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Democrats could secure a U.S. Senate seat for the first time since the mid-1990s. They could snag some statewide seats or split the Arizona Senate.
Or, the state could maintain the status quo: a Republican stronghold where “blue waves” are only speculation and never meet the shore.
Several races were expected to be nail-biters on Tuesday, meaning election results could be delayed, depending on how close the races were.
There were lingering questions about what key themes would emerge from Tuesday’s election: Will Democrats win any major races or possibly split the Arizona Senate? How will #RedForEd affect the state schools’ chief race? Will Arizona’s fate as a battleground state be cemented?
Here’s how the biggest races were shaping up.
U.S. Senate
When U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, announced he wouldn’t run for re-election after repeatedly clashing with President Donald Trump, it was clear there would be a costly battle for the now-open seat.
And not only was the battle between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally costly, it was ugly, with negative ads dinging Sinema over a pink tutu. Sinema repeatedly called McSally a liar, while McSally pointed to Sinema’s past as a Green Party activist.
Early results showed McSally and Sinema neck and neck, with the race far too close to call.
The nation kept a close eye on the race, with major money coming in to boost both sides. In recent weeks, McSally brought in big guns in the GOP, including Trump, his son and Vice President Mike Pence.
Sinema cast herself less as an ardent Democrat and more as a problem-solving centrist, which might have helped her court Republican and unaffiliated voters. McSally aligned herself with Trump and touted her military record.
Whoever ultimately wins, Arizona will have its first female senator in its 106-year history.
Governor
Gov. Doug Ducey defended his first term on the campaign trail against attacks from Democrat David Garcia, an Arizona State University professor running on an education platform during a year that saw a massive teacher walkout.
Early ballot counts showed Ducey with a comfortable lead over Garcia, and the Associated Press called the race for Ducey.
Garcia saw support from some national outfits, but wasn’t able to compete financially with Ducey’s massive GOP Rolodex.
Navajo Nation president
On the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez was leading Joe Shirley Jr. by a large margin, according to Navajo Times.
Nez served three terms on the Navajo Nation Council before serving as vice president. Shirley is the only president to serve two consecutive terms. He was in office from 2003 to 2011.
Congressional races
Races in Congressional Districts 1, 2, 8 and 9 were the ones to watch. In the other districts, incumbents were likely to hold their seats, fending off challengers from the other party.
First Congressional District: Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran, the incumbent, faced Republican Wendy Rogers, who made her fourth run for a seat in Congress. Early results show O’Halleran and Rogers in a close race.
Second Congressional District: Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick ran against Republican Lea Marquez Peterson for the seat McSally gave up in her run for Senate. In early tabulations, Kirkpatrick held a lead over Marquez Peterson, and the Associated Press called Kirkpatrick as the winner.
Third Congressional District: Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva faced Republican Nick Pierson. Pierson said Grijalva was “not a good example of a Mexican” in a debate. The Associated Press projected Grijalva as the winner.
Fourth Congressional District: Republican Rep. Paul Gosar faced Democrat David Brill and Green Party candidate Haryaksha Gregor Knauer. Gosar had a comfortable lead in early results, and the Associated Press projected him as the winner.
Fifth Congressional District: Republican Rep. Andy Biggs ran against Democrat Joan Greene. Biggs beat Greene, the Associated Press projected after early ballot counts.
Sixth Congressional District: Republican Rep. David Schweikert faced Democrat Anita Malik. The Associated Press projected Schweikert as the winner Tuesday.
Seventh Congressional District: Incumbent Democrat Ruben Gallego didn’t face a major party candidate.Gallego won the race, the Associated Press projected.
Eighth Congressional District: Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko faced Democrat Hiral Tipirneni in their second matchup this year. The women ran against each other in a special election in April, with Lesko capturing the traditionally red district. The Associated Press called the race for Lesko, who held a lead over Tipirneni in early tabulations.
Ninth Congressional District: Democrat Greg Stanton, the former mayor of Phoenix, ran against Republican Steve Ferrara, the former chief medical officer for the Navy. Early tabulations showed Stanton with a strong lead over Ferrara, and the Associated Press projected Stanton as the winner.
Statewide races
Highlights from the superintendent debate.
Alyssa Williams, azcentral
Several statewide races were competitive this year, which gave Democrats a chance to win a statewide office for the first time since 2008, when two Democrats won seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Secretary of state: Arizona doesn’t have a lieutenant governor, so the secretary of state is the No. 2 elected official, next in line to lead the state if a governor should leave early, which has happened four times since the 1970s.
