2018 Arizona General Election Report November 21, 2018 A Word from Alexis Glascock
The 2018 Midterm Election saw record turnout among Arizonan voters. Roughly twice the number of ballots were cast compared to the 2014 Midterm Election. This surge in turnout ultimately caused Election Night to become Election Month in Arizona as hundreds of thousands of early ballots and provisional ballots were tallied. Now, two weeks later, the results are finally official.
Tracking election results is both exciting and necessary, but keep in mind that it is just the first step in the legislative process. This report is intended to continue the political and policy dialogue with you, our client, as we count down the days until the next legislative session begins on January 14th, 2019. We have highlighted races and results of special interest in the first several pages, with a full recap of results in federal, constitutional, and legislative offices, and ballot measures at the end.
Alexis
Alexis Glascock is an Of Counsel attorney in Fennemore Craig's Government Affairs Practice Group. She has served as counsel to the President of the Arizona Senate and Assistant to the General Counsel of the Legislative Council, and lobbies on behalf of clients before the Arizona Legislature.
PH 602.916.5488 EMAIL [email protected] Table of Contents
Federal Delegation 3
Statewide Offices 4
Arizona Legislature 5
Legislative Leadership 6
Full 2018 Election Results 7
Contact Information 20 Federal Delegation
2018 is a major year for federal elections in Arizona. The departure of Republican Senator Jeff Flake (R) set in motion a series of high-profile races to fill in gaps in the federal delegation.
United States Senate The most contentious race in Arizona this cycle was in the open United States Senate seat. Democrats flipped the seat with the election of Representative Kyrsten Sinema (D). Sinema beat fellow Representative Martha McSally (R) in the race. The two candidates traded leads in the days following the election, but McSally conceded the election to Sinema on Monday, November 12th with votes remaining to be counted. Winner: Sinema
House of Representatives The candidacies of both Representative McSally and Representative Sinema for U.S. Senate left two openings in the House ready for the taking.
McSally’s former Congressional District 2 was picked up by former Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (D), who beat Tuscon-area businesswoman Lea Marquez-Peterson. The race garnered national attention as the district is perennially competitive, switching consistently back and forth between the two parties over the past several election cycles. Winner: Kirkpatrick
The Congressional District 9 seat vacated by Sinema remained in Democratic control with the election of former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D). Stanton defeated Steve Ferrara (R) by a robust margin. Winner: Stanton
In Congressional District 8, Republican Debbie Lesko (R) easily defeated opponent Hiral Tipirneni (D) for the second time in seven months following the Special Election for the seat in March. The results bring closure to the district, which was thrown into political chaos by the resignation of Trent Franks in December 2017 following an allegation of sexual misconduct. Winner: Lesko
3 Statewide Offices
The stakes were also high for Republicans in statewide offices this year. The results of the election are a mixed bag for the party, which retained control of the governor's office, but lost in the races for Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Governor’s Race: Ducey to Return Arizona’s popular Republican Governor Doug Ducey (R) won his bid for re- election handily and will serve a second term in the office. Democratic challenger David Garcia (D) captured roughly 40% of the vote, falling 20 points behind the incumbent. Ducey’s victory in the race comes as little surprise. Winner: Ducey
Secretary of State Within the first several days following the election, the Associated Press declared political newcomer Steve Gaynor (R) the winner of a contentious race against Katie Hobbs (D) to replace current Secretary of State Michele Reagan (R); however, Hobbs rebounded, taking a late lead over Gaynor which held through the remainder of the vote count. Arizona’s Secretary of State is a highly coveted job with important political implications. The Secretary of State is first in line to succeed the governor if he were to leave office early, which has taken place four times since the 1970s. Winner: Hobbs
Superintendent of Public Instruction The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction also saw vote leads exchanged between the Democratic and Republican candidates. Democratic newcomer Kathy Hoffman (D) ran against former California congressman Frank Riggs (R). Hoffman ultimately edged out Riggs with a slim margin. Winner: Hoffman
State Treasurer Outgoing Majority Leader of the State Senate Kimberly Yee (R) won by a significant margin against Democrat Mark Manoil (D). Winner: Yee
Corporation Commission The two open seats on Arizona's Corporation Commission had initially been too close to call. Now that the votes are all in, Democrat Sandra Kennedy (D) and Republican Justin Olson (R) have been declared the winners over Rodney Glassman (R) and Kiana Sears (D). Winners: Kennedy and Olson
4 Arizona Legislature
The entire state legislature was on the ballot in the 2018 Midterm Elections. Despite losing seats on Election Night, Republicans retained their majorities in both houses going in to the 2019 Legislative Session. Republicans in the House will be operating with a razor-thin majority of 31-29. This is significant because Republicans won't be able to afford to lose any votes if they hope to pass legislation on their agenda.
