Democratic lawmakers say they’re focused on delivering solutions for high costs, public school funding and water security with their majorities in the Arizona Legislature.
Gov. Katie Hobbs and the incoming leaders of the House and Senate spoke at the state Capitol on Tuesday morning, celebrating what they describe as a new era for the state.
“We have the people, we have the mandate, and we have the moral obligation to deliver,” incoming House Speaker Oscar De LosSantos said. “Arizona, our promise to you is that we will make the most of it. Let's get to work.”
All three said they’re aware they must deliver on their campaign promises.
“Our job now is to make sure that you feel the difference at your kitchen table, in your kids' classrooms and in your community,” incoming Senate President Priya Sundareshan said.
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She later told reporters they want to make sure their majorities are durable and able to last past the next two-year term.
“What we have seen is that Republicans governed in a way that ignored the will of the people, ignored actual action on reining in vouchers, on protecting and investing in public education, protecting water and lowering costs,” she said.
But it won’t be easy.
In addition to trying to lower costs for families, Democratic lawmakers must grapple with the effects of funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s tax bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to programs like SNAP and Medicaid.
“We need to focus on how to use our limited budget dollars effectively, and I'm looking forward to those conversations to fund the things that Arizona really needs,” state Sen. Analise Ortiz, the incoming Democratic whip, told ABC15.
They’ll need to work with the state’s existing revenues because Democrats need a supermajority to pass legislation to increase taxes.
“We know that the revenue picture, due to (former Gov. Doug) Ducey's flat tax, has left us with less revenue than in previous years,” Sundareshan told reporters.
She has a supermajority in the Senate, but the House is a few seats short of one. And Republican lawmakers have vowed to oppose any increase in taxes.
“Our principles have not changed,” current House Speaker Steve Montenegro told reporters on Friday. “We want to make sure that we're standing against tax increases.”
Sundareshan and Ortiz both said their caucus could look at ways to cut tax handouts, such as the state sales-tax incentives for data centers. Lawmakers from both parties agreed on a three-year freeze on the tax breaks in this year’s budget, but up to 107 future projects could still tap into the incentives.
“We could still do more to claw back some of those tax incentives for corporations and billionaires,” Ortiz said. “I think that's what our focus is. That’s something we will be looking at as an option.”
For the first time in 60 years, Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor’s Office. The party also swept the statewide races, from governor down to mine inspector.
Flipping a red House seat
State Rep.-Elect Mary Rose is part of that blue wave. She flipped a House seat in ruby-red Legislative District 14 in Gilbert, something she says “nobody thought we could.”
“I'm just an everyday woman who decided I was going to jump into this race,” she told ABC15.
She finished ahead of the two Republican incumbents, ousting state Rep. Laurin Hendrix, who finished third. The Democrat running for the district’s Senate seat also won.
She said she plans to hold town halls and other events where she can hear from her constituents.
“I just want people to know that I am here,” she said. “I want to talk to people. I want to be somebody who gets things done for our community and the state of Arizona, and it's very, very important to me that they understand that.”
Rose, an Arizona native, said her priorities will be affordable housing, water conservation and reforming Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the state’s school-voucher program.
Right now, she’s focused on figuring out how everything at the Capitol works and where the bathrooms are.
“It's just so exciting, and it's kind of like a first grader on the first day of school,” she said. “You have to go in and you have to get situated and figure out where you are and who are the people that you need to talk to and those kinds of things.”
