Republicans had a strong showing in Arizona and across the country. Here you can read what impact this shift could have on you.
Elections 2024: See Arizona’s presidential results by county
As Arizona ballots are counted for the 2024 election, The Republic breaks them down by county but also shows how many remain to be counted.
The Republic
Arizona turned red.
The crucial swing state wasn’t that crucial after all – or at least not nearly as crucial as it was in the 2020 election.
Although the results are still tabulated, it appears that this is the case Donald Trump will win the state he narrowly lost four years ago.
And while Democrat Ruben Gallego is likely to win the U.S. Senate seat, Republicans had strong results further down the ballot, taking each victory. Seat of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the most jobs in Maricopa County.
What does this shift to the right mean for our nation and Arizona?
Our opinion team explains the likely impact.
Trump led a red wave nationwide
Donald Trump once again defied political seriousness winning the White House even after losing in 2020, he was impeached twice and criminally convicted.
It was probably the most remarkable comeback in American political history, as he became only the second American president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.
The red wave that Republicans had anticipated in 2022 but failed to materialize swept across America as Trump handily won the popular vote and the Electoral College.
Republicans regained the U.S. Senate and are on track to narrowly hold the U.S. House. That now puts the Republican Party firmly in control of the federal government and increases its dominance in state government, where the party controls 27 governor’s seats compared to Democrats’ 23.
Republicans are also in control 46% of state legislators According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, that’s Democrats’ 32%, with the rest under divided government.
– Phil Boas
Gallego is on its way to making history
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego would make history if he becomes president first Hispanic from Arizona to serve in the United States Senate.
That’s huge because Hispanics represent a third of the population of Arizona, an area that was once part of Mexico.
Gallego actually declared victory on election night, but that was a bit premature as the vote has shrunk since then.
Still, as of Friday he remained in the lead against Republican Kari Lake, one of Trump’s biggest fans.
A Gallego victory would mean Arizona would once again have two Democratic senators. US Senator Mark Kelly helped him to defeat Lake and replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat who became an independent.
His victory would be a flash of light in the midst of so much darkness.
– Elvia Diaz
Will the US House stop Trump’s agenda?
Now that Republicans have retaken the U.S. Senate, Democrats’ only hope to contain him and his agenda is to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
That prospect looks bleak. The Republicans had already gained 210 seats on Friday. Each party needs 218 for full control.
Arizona’s two competitive congressional districts remained undecided heading into the weekend.
But the Republican US representatives. David Schweikert And Juan Ciscomani were ahead of Democratic rivals Amish Shah and Kirsten Engel, respectively.
A trifecta – that is, control of the White House and both chambers of Congress – is dangerous because it would give Trump virtually unchecked freedom to do as he pleases.
For example, the former president is seeking to consolidate federal power, which could mean dismantling some federal agencies, creating new ones and cutting federal programs by “at least $2 trillion.” according to Elon Muskwho would lead this effort.
That’s just the start of an aggressive agenda that includes repealing the CHIPS Act, which funds microchip production in America, including the massive TSMC factory under construction in Feniks.
This could mean fewer jobs locally in several sectors, from construction to technology.
– Elvia Diaz
Expect gridlock in the Arizona House, Senate
Democrats had hoped for widespread effect change of power in the Arizona Legislature, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Not in the House of Representatives, where Republicans appear poised to maintain or even maintain their position strengthen their lead. And in the Senate, their best-case scenario now could be a 15-15 split.
That would require an agreement on who breaks the tie — and there could be many, considering how many votes have been split along party lines in recent years.
Granted, such a split could force the two warring sides to work together if they want to get anything done.
Or it could end in stalemate — which could also be the outcome if the House and Senate remain in Republican hands, which increasingly seems the likely outcome.
It is doubtful that a MAGA-led legislature will be in the mood for compromise, especially since the few moderates who occasionally broke ranks with their party were launched in the primaries.
So legislation could be introduced, but it would almost certainly continue to adhere to the wishes of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. veto pen.
– Joanna Allhands
The Arizona courts are still in good hands
Arizonans showed remarkable common sense with their ballots and voted to protect the third branch of government – the judiciary. And not just by a majority, but by an overwhelming majority.
The voters chose it retention of two Arizona Supreme Court justices who qualified for retention by approximately 20 percentage points. Democrats targeted Clint Bolick and Kathryn King for joining majority rule to uphold — even temporarily — an 1864 blanket ban on abortion.
Anyone with knowledge of the law would know this was so do the housework demanded the landmark 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the issue of legalized abortion to the states to decide.
Bolick and King determined that Arizona’s Civil War law was still valid, which is not the same as endorsing it.
Appropriations Judge Ann Scott Timmer, who was in the minority, made this point in her dissent. On Tuesday, voters joined Timmer defending the legal system and Arizona deserve selection that is a national model for selecting high-quality judges.
If voters had punished Bolick and King, our justice system would have turned into a political circus every election year — a sure turnoff for future judicial talent.
Public safety played a major role. Electoral reform did not do that
There were more than one dozens of statements on Arizona’s ballot, including a trio of initiatives that were on track for easy passage Friday, showing that public safety was a top priority across the state.
Proposition 311 will create a $250,000 death benefit for the surviving family of a first responder killed in the line of duty. It will be paid for with a new $20 fine for criminal convictions.
Proposition 313 will increase the penalty from a minimum of seven years to a mandatory life sentence for anyone convicted of child sex trafficking.
And Proposition 314 will amount to a crackdown on illegal immigration that could restructure the state budget in the near future or unleash an endless battle with the federal government.
The measure promises to allow state and local police to cross the border to arrest anyone who does not cross through a legal port of entry, but a similar law from Texas is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The outcome of that case will affect how Arizona’s new law plays out.
Proposition 314 also makes it a state crime for immigrants to be in the country illegally to apply for financial assistance programs for the poor.
And the measure creates a new penalty for selling fentanyl that leads to overdose death.
Beyond that, voters rejected proposals that could have reshaped state politics Proposition 140which would have created an open primary system, promising to make the state much more moderate and less extreme.
But Proposition 133 It also failed in its promise to enshrine Arizona’s current primary system in the state constitution. So maybe the open primary format will come up for discussion again soon.
–Greg Moore
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