2026 Election: Democrats lead Arizona legislative races, unofficial numbers show
PHOENIX - Unofficial numbers released by Arizona election officials show Democratic candidates ahead in a majority of the 90 state house and state senate races.
The backstory:
Per the Arizona State Constitution, members of the state legislature serve two-year terms, and the state legislature itself consists 30 legislative districts.
In each of the legislative districts, voters select one senator and two representatives. This means there were 90 seats up for grabs in the election.
Arizona Capitol
By the numbers:
According to the latest unofficial election numbers, Democratic state senate candidates are ahead in 20 of the 30 races, while Democratic state house candidates are ahead in 38 of the 60 races.
Why you should care:
Entering the 2026 election, Republicans were the majority in the state legislature. According to figures from the National Conference of State Legislatures, Republicans held 33 of the 60 state house seats, and 17 of the 30 state senate seats.
Should the unofficial election numbers hold, the Republicans would become the minority party in the Arizona State Legislature for the first time in decades.
Dig deeper:
According to figures provided by the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, Republicans have held the majority in the State House since at least 1972, the earliest data available on the Secretary of State's website.
In the 1972 election, Republicans won 33 of the 60 state house seats.
As for the State Senate, Republicans flipped that chamber to their control in the 1978 election, and held onto majority status until 1990, only to regain it two years later in 1992. The Republicans tied with Democrats in the State Senate following the 2000 election, and regained its majority again two years later. The GOP has held the state senate majority since then.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office; the Arizona State Constitution; and the National Conference of State Legislatures.