Going in to Election Night, some races were more closely-watched than others.
In Senate District 28, incumbent Kate Brophy McGee (R) won against Democratic challenger Christine Marsh (D) by a thin margin. Winner: Brophy McGee
Senate District 6 was initially too STATE SENATE close to call, but incumbent Sylvia Allen (R) subsequently DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN beat opponent Wade Carlisle (D). Winner: Allen
Democrats picked up a seat in House District 28, which has typically been a Republican or split district. Democrats Kelli Butler (D) and Aaron Lieberman (D) edged out incumbent Republican Maria Syms (R). STATE HOUSE Winners: Butler and Lieberman DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN Democrats also gained in House District 17 after the departure of Speaker J.D. Mesnard (R) for the State Senate. Jennifer Pawlik (D) captured 34.19% of the vote followed by Jeff Weninger (R) at 34.02%. Winners: Weninger and Pawlik 5 Legislative Leadership
The two chambers chose their new leaders on November 7th. Karen Fann (R) will become the second woman to serve as President of the State Senate and longtime lawmaker Rusty Bowers (R) will serve as the Speaker of the State House of Representatives.
Arizona State Senate Arizona State House President Speaker Karen Fann (R) Rusty Bowers (R) District 1 District 25 Majority Leader Majority Leader Rick Gray (R) Warren Petersen (R) District 21 District 12 Majority Whip Majority Whip Sony Borrelli (R) Becky Nutt (R) District 5 District 14 Minority Leader Minority Leader Lupe Contreras (D) Charlene Fernandez (D) District 19 District 4 Minority Co-Whip Minority Assistant Leader Lisa Otondo (D) Randall Friese (D) District 4 District 9 Minority Co-Whip Minority Co-Whip Jamescita Peshlakai (D) Reginald Bolding (D) District 7 District 27 Minority Co-Whip Athena Salman (D) District 26
6 Full 2018 Election Results
7 Federal Races
United States Senate
Candidate Party Votes
Kyrsten Sinema DEMOCRAT 1,191,099
Martha McSally REPUBLICAN 1,135,200
House of Representatives Seat Leader
1 O'Halleran DEM Rogers REP 2 KirkpatrickDEM Marquez Peterson REP
3 Grijalva DEM Pierson REP 4 Gosar REP Brill DEM 5 Biggs REP Greene DEM 6 Schweikert REP Malik DEM
7 Gallego DEM Swing GRN 8 Lesko REP Tipirneni DEM 9 Stanton DEM Ferrara REP
8 Statewide Races
Constitutional Officers
Office Leader
Governor Ducey REP Garcia DEM Secretary of State Hobbs DEM Gaynor REP Attorney General Brnovich REP Contreras DEM State Treasurer Yee REP Manoil DEM Supt. of Public Instruction Hoffman DEM Riggs REP State Mine Inspector Hart REP Pierce DEM
Corporation Commission
Office Candidate Votes
Seat 1 Kennedy DEM 1,076,799 Seat 2 Olson REP 1,053,861 Glassman REP 1,049,393 Sears DEM 1,006,654
9 Legislative Races
State Senate Rep. 17 Dem. 13 Seat Leader
1 Fann REP Craycraft DEM 2 Dalessandro DEM Kais REP 3 Gonzales DEM UNCONTESTED 4 Otondo DEM UNCONTESTED 5 Borrelli REP Morgaine DEM 6 Allen REP Carlisle DEM 7 Peshlakai DEM Mealer REP 8 Pratt REP Girard DEM 9 Steele DEM Fleenor REP 10 Bradley DEM Wiles REP
11 Leach REP Atchue DEM 12 Farnsworth REP Brown DEM 13 Kerr REP Harris DEM 14 Gowan REP Alvarez DEM 15 Carter REP Dybvig-Pawelko DEM 16 FarnsworthREP Carmitchel DEM 17 Mesnard REP Weichert DEM 18 Bowie DEM Schmuck REP
10 Legislative Races
State Senate Rep. 17 Dem. 13 Seat Leader
19 Chavira DEM UNCONTESTED 20 Boyer REP Ervin DEM 21 Gray REP Knecht IND 22 Livingston REP Garcia DEM 23 Ugenti-Rita REP Lohman DEM 24 Alston DEM Alger REP 25 Pace REP Mohr-Almeida DEM
26 Mendez DEM Speakman REP 27 Rios DEM UNCONTESTED 28 Brophy McGeeREP Marsh DEM
29 Quezada DEM UNCONTESTED 30 Navarrete DEM UNCONTESTED
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29
Seat Candidate Votes
1 Campbell REP 70,130
Stringer REP 67,023
Manolis DEM 32,706
11 Legislative Races
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29 Seat Candidate Votes
2 Hernandez DEM 30,613
Gabaldon DEM 30,481
Ackerley REP 21,927
3 Hernandez DEM 34,577
Cano DEM 31,482
