How did Democrats take control of Arizona and how will they use their newfound power?

Arizona Democrats came out of Tuesday’s election with a “trifecta” – control of the governorship and both chambers of the Legislature – for the first time since 1966.

What will Gov. Katie Hobbs, who was known as the “veto queen” while working with a Republican Legislature the past four years, and her party do with their newfound power?

Charlene Fernandez, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, said she doesn’t think the new majority will “go crazy.”

“I think they’re very disciplined. I think they know what the public wants, and they’re going to continue to listen to the public,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, Democrats led 20 of the 30 state Senate races and 37 of the 60 House contests.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KTAR News 92.3 (@ktarnews)

“They could be in the superminority, the Republicans, which, by the way, we were there too,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said she was optimistic heading into the election, but the results exceeded her expectations.

“We knew we had great candidates,” she said. “We’ve been crisscrossing the state, and then we had the help of our two senators, U.S. senators that were not even on the ballot. And they’d meet us at these places, and it generated a lot of energy, and you could feel it.”

How did Democrats take control of Arizona Legislature?

Fernandez said that Democratic candidates connected with voters at town halls and listened to their concerns.

While a nationwide blue wave was largely attributed as a rebuke to President Donald Trump, Fernandez said it wasn’t the primary factor in Arizona.

“Trump was a noise on the side, but people wanted to hear what we are going to do about affordability, what their lives are like right now, what it’s like to be in education today,” she said.

Fernandez said Democrats made sure to have at least one candidate on the ballot for every legislative district, strategizing with the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on how to deploy them.

“Why would you come out and vote if there’s not a Democrat to vote for? So that was my motivation. So now we’ve got our candidates, and I said they got to be on the road,” she said.

Subscribe to the KTAR Political Brief newsletter to get our top political stories, exclusive guest interviews and more to your email inbox.

Related

Democrat Nick Mansour wins Arizona treasurer race over Republican Elijah NortonCrystalyne Curley claims victory in Navajo presidential election, poised to make history as first female presidentKarrin Taylor Robson says Arizona Republicans paid the price for overlooking moderate votersJoAnna Mendoza defeats GOP incumbent Juan Ciscomani in Arizona’s 6th Congressional DistrictDemocrat Teresa Leyba Ruiz declares victory over Republican Kimberly Yee in Arizona superintendent of public instruction raceArizona congressional district election results: Democrats gain at least 2 seats in Grand Canyon State