Historical Record Shows What Arizona Legislature Might Do Under Democrat Control

The last time that Democrats held a majority in the Arizona legislature was in 1964 in the House and 1992 in the Senate. It has been a long 34 years since Democrats had a majority in either chamber.

In every cycle during those 34 years, the Democrats have introduced a slew of bills aimed at satisfying their socialist base. They have failed because there are more right-of-center Republican districts than left-of-center Democrat districts. Consequently, the socialist bills introduced by Democrats got nowhere. But the Republican advantage has been razor-thin lately, which has made every election for members of the legislature a major nail biter.

In 2024, Republicans experienced some significant gains which were fueled, at least partially, by a bit of a red wave resulting from Trump’s first term successes and Biden/Harris dismal performance.

In 2026, Republicans should be concerned because there appears to be a blue wave developing in Arizona fed by a perfect-storm conveyance of three factors.

1. Trump’s and Republican’s unfavorable status

A recent Public Opinion Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights shows Trump’s favorability in Arizona at an all-time low. It is very common for the party leader’s favorability to trickle down and affect public opinion throughout. This is illustrated by the following numbers, also taken from the same public opinion poll:

	Total Favorable	Total Unfavorable	Net Favorability
Trump	40%	54%	-14%
Biggs	37%	37%	0%
Hobbs	52%	39%	13%
AZ Rep. Party	41%	47%	-6%
AZ Dem. Party	45%	44%	1%

A huge problem for Republicans is that Hobbs and other Democrats have been bombarding voters with radio and television ads hammering Republicans. Some of the claims made in those ads are quite misleading, but they have not been properly addressed by Republicans. This could account, at least in part, for the poor favorability performance of Republicans.

2. Biggs’ short coattails

Biggs’ net favorability is well below that of Hobbs’. Even if Mr. Biggs were to win the governorship, it is not likely that it would help many Republican legislative candidates.

3. The ESA issue

A huge motivator for Democrats to show up at the polls is their visceral hatred of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.

Democrat legislators have been staunch opponents of ESA’s ever since they were proposed in 2011. In 2026 alone, Democrat legislators introduced 17 bills aimed at limiting, reducing, regulating, and generally discouraging participation in, the ESA program.

Everyone of their efforts to limit or repeal ESAs has failed. Their only option left is to flip the AZ legislature to a Democrat majority. Under this scenario, if Biggs fails to unseat Hobbs, all 17 anti-ESA bills introduced in 2026 will be law in September, 2027.

More information on this ESA issue may be found HERE.

Republican voter mindset in 2026

It is common for voters to vote for candidates whom they like and/or candidates who will vote for and support bills that are in sync with the wishes of the voters. This is not necessarily a good strategy in 2026 Arizona, given the current political climate.

A better strategy would be for Republicans to think in terms of the whole state picture. In other words, they should consider what effect their vote will have in the overall composition of the legislature. The best Republican legislator will be powerless if Democrats are in the majority. Not only would Democrats outvote Republicans, but they would also control the agenda at both the committee and state levels.

But, how bad can it be?

Good or bad is always a matter of opinion. The following list of 26 bills is a sample of the measures that will become law in 2027 if the Democrats control both the legislature and the governorship. Republicans, Independents, and even some non-socialist Democrats should pay attention to these bills, decide whether they are comfortable with the agenda they represent, and act accordingly.

The following material may be fact-checked by clicking on the bill number, which will enable access to all the official information contained in the Arizona legislature’s website.

