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Arizona State Senate elections, 2018

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2018 Arizona
Senate elections
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GeneralNovember 6, 2018
PrimaryAugust 28, 2018
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Republicans held their majority in the 2018 elections for Arizona State Senate, winning 17 seats to Democrats' 13. All 30 Senate seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans controlled 17 seats to Democrats' 13.

Ballotpedia identified five of the races as battlegrounds, including three Republican-held districts and two Democratic-held districts. None of the battleground districts changed hands as a result of the election.

Heading into the election, Arizona had been under a Republican trifecta since 2009, when Gov. Jan Brewer (R) was sworn into office. Brewer's accession to the governorship ended a period of divided government that began when Republicans lost their majority in the state Senate during the 2000 legislative elections. Republicans regained their Senate majority in the 2002 elections, during which Janet Napolitano (D) was elected governor. Heading into the 2018 election, Republicans had maintained control of the state House since the 1966 elections. Had the Democratic Party taken the state Senate, it would have broken the Republican trifecta.

The Arizona State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. The Arizona State Senate was also one of 22 state legislative battleground chambers. Read more below.

Arizona state senators serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years.

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Post-election analysis

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

The Republican Party maintained control of both chambers of the Arizona State Legislature in the 2018 election. The Arizona State Senate was identified as a battleground chamber. All 30 seats were up for election. The Republican majority was maintained at 17-13. No incumbents were defeated in the general election.

The Arizona House of Representatives held elections for all 60 seats. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 35-25 to 31-29. One Democratic incumbent and two Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary. Three Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.

National background

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

  • Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
  • Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
  • A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

Want more information?

Districts

See also: Arizona state legislative districts

Use the interactive map below to find your district.

Candidates

See also: Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

General election candidates

Arizona State Senate General Election 2018

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Jo Craycraft

Green check mark transparent.pngKaren Fann (i)

District 2

Green check mark transparent.pngAndrea Dalessandro (i)

Shelley Kais

District 3

Green check mark transparent.pngSally Ann Gonzales

District 4

Green check mark transparent.pngLisa Otondo (i)

District 5

J'aime Morgaine  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngSonny Borrelli (i)

District 6

Wade Carlisle

Green check mark transparent.pngSylvia Allen (i)

District 7

Green check mark transparent.pngJamescita Peshlakai (i)

J.L. Mealer  Candidate Connection

District 8

Sharon Girard  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngFrank Pratt (i)

District 9

Green check mark transparent.pngVictoria Steele

Randy Fleenor

District 10

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Bradley (i)

Marilyn Wiles

District 11

Ralph Atchue

Green check mark transparent.pngVince Leach

Mohammad Arif (Green Party)

District 12

Elizabeth Brown

Green check mark transparent.pngEddie Farnsworth

District 13

Michelle Harris  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngSine Kerr (i)

District 14

Jamie Alvarez

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Gowan

District 15

Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko

Green check mark transparent.pngHeather Carter

District 16

Benjamin Carmitchel  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Farnsworth (i)  Candidate Connection

District 17

Steve Weichert

Green check mark transparent.pngJavan Daniel Mesnard

District 18

Green check mark transparent.pngSean Bowie (i)

Frank Schmuck

District 19

Green check mark transparent.pngLupe Contreras (i)

District 20

Douglas Ervin

Green check mark transparent.pngPaul Boyer

Doug Quelland (Independent)

District 21

Green check mark transparent.pngRick Gray (i)

Kathy Knecht (Independent)

District 22

Wendy Garcia

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Livingston

District 23

Daria Lohman

Green check mark transparent.pngMichelle Ugenti-Rita

Christopher Leone (Independent)  Candidate Connection

District 24

Green check mark transparent.pngLela Alston

Vicki Alger

District 25

Kathy Mohr-Almeida

Green check mark transparent.pngTyler Pace

District 26

Green check mark transparent.pngJuan Mendez (i)

Rebecca Speakman

District 27

Green check mark transparent.pngRebecca Rios

District 28

Christine Marsh

Green check mark transparent.pngKate Brophy McGee (i)

