Arizona’s ‘new chapter’: Katie Hobbs celebrates a Democratic trifecta in Arizona

Flanked by signs reading “trifecta together” and “the people’s majority,” Gov. Katie Hobbs vowed to deliver results for Arizonans now that voters have awarded her party control of state government. 

During a Tuesday morning news conference, Hobbs celebrated Democrat’s midterm wins. The party flipped two congressional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, retained the state’s top three leadership positions, and snagged a majority in both state legislative chambers for the first time in six decades. 

“For 60 years, Republicans ran the Arizona legislature,” Hobbs said. “For 60 years, the same people wrote the budgets, set the priorities and decided whose voices counted at the Capitol. Not anymore.”

Throughout her first term, Hobbs oversaw a divided government, and her policy goals and those of her party were frequently foiled by Republicans. And Hobbs quickly set a veto record rejecting partisan bills that she ideologically opposed, including new restrictions on abortion care and proposals that sought to embroil the state in immigration enforcement. 

But that’s set to change as Democrats look forward to making their legislative priorities a reality next year.  

“For four years, too much of our energy went into stopping bad bills,” Hobbs said. “Now, we get to pass good ones.”

The Democrat lambasted the Trump administration for straining the budgets of everyday Arizonans and endangering the state’s water supply with a federal plan that will see Arizona shoulder the brunt of the cuts to its share of the Colorado River, and promised that her party would work to remedy those blunders. She said that her priorities going into the next legislative session would be addressing the rising cost of living, securing Arizona’s water future and investing in public education. 

Hobbs added that she is willing to work across the aisle, but warned Republicans against parroting the Trump administration, saying that the election is proof that voters want a different approach. 

“To anyone who would rather obstruct and chase Washington’s agenda over Arizonans: Look at the results of this election,” she said. “Arizonans sent a clear message. They want results, not games.” 

Democratic legislative leaders echoed Hobbs’ call for change and emphasized their role as one focused on fulfilling the mandate issued by voters. 

Senate President-elect Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said that voters expect Democrats to make good on their campaign promises, which largely focused on the affordability crisis. 

“Arizona, you opened the door to a new chapter,” she said. “Our job now is to make sure that you feel the difference at your kitchen table, in your kids’ classroom and in your community.” 

House Speaker-elect Oscar De Los Santos similarly emphasized a legislative focus on water solutions, public education funding and lowering costs for working families. The Laveen Democrat vowed to respond to the demands of voters. 

“We have the mandate and we have the moral obligation to deliver,” he said. “Arizona, our promise to you is that we will make the most of it.” 

Among the crowd of cheering supporters were reproductive rights activists and members of the state’s largest teachers union. The two groups have formed key parts of the Democratic Party’s electoral efforts in recent years, mobilizing against Republicans who backed a private school voucher scheme that has siphoned state funds away from public schools and pushed to make abortion care more difficult to access even after voters made it a right in 2024. 

Winning a trifecta means that Democratic proposals to tear down the anti-abortion laws that remain, expand protections for reproductive healthcare and restrain the $1 billion universal school voucher system that were nonstarters under a GOP-majority can now become state law.