With Republicans holding razor-thin margins in both the Arizona House and Senate, control of the state Legislature hinges on the outcome of just a handful of races. Only a few districts in the state feature competitive races — and most of those are still undecided. Republicans hold a 31-to-29 majority in the House and a 16-to-14 majority in the Senate. Democrats could force a tie in either chamber by gaining one seat, and could take majority control by gaining two seats. Democrats haven’t controlled the House or the Senate since 1992. And the last time either chamber was tied for control was in 2002 — when Democrats advanced in the Senate. Whichever party has control of the Legislature gets to pick which bills get hearings and can advance towards becoming laws. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs recently set a record for vetoing Republican bills, and her own efforts have been stymied by Republican leaders over the past two years. Republican turnout outpaced Democrats, but Democratic candidates still remained in contention or leading in the competitive districts that will determine which party controls the legislature as of Wednesday morning. Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) said that shows her party has courted non-Democrats turned off by Republican candidates. “And it shows that our approach has been successful, especially from a state legislative perspective, our battleground district candidates are really focusing on those independent and Republican voters who are disgusted by the way the candidates from their party have skewed to the extremes.” But Sundareshan cautioned there are still many votes left to count. In three competitive areas — Legislative Districts 2, 4 and 13 — GOP candidates trailed early on Election Night but took slight leads as more votes were counted. That shift gave Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) confidence his party will retain control. “It just certainly feels like the batches are trending our way,” Petersen said. “The races are close, so that’s something to be optimistic about.” Get early results from the Associated Press for Arizona's legislative races.
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