District 29

Green check mark transparent.pngMartin Quezada (i)

District 30

Green check mark transparent.pngTony Navarrete

Write-in candidates

Primary candidates

Arizona State Senate Primary Election 2018

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Green check mark transparent.pngJo Craycraft

Green check mark transparent.pngKaren Fann (i)

District 2

Green check mark transparent.pngAndrea Dalessandro (i)

Green check mark transparent.pngShelley Kais
Bobby Wilson

District 3

Green check mark transparent.pngSally Ann Gonzales
Betty Villegas

District 4

Green check mark transparent.pngLisa Otondo (i)

District 5

Green check mark transparent.pngJ'aime Morgaine  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngSonny Borrelli (i)

District 6

Green check mark transparent.pngWade Carlisle

Green check mark transparent.pngSylvia Allen (i)

District 7

Green check mark transparent.pngJamescita Peshlakai (i)

Green check mark transparent.pngJ.L. Mealer  Candidate Connection

District 8

Natali Fierros Bock
Green check mark transparent.pngSharon Girard  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngFrank Pratt (i)

District 9

Jim Love
Green check mark transparent.pngVictoria Steele

District 10

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Bradley (i)

Green check mark transparent.pngMarilyn Wiles

District 11

Green check mark transparent.pngRalph Atchue

Green check mark transparent.pngVince Leach

District 12

Green check mark transparent.pngElizabeth Brown

Green check mark transparent.pngEddie Farnsworth
Jimmy Lindblom

District 13

Green check mark transparent.pngMichelle Harris  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngSine Kerr (i)
Brent Backus  Candidate Connection
Don Shooter

District 14

Green check mark transparent.pngJamie Alvarez
Mendy Gomez

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Gowan
Drew John  Candidate Connection
Lori Kilpatrick  Candidate Connection

District 15

Green check mark transparent.pngKristin Dybvig-Pawelko

Green check mark transparent.pngHeather Carter

District 16

Green check mark transparent.pngBenjamin Carmitchel  Candidate Connection

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Farnsworth (i)  Candidate Connection
Michael Hernandez

District 17

Green check mark transparent.pngSteve Weichert

Green check mark transparent.pngJavan Daniel Mesnard

District 18

Green check mark transparent.pngSean Bowie (i)

Green check mark transparent.pngFrank Schmuck

District 19

Green check mark transparent.pngLupe Contreras (i)

District 20

Green check mark transparent.pngDouglas Ervin
Matthew Marquez

Green check mark transparent.pngPaul Boyer
Charles Loftus

District 21

Green check mark transparent.pngRick Gray (i)
Randy Miller

District 22

Green check mark transparent.pngWendy Garcia
Brianna Westbrook

Green check mark transparent.pngDavid Livingston
Clair Van Steenwyk

District 23

Green check mark transparent.pngDaria Lohman

Timothy Jeffries
Kristina Kelly
Green check mark transparent.pngMichelle Ugenti-Rita

Did not make the ballot:
Gavin Searles 

District 24

Green check mark transparent.pngLela Alston

Green check mark transparent.pngVicki Alger

District 25

Green check mark transparent.pngKathy Mohr-Almeida

Green check mark transparent.pngTyler Pace

District 26

Green check mark transparent.pngJuan Mendez (i)
Debbie Nez Manuel

Green check mark transparent.pngRebecca Speakman

District 27

Cipriano Miranda
Green check mark transparent.pngRebecca Rios

District 28

Green check mark transparent.pngChristine Marsh

Green check mark transparent.pngKate Brophy McGee (i)
Kenneth Bowers

District 29

Green check mark transparent.pngMartin Quezada (i)

District 30

Green check mark transparent.pngTony Navarrete

Margins of victory

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 Arizona State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

  • Elections won
  • Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
  • Elections won without opposition
  • Average margin of victory[1]
Arizona State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis
Party Elections won Elections won by less than 10% Unopposed elections Average margin of victory[1]
Democratic Party Democratic
13
0
6
26.5%
Republican Party Republican
17
5
0
17.6%
Grey.png Other
0
0
0
N/A
Total
30
5
6
22.0%



The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).

