Of the various interest groups involved in the 2022 primary election, few were as effective as US Term Limits, through their Arizona PAC, Term Limits Action Arizona. TLAA targeted several incumbent lawmakers for breaking their promises to support term limits on members of Congress, including Republican State Representatives Judy Burges and John Fillmore, both of whom lost to candidates who supported Congressional Term Limits.
The group was also active on the ground, which is considered unusual for most outside groups that usually prefer to simply spend on advertisements, knocking doors to try and beat lawmakers opposed to them. Door to door efforts were successful against Tyler Pace but unsuccessful against Wendy Rogers, whose massive financial advantage over fellow State Senator Kelly Townsend was too much to overcome.
According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s campaign finance reporting website, Term Limits helped re-elect lawmakers like David Cook, Frank Carroll, Beverly Pingerelli, David Livingston, Travis Grantham, defeat incumbents like John Fillmore, Tyler Pace, Joel John and Joanne Osborne, and elect newcomers like Janae Shamp, Austin Smith, Michael Carbone, Laurin Hendrix, Steve Montenegro, and David Marshall.
Term Limits Action Arizona was also active on the Democratic side of the aisle, spending money to help incumbents Jesus Lugo and Alma Hernandez, although their preferred candidate lost the LD18 Senate race when Priya Sundareshan defeated Abraham Morgan.
Term Limits has passed the Arizona House several times in recent years, only to be denied a vote in the State Senate by GOP leadership. New leadership in the State Senate may fix that as all three candidates for Senate President have supported Congressional Term Limits resolutions in the past.