Baker GRN 8,566
4 Fernandez DEM 26,541
Peten DEM 19,410
Williams GRN 8,334
5 Cobb REP 46,928
Biasciucci REP 39,260
McCord Robinson DEM 18,566
6 Blackman REP 45,210
Thorpe REP 44,314
French DEM 43,737
7 Tsosie DEM 34,739
Teller DEM 26,810 Shamley REP 22,677
12 Legislative Races
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29 Seat Candidate Votes
8 Cook REP 28,421
Shope REP 28,150
Casillas DEM 21,171
9 Friese DEM 49,755
Powers Hannely DEM 49,011 Henderson REP 36,613
10 Engel DEM 49,163
DeGrazia DEM 42,716
Clodfelter REP 38,697
11 Roberts REP 48,676 Finchem REP 48,563 Lyon DEM 37,992
12 Petersen REP 59,095
Grantham REP 58,928
Robinson DEM 39,841
13 Dunn REP 46,602
Osborne REP 43,780 Tzitzura DEM 28,523
13 Legislative Races
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29 Seat Candidate Votes
14 Griffin REP 46,797
Nutt REP 46,155
Renne-Leon DEM 25,651
15 Barto REP 51,305
Allen REP 49,279 Samuels DEM 38,565
16 Townsend REP 49,643
Fillmore REP 46,000
Stinard DEM 32,018
17 Pawlik DEM 46,874 Weninger REP 46,520 Ellen REP 43,437
18 Epstein REP 52,992
Jermaine REP 50,253
Norgaard DEM 44,269
19 Espinoza DEM 26,428
Sierra DEM 23,319
14 Legislative Races
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29 Seat Candidate Votes
20 Kern REP 34,249
Bolick REP 33,848
Chandler DEM 31,979
21 Payne REP 41,536
Rivero REP 39,275 Romero DEM 31,756
22 Toma REP 65,310
Carroll REP 64,729
Sarmiento DEM 38,895
23 Kavanagh REP 62,797
Lawrence REP 59,099 Kurland DEM 51,893
24 Longdon DEM 40,520
Shah DEM 39,363
Alger REP 18,853
25 Udall REP 52,075
Bowers REP 47,067 Martin DEM 31,540
15 Legislative Races
State House Rep. 31 Dem. 29 Seat Candidate Votes
26 Salman DEM 29,540
Blanc DEM 28,039
Speakman REP 16,676
27 Rodriguez DEM 31,521
Bolding DEM 28,360
28 Butler DEM 48,003
Lieberman DEM 43,196
Syms REP 40,798
29 Chavez DEM 23,631
Andrade DEM 19,258
30 Teran DEM 20,831
Meza DEM 19,794 Spears REP 12,329
16 2018 Ballot Measures
Proposition 125 Yes
The Constitutional Amendment and accompanying legislation would permit the state to adjust certain benefits in the corrections officers' and elected No Yes officials' retirement systems to alleviate pension 48% underfunding. 52%
Proposition 126 Yes
The Constitutional Amendment would prohibit the state and each county, city, town, district, No or other political subdivision in Arizona from 36% imposing a new or increased tax on services that was not already in effect on December 31, 2017. Yes 64%
Proposition 127 No
The Constitutional Amendment would replace Yes Arizona's current plan for increasing renewable 31% energy use by imposing a new mandate requiring nongovernmental electric utilities to increase the portion of their retail energy sales generated from certain types of renewable energy No resources to 50% by 2030. 69%
17 2018 Ballot Measures
Proposition 305 No
The Law would expand eligibility for education Yes empowerment scholarship accounts to increase 35% the number of eligible students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade, with greater funding provided for low-income students. No 65%
Proposition 306 Yes
The Law would prohibit candidates who finance their political campaigns with public No funding from the citizens clean elections 44% commission from transferring any campaign Yes funds to a political party or private tax-exempt 56% organization that attempts to influence elections and subjects the commission's rule- making procedures to regulatory oversight.
18 Advocacy. Analysis. Results.
Finding the right legislative representation matters. Fennemore Craig offers a suite of specialty services before, during, and after each legislative session to help clients throughout the Mountain West achieve their strategic policy goals. For more information, go to fennemorecraig.com.
19 Alexis Glascock Jim Wadhams Jesse Wadhams 602.916.5488 702.692.8039 775.788.2257 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Tyre Gray Carolyn Turner 702.791.8230 702.692.8007 [email protected] [email protected]
20