A changing of the guard at the AZ legislature: New majority leadership in both chambers

Tuesday's Democratic landslide gave Ds a majority in both chamber of the legislature, something that hasn't happened since the 1960s.

One of the practical effects of that is election of new leadership in both chambers.

From the press release from House Democrats -

[snip]

Arizona's anticipated 37-member House Democratic Caucus has elected Representative Oscar De Los Santos of Phoenix to be Speaker of the House. De Los Santos, who has led the Caucus for the past two years and co-chaired the successful campaign effort to flip control of the chamber, will be Arizona's first Democratic Speaker of the House since 1966. 

The Caucus elected Representative Nancy Gutierrez of Tucson as Majority Leader. Whips will be Representatives Brian Garcia of Tempe and Kevin Volk of Tucson. Representative Quantá Crews of Phoenix will serve as Speaker Pro Tempore.

From the Senate Democrats -

  •    Senate President-elect Priya Sundareshan (D-18) was first elected to the Senate in 2022 and led Senate Democrats during the 57th Legislature. A mother of two, she has championed voting rights and worked to protect Arizona’s natural resources for future generations.

    •    Senate Majority Leader-elect Christine Marsh (D-5) is a public school teacher who previously served in the Senate from 2021 to 2025. She fought for public school funding and helped pass legislation to legalize fentanyl test strips.

    •    Senate Majority Whip-elect Analise Ortiz (D-24) began her legislative service in the Arizona House in 2023 and joined the Senate in 2025. She helped pass protections for workers facing extreme heat and has strongly advocated for childcare and homeless services.

As her first order of business, President-elect Sundareshan appointed Alma Hernandez (D-20) and Edgar Soto (D-17) as Senate President Pro Tempore and Rosanna Gabaldón (D-21) and Aaron Lieberman (D-4) as Senate Democratic Majority Chairs.

Congratulations to all.

Enjoy the moment, because after it's over, (and it will end quickly), the hard work starts.

Getting his bigot on - Warren Petersen: President of the AZ State Senate and candidate for AZ Attorney General

Warren Petersen, currently the Republican president of the Arizona State Senate, is one of three candidates for Arizona Attorney General in the Republican primary in 2026 (for now - we're more than a year out from the election and I'm going by the number of committees formed for the race as of now. Not everyone who has formed a committee may gain ballot status, and other folks may jump into the race.)

The AZAG's office is currently held by Democrat Kris Mayes.

Regardless of how many candidates end up on the ballot, Petersen seems to be trying to lock up the support of the MAGAts who will vote in R primary by calling for a federal investigation of a Latina Democrat.

From AZMirror, written by Gloria Rebecca Gomez -

GOP leader wants the feds to investigate a Democrat’s Instagram posts about ICE activity

The top Republican in the Arizona Senate is calling for a federal investigation into a Democratic senator’s social media posts about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, represents a Latino-majority district, and has been a fierce critic of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. When ICE agents began staking out the Phoenix immigration courthouse earlier this year to detain people showing up for mandatory hearings, Ortiz joined protestors in videotaping the arrests and blasting out social media alerts.

 

If this doesn't put him over the top, maybe he can get his cousin, Paul Petersen, disgraced former Maricopa County Assessor, human trafficker, scammer, and convict, to campaign for him.

MAGA types *like* traffickers.

Paul has been transferred to a federal minimum security prison in AZ, and the feds under Cheeto have a documented history of doing that for well-connected traffickers.