Arizona Democrats seized both chambers of the Legislature and kept the governor's office, giving the party complete control of state government for the first time since 1966.
Enough races were called Friday to confirm that both chambers had changed hands. Republicans had run the state House for six decades, and the Senate had been under GOP control for more than 30 years.
Democrats beat their own targets. They needed three more Senate seats and four more House seats to take over, and as of Wednesday they were on track to gain six and 10, respectively.
The shift reshapes the job of Gov. Katie Hobbs, who vetoed more than 540 bills from the Republican-led Legislature during her first term, on subjects ranging from taxes to immigration and voting. Hobbs has said she wants to tackle water, affordability, and fraud and abuse in the state's school voucher program.
A long-blocked agenda
Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, the assistant minority leader in the House, said the party's priorities include reproductive health care protections and gun safety measures, with affordability at the top of the list.
Many of those ideas never got a hearing under Republicans. Democratic bills last year to make it harder for corporations to buy single-family homes, bar price gouging on generic drugs and fund the state's child care assistance waiting list all died without an initial committee hearing.
Governing in red districts
Democrats have also sought for years to make contraception access a right. Voters enshrined abortion as a fundamental right two years ago, but Republican lawmakers refused to repeal dozens of anti-abortion laws still on the books, leaving Democrats now positioned to pursue both changes.
Republican consultant Chuck Coughlin said a majority in each chamber does not guarantee unity, and party leaders will have to learn to bring their caucuses to consensus. Because many Democrats won in red districts, he said, the party must weigh bold moves against keeping its majority in a state where registered Republicans still outnumber Democrats.
Lobbyist Liz Goodman, who has worked with Democrats for more than a decade, pointed to Rep. Kevin Volk as a model. Volk flipped a Tucson seat two years ago in a district where state voter registration figures show 69,719 Republicans and 52,862 Democrats, built a moderate record that sometimes broke with his party, and won reelection Tuesday.
Part of a national wave
Goodman said lawmakers will also have to absorb the coming Medicaid cuts and reductions in federal food assistance during an economic downturn. Some Republicans have warned that Democratic spending will only worsen the state's affordability problems.
Democrats are fiscally responsible, we just will spend differently than the Republicans did because our focus is on the people
Nancy Gutierrez, Arizona House assistant minority leader
Arizona is one of at least six states where Democrats moved from shared power to full control, joining Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin. Nationally, Democrats will hold at least 28 governorships, a majority for the first time in 16 years, and won control of both chambers of Congress.
Gains reached beyond battleground states. Democrats flipped the Texas House, in Republican hands since 2003, and elected Gina Hinojosa governor, though Republicans kept the Texas Senate. The National Conference of State Legislatures says the election is likely to see more legislative seats and chambers change parties than any since 2010.
