is Katie Hobbs (D). Hobbs was elected to the position in 2022 and was sworn in on January 2, 2023.

Authority

The Constitution of Arizona establishes the office of the governor in Article V, the Executive.

Arizona Constitution, Article V, Section 1:

The executive department shall consist of the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction...

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Under Article V, Section 2, the governor must be at least 25 years old, a qualified voter in Arizona, and have been both an American citizen for 10 years and a resident of Arizona for a minimum of five years on election day.

Arizona Constitution, Article V, Section 2:

No person shall be eligible to any of the offices mentioned in section 1 of this article except a person of the age of not less than twenty-five years, who shall have been for ten years next preceding his election a citizen of the United States, and for five years next preceding his election a citizen of Arizona.

Elections

Arizona state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of governors

Per Article 5, Section 1 (Version 2) of the state constitution, Arizona elects governors during federal midterm election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026). The gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Monday in January following the election.

Originally, Article 5, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution called for the legislature to decide the election in the case of a tie vote. The procedure was changed with the passage of Proposition 107 in 1992, which calls for a second election following a tie. If no candidate receives a plurality of the votes in the second election, the state legislature chooses between the two candidates.

Arizona Constitution, Article 5, Section 1 (Version 2)

A. The executive department shall consist of the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold office for a term of four years beginning on the first Monday of January, 1971 next after the regular general election in 1970. B. The person having a majority of the votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected. If no person receives a majority of the votes cast for the office, a second election shall be held as prescribed by law between the persons receiving the highest and second highest number of votes cast for the office. The person receiving the highest number of votes at the second election for the office is elected, but if the two persons have an equal number of votes for the office, the two houses of the legislature at its next regular session shall elect forthwith, by joint ballot, one of such persons for said office.

2022

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Arizona

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Arizona on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Hobbs (D)	50.3	1,287,891
		Kari Lake (R)	49.6	1,270,774
		Liana West (G) (Write-in)	0.0	254
	Submit photo	Mikaela Lutes-Burton (L) (Write-in)	0.0	213
		William Pounds (Independent-Green Party) (Write-in)	0.0	139
	Submit photo	Steph Denny (R) (Write-in)	0.0	74
	Submit photo	Alice Novoa (R) (Write-in)	0.0	55
	Submit photo	Rayshawn Merrill (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	44
	Submit photo	Anthony Camboni (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	41

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,559,485
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Barry J. Hess (L)
• Alex Sadowski (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arizona

Katie Hobbs defeated Marco Lopez and Aaron Lieberman (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arizona on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Hobbs	72.3	431,059
		Marco Lopez	22.8	136,090
		Aaron Lieberman (Unofficially withdrew)	4.8	28,878

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 596,027
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arizona

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Arizona on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kari Lake	48.0	398,860
		Karrin Taylor Robson	43.1	358,682
		Matt Salmon (Unofficially withdrew)	3.7	30,704
		Scott Neely	3.1	25,876
		Paola Tulliani-Zen	2.1	17,281
	Submit photo	Carlos Roldan (Write-in)	0.0	42
	Submit photo	Alex Schatz (Write-in)	0.0	39
		Patrick Finerd (Write-in)	0.0	24

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 831,508
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Steve Gaynor (R)
• Kimberly Yee (R)
• Frank Konarski (R)

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Arizona

Barry J. Hess advanced from the Libertarian primary for Governor of Arizona on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Barry J. Hess (Write-in)	100.0	550

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 550
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Steve Remus (L)

2018

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Arizona

Incumbent Doug Ducey defeated David Garcia and Angel Torres in the general election for Governor of Arizona on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doug Ducey (R)	56.0	1,330,863
		David Garcia (D)	41.8	994,341
		Angel Torres (G)	2.1	50,962

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,376,166 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Noah Dyer (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arizona

David Garcia defeated Steve Farley and Kelly Fryer in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arizona on August 28, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Garcia	50.6	255,555
		Steve Farley	32.3	163,072
		Kelly Fryer	17.2	86,810

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 505,437 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arizona

Incumbent Doug Ducey defeated Ken Bennett in the Republican primary for Governor of Arizona on August 28, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doug Ducey	70.7	463,672
		Ken Bennett	29.3	191,775

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 655,447 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

No Libertarian candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Barry J. Hess (L)
• Merissa Hamilton (L)
• Jeff Funicello (L)
• Kevin McCormick (L)

2014

See also: Arizona Gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor of Arizona, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Doug Ducey	53.4%	805,062
	Democratic	Fred DuVal	41.6%	626,921
	Libertarian	Barry J. Hess	3.8%	57,337
	Americans Elect	J.L. Mealer	1%	15,432
	Nonpartisan	Write-ins	0.1%	1,664
Total Votes				1,506,416
Election results via Arizona Secretary of State

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Arizona governors are restricted to two consecutive terms in office, after which they must wait one term before being eligible to run again.