Arizona State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory by District
District Winning Party Losing Party Margin of Victory
Arizona State Senate District 28
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
0.3%
Arizona State Senate District 6
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
1.8%
Arizona State Senate District 17
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
1.8%
Arizona State Senate District 20
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
3.9%
Arizona State Senate District 21
Ends.png Republican
Grey.png Independent
4.5%
Arizona State Senate District 11
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
10.2%
Arizona State Senate District 8
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
12.3%
Arizona State Senate District 18
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
13.7%
Arizona State Senate District 12
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
15.7%
Arizona State Senate District 10
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
17.0%
Arizona State Senate District 23
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
18.9%
Arizona State Senate District 2
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
19.4%
Arizona State Senate District 15
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
20.3%
Arizona State Senate District 14
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
21.1%
Arizona State Senate District 16
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
22.9%
Arizona State Senate District 25
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
23.6%
Arizona State Senate District 13
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
25.1%
Arizona State Senate District 9
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
25.5%
Arizona State Senate District 22
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
26.7%
Arizona State Senate District 26
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
31.5%
Arizona State Senate District 7
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
34.4%
Arizona State Senate District 1
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
39.2%
Arizona State Senate District 24
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
44.0%
Arizona State Senate District 5
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
50.6%
Arizona State Senate District 19
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
Arizona State Senate District 29
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
Arizona State Senate District 30
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
Arizona State Senate District 4
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
Arizona State Senate District 3
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
Arizona State Senate District 27
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed


Incumbents retiring

Fourteen incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018.[2] Those incumbents were:

Name Party Current Office
Olivia Cajero Bedford Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 3
Steve Farley Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 9
Steve Smith Ends.png Republican Senate District 11
Warren Petersen Ends.png Republican Senate District 12
Gail Griffin Ends.png Republican Senate District 14
Nancy Barto Ends.png Republican Senate District 15
Steven B. Yarbrough Ends.png Republican Senate District 17
Kimberly Yee Ends.png Republican Senate District 20
Judy Burges Ends.png Republican Senate District 22
John Kavanagh Ends.png Republican Senate District 23
Katie Hobbs Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 24
Bob Worsley Ends.png Republican Senate District 25
Catherine Miranda Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 27
Robert Meza Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 30

2018 battleground chamber

See also: State legislative battleground chambers, 2018

Ballotpedia identified the Arizona State Senate as one of 22 battleground chambers in 2018. These were chambers that we anticipated to be, overall, more competitive than other chambers and had the potential to see significant shifts in party control.


The chamber was selected because it met the following conditions:

  • Competitive seats: In 2016, three Republican seats had a margin of victory that was less than 10 percent. Two Democratic seats had a margin of victory that was less than 10 percent. See the 2018 races to watch here.
  • Outside ratings: Governing listed this chamber as "Leans Republican."[3]

Battleground races

Arizona State Senate
Battleground races
Democratic seats
Democratic Party District 10
Democratic Party District 18
Republican seats
Republican Party District 6
Republican Party District 8
Republican Party District 28

After the candidate filing deadline, Ballotpedia identified five battleground races in the Arizona State Senate 2018 elections: two Democratic seats and three Republican seats. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly have led to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.

To determine state legislative battleground races in 2018, Ballotpedia looked for races that fit one or more of the four factors listed below:

  1. If the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in the most recent election prior to 2018
  2. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent’s margin of victory in the previous election was 10 percentage points or less
  3. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent did not file to run for re-election
  4. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections by 20 points or more

Other factors could also cause a race to be classified as a battleground. For example, Ballotpedia may have considered an election to be a battleground race if an outside group or a national or state party announced that they were targeting a specific seat in order to flip it. We may have also determined a race to be a battleground if it received an unusual amount of media attention. Two additional factors were open seats and districts impacted by redistricting.


Republican PartyDistrict 6

Who won this race?