BILL #	SHORT TITLE	BILL SPONSOR – COMMENTS
HB2036	voter registration; same day	Travers – A person may register and vote at the same time. Is enabled to vote on all elections, federal, state, legislative, and local. Proof of citizenship is not required. At best, this slows down the election process. At worse, it enables fraudulent registration.
HB2037	automatic voter registration	Travers – Anyone who applies for a drivers’ license, new or renewal is automatically registered. If the person was not eligible, there is no punishment. This makes it very easy to commit voter fraud.
HB2464	repeal; right to work; liability	Sandoval – This statute would enable unions to force union membership as a condition of employment. Enactment would require an amendment to the state constitution, via HCR2022, which has also been introduced.
HB2465	citizenship status; licensure; documentation	Sandoval – An agency may not require an individual who is applying for a business or professional license to provide documentation of citizenship or alien lawful status.
HB2511	early ballot collection; limitations; repeal	Stahl Hamilton – This bill would remove from ARS 1-513 the following language: “A person may only handle or return their own ballot or the ballot of family members, household members or persons for whom they are a caregiver. It is unlawful under section 16-1005 to handle or return the ballot of any other person.” Removing this restriction would allow anyone to engage in ballot stuffing with impunity.
HB2632	landlords; tenant’s marijuana use	Austin – This bill reads: “A landlord may not terminate a tenant’s rental agreement because the tenant uses marijuana.” Recreational marijuana use is legal in Arizona, but so is tobacco use. Landlords should be able to regulate the use of chemical substances within their premises. The prohibition established by this bill would set a very dangerous precedent.
HB2812	in-state student status; nonimmigrant aliens	Marquez – Makes aliens who are not lawfully present here eligible for in-state, discounted tuition rates. This would give illegal aliens benefits that are not available to U. S. citizens from other states.
HB2948	pricing; covered goods; requirements	Simacek – They named this bill, “Consumer Grocery Pricing Fairness Act”. It would attempt to manipulate grocery prices in a manner like that done by communist regimes. It would eliminate price competition among grocery providers.
HCR2022	right to work; repeal	Sandoval – This is a companion bill to HB2464 It would place the right to work on the ballot.
HCR2024	constitutional right to vote	Stahl Hamilton – Removes the requirement that people must be U. S. citizens to be allowed to vote in Arizona elections. Grants a constitutional right to vote to aliens, even if they are not lawfully present in Arizona.
SB1300	interstate agreement; national popular vote.	Gabaldon – Our nation’s founders were very concerned with the tyranny of the majority. They created a federal system whereby small states like Arizona were afforded a modicum of protection against dominance by large states like California. If enough states adopt this scheme, that protection would be lost.
SB1322	price regulation; abnormal market disruptions	Ortiz – Government-imposed price controls have failed every time they have been tried. A prime example was President Nixon’s price and wage controls of the 1970’s. Communist regimes love price controls even though they always fail. They tend to create more market disruptions than the original disrupting event.
SB1342	immigration; government agencies; prohibited acts	Ortiz – This is a 10-page, 4,255-word document that would establish Arizona as a 100% sanctuary state regarding illegal immigration. It would prohibit state agencies from enforcing its own laws regarding lawful presence, and it would prohibit all agencies from all forms of cooperation with federal agencies as they attempt to enforce immigration laws.
SB1359	firearms; destruction by state	Kuby – It removes from ARS 13-3108 the following language: “This state, any agency or political subdivision of this state and any law enforcement agency in this state shall not facilitate the destruction of a firearm or purchase or otherwise acquire a firearm for the purpose of destroying the firearm except as authorized by section 13-3105 or 17-240.” This bill encourages government entities to forego revenue from the sale of firearms, and prevents less affluent individuals from obtaining low-cost protection.
SB1374	licenses; tax number; consular cards	Miranda – Removes the requirement that individuals must provide proof of lawful presence to obtain drivers’ licenses.
SB1383	greenhouse gas programs; repeal; prohibition.	Sundareshan – Repeals ARS 49-191, which reads in part: “A. Notwithstanding any other law, a state agency established under this title or title 41 shall not adopt or enforce a state or regional program to regulate the emission of greenhouse gas for the purposes of addressing changes in atmospheric temperature without express legislative authorization.” Note that ARS 49-191 does not prohibit agencies from issuing greenhouse gas regulations. It simply requires that those regulations must have the approval of the legislature.
SB1459	public employees; collective bargaining	Kuby – The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy has expressed the problem with public employees collective bargaining very well in their March 31, 2011 article: “Private-sector unions fight with management over an equitable distribution of profits. Government unions negotiate with friendly politicians over taxpayer’s money putting the public interest at odds with union interests, just as we have seen in states such as California and Wisconsin, exploding the cost of government until we are at the breaking point today. California’s public sector pension costs soared 2000 percent in the last decade thanks to unions.”
SB1612	biological sex; team designations; repeal	Alston – It is hard to understand why Democrats are so hell-bent on having biological males crash biological females’ sports. We already have all three options: male only, female only, and coed.
SB1660	attorney general; policies; immigration.	Miranda – This is a backup measure in case the provisions of SB1342, the AZ sanctuary establishment bill, is not enacted. It provides sanctuary from immigration law enforcement in 8 specific types of locations.
SB1695	expenditure limitation; school districts; repeal	Diaz – The School Aggregate Expenditure Limit was created in 1980 and expanded in 2002 by AZ voters. This was done in response to out-of-control spending by district schools. The limit imposed is very liberal because it increases yearly, according to inflation and student enrollment, plus other allowances. Repealing this measure would put AZ back in a situation where school spending is again out of control. Education is the number one item in the AZ budget, accounting for over half of all expenditures.
SB1708	property use; immigration enforcement; prohibition	Miranda – This is another way to make enforcement of immigration laws difficult or impossible. No entity, federal or otherwise, may use property owned or controlled by the state, counties, cities, or municipalities without taking action that would alert the perpetrators about impending action.
SB1721	prevailing wage contracts; agreements	Bravo – This bill would repeal ARS 34-321. This is the statute that prevents AZ government entities from being forced to pay inflated wages for their projects, as happens in states like California.
SB1800	income tax; additional rate; schools	Epstein – This is yet another tax increase scheme by Democrats. This one is for the children’s schools. We already spend well over 50% of taxpayer money on education. But it is not enough. It is never enough.
SCR1017	environment; constitutional amendment	Kuby – This would grant an inanimate object (the environment) certain inalienable rights, as we do with individuals. This could be regarded as a laughing matter if it were not for the potential disruption it may cause. It would encourage environmental wackos to bring legal actions against the state for violating environmental rights.
SCR1019	ratification; equal rights amendment	Kuby – The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was ratified by 38 states, meeting the constitutional requirement for amendments. However, its official recognition as part of the Constitution remains disputed due to legal challenges and the expiration of the ratification deadline. The only reason for AZ to ratify it is to assist Democrats in their quest to feed insatiable appetite for creating confrontations and law suits, such as in men vs. women.
SCR1046	public schools; English learners; requirements	Diaz – This bill will repeal AZ Revised Statute, Sections 15-752, 15-753, 15-754, and 15-755. This action will dismantle the English Learners’ program in AZ public schools, which aims to prepare English-deficient students to join standard classes, taught in English, as soon as possible. It will replace the current program with a dual-language scheme that tends to prevent students from becoming totally fluent in English.