Arizona Constitution, Article 5 Section 1 Version 2

No member of the executive department shall hold that office for more than two consecutive terms. This limitation on the number of terms of consecutive service shall apply to terms of office beginning on or after January 1, 1993. No member of the executive department after serving the maximum number of terms, which shall include any part of a term served, may serve in the same office until out of office for no less than one full term.

Full history

To view the electoral history dating back to 2002 for the office of Governor of Arizona, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Jan Brewer won re-election to the office of Governor of Arizona. She defeated Terry Goddard (D), Barry J. Hess (LBT), Larry Gist (Green) and various write-in challengers in the general election. Governor of Arizona, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Jan Brewer Incumbent 54.3% 938,934      Democratic Terry Goddard 42.4% 733,935      Libertarian Barry J. Hess 2.2% 38,722      Green Larry Gist 0.9% 16,128      N/A Write-ins 0.1% 2,017 Total Votes 1,729,736 Election results via Arizona Secretary of State. 2006 On November 7, 2006, Janet Napolitano won re-election to the office of Governor of Arizona. He defeated Len Munsil (R), Barry J. Hess (LBT) and various write-in challengers in the general election. Governor of Arizona, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Janet Napolitano Incumbent 62.6% 959,830      Republican Len Munsil 35.4% 543,528      Libertarian Barry J. Hess 2% 30,268      N/A Write-ins 0% 19 Total Votes 1,533,645 Election results via Arizona Secretary of State. 2002 On November 5, 2002, Janet Napolitano won election to the office of Governor of Arizona. He defeated Matt Salmon (R), Barry Hess (LBT), Richard Mahoney (I), and various write-in challengers in the general election. Governor of Arizona, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Janet Napolitano 46.6% 566,284      Republican Matt Salmon 44.8% 544,465      Libertarian Barry Hess 7% 84,947      Independent Richard Mahoney 1.7% 20,356      N/A Write-ins 0% 59 Total Votes 1,216,111 Election results via Arizona Secretary of State.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Arizona governors from 1992 to 2013.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article 5, Section 6 of the state constitution.

As Arizona is one of the five U.S. states with no lieutenant governor, the vacancy rules for the governor's office are somewhat more complex than other states. In the event that the governor is unable to discharge the office for any reason, the Arizona Secretary of State succeeds if two conditions are met; the secretary of state must be serving as an elected officer and must meet the requirements to hold the governorship.

If either of those criteria do not hold, then the attorney general, the state treasurer, and the state schools superintendent are, in descending order, the next in line to succeed the governor, subject to the same criteria as the secretary of state.

Legally, taking the governor's oath of office is treated as an official resignation from the previous office held. Whenever the secretary of state or any other officer becomes the governor, he or she has the full powers and emoluments of the office and serves until the next election.

The same line of succession holds when disability or absence means the governor is temporarily unable to discharge the office.

In November 2022, Arizona voters approved Proposition 131, which was a constitutional amendment to create the position of lieutenant governor, who would be elected on a joint ticket with the governor, and who would succeed the governor in case of a vacancy. Voters will first elect a lieutenant governor in Arizona in the 2026 elections.

Duties

The governor has a line-item veto on money appropriations, but otherwise the veto power and procedure is the same as for the President of the United States. However, a governor cannot veto emergency measures or bills that were voted for by the people in a referendum.

The governor is the commander of the state's National Guard except when it is placed under federal control.

The governor may call the legislature into extraordinary session and must appear before the legislature at least once during each session to deliver a "State of the State" address, commenting on Arizona's political and economic situation and laying out his policies for the coming year.

Other duties and privileges of the office, a number of which are enumerated in Article 5, Section 4 of the state constitution include:

• ensuring all laws of Arizona are faithfully upheld

• transacting all state business within the executive branch, including ordering reports and information from other executive officers

• granting reprieves, commutation, and pardons, after convictions, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment

• approving, or vetoing, all bills passed by the legislature

• appointing someone to fill vacancies in all state offices where a manner for filling a vacancy is not already provided for by law

• issuing, signing, and sealing all commissions granted by the state and delivering them to the Secretary of State, who will attest to them

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Arizona has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

Role in state budget

See also: Arizona state budget and finances

Arizona operates on an annual budget cycle, with each fiscal year beginning on July 1. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:

1. Budget instructions are sent to state agencies in July.
2. State agencies submit their budget requests to the governor by September 1.
3. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature five days after the legislature convenes. The legislature convenes on the second Monday in January.
4. There is no official deadline for passing the budget. A simple majority is required to pass a budget.