Republican incumbent Sylvia Tenney Allen defeated Democrat Wade Carlisle.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Republican Party

Who were the candidates running?

Republican Party Sylvia Tenney Allen (incumbent)
Democratic Party Wade Carlisle

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2016. Incumbent Sylvia Allen (R) was first elected in 2014 and was reelected in 2016, where she received 50.9 percent of the vote and defeated her Democratic challenger by 1.8 points. District 6 was one of 16 Arizona Senate districts that Republican Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. Trump carried District 6 by 10.4 points. Mitt Romney (R) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 13.4 points.

Republican PartyDistrict 8

Who won this race?

Republican incumbent Frank Pratt defeated Democrat Sharon Girard.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Republican Party

Who were the candidates running?

Republican Party Frank Pratt (incumbent)
Democratic Party Sharon Girard

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2016. Incumbent Frank Pratt (R) was first elected in 2016 where he received 53.1 percent of the vote and defeated Democratic incumbent Barbara McGuire by 6.2 points. District 8 was one of 16 Arizona Senate districts that Republican Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. Trump carried District 8 by 14.4 points. Mitt Romney (R) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 8.8 points.

Democratic PartyDistrict 10

Who won this race?

Democratic incumbent David Bradley defeated Republican Marilyn Wiles.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Democratic Party

Who were the candidates running?

Democratic Party David Bradley (incumbent)
Republican Party Marilyn Wiles

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2016. Incumbent David Bradley (D) was first elected in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016. In 2016, he received 53.9 percent of the vote and defeated his Republican opponent by 7.8 points. District 10 was one of 14 Arizona Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 10 by 11.4 points. Barack Obama (D) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 5.4 points.

Democratic PartyDistrict 18

Who won this race?

Democratic incumbent Sean Bowie defeated Republican Frank Schmuck.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Democratic Party

Who were the candidates running?

Democratic Party Sean Bowie (incumbent)
Republican Party Frank Schmuck

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2016. Incumbent Sean Bowie (D) was first elected in 2016. He received 51.4 percent of the vote and defeated his Republican opponent by 2.9 points. District 18 was one of 14 Arizona Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 18 by 10.4 points. Mitt Romney (R) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 1.9 points.

Republican PartyDistrict 28

Who won this race?

Republican incumbent Kate Brophy McGee defeated Democrat Christine Marsh.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Republican Party

Who were the candidates running?

Republican Party Kate Brophy McGee (incumbent)
Democratic Party Christine Marsh

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2016. Incumbent Kate Brophy McGee (R) was first elected in 2016 where she received 51.2 percent of the vote and defeated her Democratic opponent by 2.3 points. District 28 was one of 14 Arizona Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 28 by 5.3 points. Mitt Romney (R) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 9.0 points.

Battleground races map

Arizona political history

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party control

2018

In the 2018 elections, there was no changed in the partisan balance of the Arizona State Senate.

Arizona State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 13 13
     Republican Party 17 17
Total 30 30

2016

In the 2016 elections, the Republican majority in the Arizona State Senate decreased from 18-12 to 17-13.

Arizona State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 12 13
     Republican Party 18 17
Total 30 30

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in Arizona gained a state government trifecta following the 2008 elections. From 1992 to 2017, Republicans held trifecta status for 17 years, from 1993 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2017.

Arizona Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D
Senate R R R R R R R R R S S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Impact of term limits

See also: Impact of term limits on state senate elections in 2018 and Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

The Arizona State Senate has been a term-limited state Senate since Arizona passed Proposition 107 in 1992. Arizona senators serve two-year terms with a four-term/eight-year term limit.

All 30 seats in the Arizona State Senate were up for election in 2018. In the 2018 elections, six senators were ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state senators were term-limited in 2018:

Democratic: (2)

Republicans (4):

Of the 87 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2018, 24 of them—12 senate chambers and 12 house chambers—included incumbents who were unable to run for re-election due to term limits.[4] In the 24 chambers affected by term limits in 2018, 1,463 seats were up for election.[5] The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

A total of 271 state legislators—96 state senators and 175 state representatives—were ineligible to run in the 2018 elections because of term limits. This represented 4 percent of the 6,066 total seats up for election in November 2018.[6][7] Republicans had twice as many state legislators term-limited in 2018 than Democrats. A total of 86 Democrats were term-limited, while 177 Republicans were term-limited.

