Arizona House Democrats elected state Rep. Oscar De Los Santos as speaker Friday, making him the first openly LGBTQ+ lawmaker to hold the post. The Phoenix Democrat said voters’ concerns about affordability drove the party’s historic trifecta win, adding, “We will govern like adults.”
Senate Democrats elected state Sen. Priya Sundareshan of Tucson as Senate president, placing her in line to oversee a Democratic supermajority in that chamber, according to ABC15 Arizona. The House Democratic caucus also selected state Rep. Nancy Gutierrez as majority leader, Quantá Crews as speaker pro tempore, and Brian Garcia and Kevin Volk as majority whips, KJZZ reported.
Gov. Katie Hobbs’ decisive re-election victory gave Democrats control of the governor’s office, the House, and the Senate for the first time since 1966, KJZZ reported.
The leadership elections follow the Associated Press calling enough races by noon Friday to confirm Democrats hold at least 17 Senate seats and 31 House seats, with additional victories likely, according to KJZZ.
De Los Santos, a former teacher and Rhodes scholar representing a Phoenix district, said the Democratic message on affordability “resonated with the people of Arizona” while Republicans put forward an “extreme agenda,” according to KJZZ. He said his caucus will focus on affordability, health care, public education, and working families, and he declined to say whether Democrats would keep the majority-of-the-majority rule, stating they would “get to an answer on that,” ABC15 reported.
On education, De Los Santos said Democrats will invest in public schools and end waste, fraud, and abuse in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts voucher program, according to ABC15. Gutierrez said the ESA reform plan starts with the measure that failed to make the November ballot, moving “not quick and not without thought,” ABC15 reported. Hobbs has promised to return the $1 billion the voucher program costs to public schools, starting with the failed people’s initiative, which proposed restrictions on ESA spending and an income cap disqualifying families making more than $150,000 a year, according to KJZZ. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled backers did not gather enough valid signatures for the ballot, KJZZ reported.
De Los Santos pointed to support for no tax on tips and overtime and an additional deduction for seniors, paid for by “cutting tax giveaways to billion-dollar corporate data centers,” according to ABC15. He said Democrats are working on a plan to address data centers, though specifics were not provided. Tax hikes require a supermajority, which Democrats do not have in the House, so they do not appear to be on the table, ABC15 reported.
Sundareshan said Arizonans “rejected partisan extremism and chose a new direction,” according to ABC15. She said Democrats plan to pursue an affordability agenda, protect water, and invest in public education, KJZZ reported. She indicated Democrats will revisit Arizona’s flat tax, saying it “has led to an unfair tax burden that penalizes lower-income people,” according to KJZZ. Democratic bills that failed last year in the Republican-controlled Senate, including stopping price gouging during emergencies and preventing utilities from shifting data center costs to consumers, will be a starting point, KJZZ reported.
House Republicans elected outgoing Speaker Steve Montenegro as minority leader; state Rep. Michael Carbone will be assistant minority leader, and state Rep. Lupe Diaz will be minority whip, according to ABC15. Montenegro said Republicans understand voters’ decision but “our principles have not changed,” opposing tax increases and supporting school choice and parental rights, ABC15 reported. Rep. Justin Wilmeth defended Republican economic policies, citing the 2.5% flat tax and 4.9% corporate tax as attracting high-paying jobs, and called the election a referendum on President Trump, not a mandate for Democratic policies, KJZZ reported. Senate Republicans have not yet elected new leadership, according to ABC15.
The full House must vote to elect a speaker in January, but the Democratic Caucus vote assures De Los Santos will lead, KJZZ reported.
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