Arizona is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.

The governor is required to submit a balanced budget to the legislature but the legislature is not required to pass a balanced budget.

Governor's office budget

The budget for the Governor's Office in Fiscal Year 2025 was $8,996,800.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

The salaries of the governor and other elected executives in Arizona are determined by the Arizona Commission on Salaries for Elective State Officers. This five-member committee is sanctioned by Article 5, Section 12 of the Arizona Constitution. Two members are appointed by the governor and one member each is appointed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Commission members meet prior to June 1 of each even-numbered year to produce salary recommendations for the governor. The governor may accept, reject or modify recommendations prior to delivery to state legislators. The legislature has 90 days following the governor's transmission of the recommendations to reject or modify salary proposals. If no changes are made, the commission's recommendations take effect following the next election for applicable offices.

2023

In 2023, the officer's salary was $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the governor received a salary of $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the governor's salary remained at $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2012

In 2012, the governor was paid an estimated $95,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2010

In 2010, the governor received compensation in the amount of $95,000, the 44th highest gubernatorial salary in America.

Historical officeholders

#	Name	Term	Party
1	George W. Hunt	February 14, 1912-January 1, 1917	Democratic
2	Thomas E. Campbell	January 1, 1917-December 25, 1917	Republican
1	George W. Hunt	December 25, 1917-January 6, 1919	Democratic
2	Thomas E. Campbell	January 6, 1919-January 1, 1923	Republican
1	George W. Hunt	January 1, 1923-January 7 1929	Democratic
3	John C. Phillips	Januuary 7, 1929-January 5, 1931	Republican
1	George W. Hunt	January 5, 1931-January 2, 1933	Democratic
4	Benjamin B. Moeur	January 2, 1933-January 4, 1937	Democratic
5	Rawghlie C. Stanford	January 4, 1937-January 2, 1939	Democratic
6	Robert T. Jones	January 2, 1939-January 6, 1941	Democratic
7	Sidney P. Osborn	January 6, 1941-May 25, 1948	Democratic
8	Dan Garvey	May 25, 1948-January 1, 1951	Democratic
9	John H. Pyle	January 1, 1951-January 3, 1955	Republican
10	Ernest W. McFarland	January 3, 1955-January 5, 1959	Democratic
11	Paul Fannin	January 5, 1959-January 4, 1965	Republican
12	Samuel P. Goddard, Jr.	January 4, 1965-January 2, 1967	Democratic
13	Jack Williams	January 2, 1967-January 6, 1975	Republican
14	Raul H. Castro	January 6, 1975-October 20, 1977	Democratic
15	Wesley Bolin	October 20, 1977-March 4, 1978	Democratic
16	Bruce Babbitt	March 4, 1978-January 5, 1987	Democratic
17	Evan Mecham	January 5, 1987-April 4, 1988	Republican
18	Rose Mofford	April 4, 1988-March 6, 1991	Democratic
19	J. Fife Symington, III	March 6, 1991-September 5, 1997	Republican
20	Jane Dee Hull	September 5, 1997-January 6, 2003	Republican
21	Janet Napolitano	January 6, 2003-January 21, 2009	Democratic
22	Jan Brewer	January 21, 2009-January 5, 2015	Republican
23	Doug Ducey	January 5, 2015-January 2, 2023	Republican
24	Katie Hobbs	January 2, 2023-Present	Democratic

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Arizona

Partisan breakdown of the Arizona governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, there were Democratic governors in office for 6 years while there were Republican governors in office for 16 years, including the last 11 of the study period. Arizona was under Republican trifectas for the last five years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Arizona, the Arizona State Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Arizona state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Arizona had Republican trifectas between 1993 and 2001 and between 2009 and 2013, but no Democratic trifectas during the period of the study. Between these two trifectas, Arizona had divided government. In three separate years, Arizona ranked in the bottom-10 in the SQLI ranking, two of which occurred under Republican trifectas (1996 and 1997) and the other during divided government (2002). Arizona’s highest SQLI ranking occurred in 2006 (16th), under divided government, while its lowest ranking (41st) occurred in 2002 under divided government.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 36.33
• SQLI average with divided government: 27.22

Chart displaying the partisanship of Arizona government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

State profile

Demographic data for Arizona
	Arizona	U.S.
Total population:	6,817,565	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	113,594	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	78.4%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4.2%	12.6%
Asian:	3%	5.1%
Native American:	4.4%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	30.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$50,255	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	21.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arizona. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Arizona

Arizona voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Arizona coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Arizona
• United States congressional delegations from Arizona
• Public policy in Arizona
• Endorsers in Arizona
• Arizona fact checks
• More...

Contact information

Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Office of the Governor of Arizona