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

State legislative wave elections
Year President Party Election type State legislative seats change Elections analyzed[8]
1932 Hoover R Presidential -1,022 7,365
1922 Harding R First midterm -907 6,907
1966 Johnson D First midterm[9] -782 7,561
1938 Roosevelt D Second midterm -769 7,179
1958 Eisenhower R Second midterm -702 7,627
2010 Obama D First midterm -702 7,306
1974 Ford R Second midterm[10] -695 7,481
1920 Wilson D Presidential -654 6,835
1930 Hoover R Presidential -640 7,361
1954 Eisenhower R First midterm -494 7,513

Candidate and office information

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Arizona

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Title 16, Chapter 3 of the Arizona Revised Statutes

Candidates in Arizona can access the ballot as political party candidates, independent candidates, or write-in candidates. Candidates must file a statement of interest, nomination paper, financial disclosure statement, and nomination petitions.[11] Candidates file in-person or online, though the Candidate Portal, depending on the document in question.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

Political party candidates

Political party candidates are nominated in primary elections. If no candidate is nominated at the primary election for a specific office, no candidate for that office can appear on the general election ballot for that political party.[12][13]

A political party candidate must file his or her nomination documents during the candidate filing period, which begins 120 days before the primary and ends 90 days before the primary. At the time of filing, a candidate must be a qualified voter residing in the geographic area represented by the office being sought. The following documents must be filed in order to gain ballot access:Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

  • a financial disclosure statement
  • an affidavit affirming that the candidate will be eligible to hold office if elected
  • a nomination paper including the following information:
    • candidate’s residence address
    • name of the party with which the candidate is affiliated
    • office the candidate seeks, with district or precinct, if applicable
    • the candidate’s name as the candidate wishes it to appear on the ballot
    • date of the primary and corresponding general election
  • a nomination petition

Nomination petitions must be signed by qualified electors who are eligible to vote for the office the candidate is seeking. A qualified signer may be a "registered member of the party from which the candidate is seeking nomination," a "registered member of a political party that is not entitled to continued representation on the ballot," or an independent. To calculate the number of petition signatures needed, the voter registration totals as of the year of the election must be used. Signature requirements vary according to the office being sought. See the table below for further details.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

Formulas for determining signature requirements for political party candidates
Office sought Minimum signatures required Maximum signatures allowed
United States Senator or state executive office At least one-fourth of 1 percent of the total number of qualified signers** No more than 10 percent of the total number of qualified signers
United States Representative At least one-half of 1 percent of the total number of qualified signers in the district the candidate seeks to represent No more than 10 percent of the total number of qualified signers in the district the candidate seeks to represent
State legislative office At least one-half of 1 percent of the total number of qualified signers in the district the candidate seeks to represent No more than 3 percent of the total number of qualified signers in the district the candidate seeks to represent

Newly qualified political party candidates

A candidate of a newly qualified political party must file the same documents at the same time as other political party candidates. Petition signature requirements are different for newly qualified political party candidates. A candidate of a new political party must file signatures equal to at least one-tenth of 1 percent of the total votes cast for the winning presidential or gubernatorial candidate at the last general election in the district the candidate seeks to represent.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

Independent candidates

A candidate may not run as an independent if he or she is representing a party that failed to qualify for the primary election. Additionally, a candidate cannot run as an independent if he or she tried and failed to qualify as a political party candidate in the primary.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

An independent candidate must be nominated by petition to run in the general election. The nomination petition must be filed with the financial disclosure statement during the candidate filing period, which begins 120 days before the primary election and ends 90 days before the primary election.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

An independent candidate's nomination petition must be signed by registered voters eligible to vote for the office the candidate is seeking. The number of signatures required on the petition is equal to at least 3 percent of all registered voters who are not affiliated with a recognized political party in the district the candidate seeks to represent. Signature requirement figures should be calculated using voter registration data from the year of the election. Though the number of signatures required to gain ballot access as an independent is related to the number of registered voters who are not affiliated with recognized political parties, the affiliation of those signing the petitions does not matter as long as they have not already signed a political party candidate's petition.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

Write-in candidates

A candidate may not file as a write-in if any of the following are true:Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

  • The candidate ran in the primary election and failed to get elected.
  • The candidate did not file enough signatures to be allowed ballot access when previously filing for primary ballot access.
  • The candidate filed nomination petitions to run in the general election but did not submit enough valid signatures to gain ballot access.

Write-in votes will not be counted unless the write-in candidate files a nomination paper and financial disclosure form no later than 5 p.m. on the 40th day before the election in which the candidate intends to run. The nomination paper must include the following information:Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title

  • the candidate's name and signature
  • the candidate's residence address or description of place of residence and post office address
  • the candidate's age
  • the length of time the candidate has been a resident of the state
  • the candidate's date of birth

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 4, Part 2, Section 2 of the Arizona Constitution states: "No person shall be a member of the Legislature unless he shall be a citizen of the United States at the time of his election, nor unless he shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and shall have been a resident of Arizona at least three years and of the county from which he is elected at least one year before his election."

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[14]
SalaryPer diem
$24,000/yearFor legislators residing within Maricopa County: $35/day. For legislators residing outside of Maricopa County: $251.66.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Arizona legislators assume office on the first day of the session after they are elected. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January.[15]

Competitiveness

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

Results from 2016

Click here to read the full study »


Historical context

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

F5 Pop. % with uncontested state legislative races.png

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states. No counties in Arizona are Pivot Counties.

Donald Trump (R) defeated Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election. Trump won 48.7 percent of the vote, while Clinton won 45.1 percent. Arizona was one of 12 key battleground states in 2016. Of the 30 states won by Trump in 2016, Arizona had the fifth closest margin. From when it became a state in 1912 to 2016, Arizona voted Republican in 66.7 percent of presidential elections. It voted Republican in all presidential elections from 2000 to 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in Arizona. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[16][17]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 12 out of 30 state Senate districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 25 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 14 out of 30 state Senate districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 27.5 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 18 out of 30 state Senate districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 22.9 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 16 out of 30 state Senate districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Excludes unopposed elections
  2. Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
  3. Governing, "Democrats Poised to Eat Into GOP's Lead in State Legislatures," May 2, 2018
  4. The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate were up for election in 2018 and have term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018.
  5. The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. In the three chambers, a total of 129 seats were up for election in 2018. No legislators were unable to run in 2018 in those three chamber because of term limits.
  6. Ballotpedia confirmed through phone calls that at least seven California legislators were term-limited in 2018. The number of California legislators term-limited and the overall number of term-limited state legislators had a chance to change if Ballotpedia could confirm that more members were term-limited in 2018.
  7. Some of the 271 term-limited state legislators in 2018 may resign before their term ends. These legislators were still counted in the total number of term-limited legislators in 2018.
  8. The number of state legislative seats available for analysis varied, with as many as 7,795 and as few as 6,835.
  9. Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
  10. Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
  11. Arizona Secretary of State, "Running for Statewide Office," accessed July 23, 2025
  12. Arizona Revised Statutes, "Title 16, Chapter 3, Section 301," accessed July 23, 2025
  13. Arizona Revised Statutes, "Title 16, Chapter 3, Section 302," accessed July 23, 2025
  14. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  15. Arizona Revised Statutes, "41-1101, Section B," accessed November 22, 2016
  16. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  17. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017


Current members of the Arizona State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Warren Petersen
Majority Leader:Janae Shamp
Minority Leader:Priya Sundareshan
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
Eva Diaz (D)
District 23
District 24
District 25
Tim Dunn (R)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
Republican Party (17)
Democratic Party (13)