Democrat Katie Hobbs, a state senator from Phoenix, and Republican Steve Gaynor, a businessman, faced off in one of the most-competitive statewide contests on Tuesday’s ballot.
Gaynor held a small lead over Hobbs in early returns.
RESULTS: Tight race for Arizona secretary of state
Attorney general: National analysts have said Republicans shouldn’t consider the Arizona attorney general’s race a given for the GOP.
Incumbent Attorney General Mark Brnovich was trying to hold his seat against Democrat January Contreras, a former prosecutor.
The Associated Press called the race for Brnovich, who had a lead over Contreras.
RESULTS: Brnovich vs. Contreras
Superintendent of public instruction: After Republican incumbent Superintendent Diane Douglas lost in the primary, the race became a battle between a political newcomer and a former California congressman.
Republican Frank Riggs, the former congressman, competed against Kathy Hoffman, a speech therapist.
Riggs and Hoffman were neck and neck, early results showed.
RESULTS: Hoffman, Riggs vie for Arizona’s highest education post
Treasurer: There’s no incumbent in the state treasurer’s race because former Treasurer Jeff DeWit joined the Trump administration as NASA’s chief financial officer. He was replaced by Eileen Klein, the former president of the Arizona Board of Regents, who is not running for the office.
Republican Kimberly Yee faced Democrat Mark Manoil in the race for state treasurer.
Yee had a large lead over Manoil, early-ballot counts showed, and the Associated Press projected Yee as the winner.
RESULTS: Kimberly Yee vs. Mark Manoil
Corporation Commission: Two Republicans and two Democrats fought for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, the utility rate-setting body that has seen round after round of controversy over the past few years.
The Republicans were Rodney Glassman and Justin Olson, and the Democrats were Sandra Kennedy and Kiana Sears.
Olson and Glassman were holding the top two spots in early-ballot counts.
RESULTS: Olson, Glassman for GOP; Kennedy, Sears for Dems
Mine inspector: Mine Inspector Joe Hart ran to keep the job he has held since 2006. Hart faced Democrat and political newcomer Bill Pierce. Early tabulations gave Hart a lead over Pierce, and the Associated Press called Hart as the winner.
RESULTS: Joe Hart vs. Bill Pierce in Arizona mine inspector race
Phoenix mayor
Phoenix voters may not get to decide on a new mayor until March, if the four-way contest to replace former Mayor Greg Stanton ends without one candidate winning 50 percent plus one of the vote Tuesday.
Former Democratic council members Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela, Republican Moses Sanchez and Libertarian Nicholas Sarwark ran for the chance to lead the nation’s fifth-largest city.
The mayor’s race appeared headed for a runoff election. Early results showed Gallego with the most votes, though shy of 50 percent plus one, with Valenzuela in second.
RESULTS: Gallego, Valenzuela, Sanchez or Sarwark?
Ballot measures
There are five propositions on Arizona ballots this election. This is what you need to know about how those props got on your ballot and what their passing means for residents.
William Flannigan, azcentral
Prop. 125: Arizona voters decided the fate of a ballot measure that could save taxpayers $275 million by making changes to the pensions of correctional officers and elected officials. The measure passed, the Associated Press projected as ballot returns showed it holding a lead.
Proposition 125 would amend the Arizona Constitution to make changes to the benefit increases paid to retirees in two state-run pension funds that are in serious financial trouble.
RESULTS: Arizona voters to decide fate of Prop. 125
Prop. 126: The state Realtors association launched Proposition 126 to prevent taxes on real-estate services, but it also would prohibit any new taxes on any services.
The measure was widely opposed, marking one of the few bipartisan agreements in the state this year.
Proponents spent more than $8 million on their effort, while opponents barely got organized by the time ballots were mailed out.
Projections from the Associated Press said “yes” votes on Prop. 126 won out, meaning the measure will become law.
RESULTS: Prop. 126 would prevent service taxes, is widely opposed
Prop. 127: The proposition, funded by California billionaire-activist Tom Steyer, would require Arizona electric companies to get half of their energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2030.
Steyer’s political group NextGen America spent heavily to get the measure on the ballot and win over voters, but his spending was exceeded by the parent company of Arizona Public Service Co. and other opponents of the measure.
It easily became the most expensive ballot measure in state history.
The Associated Press projected the measure would fail, as early results showed “no” votes with a likely insurmountable lead.
RESULTS: Ballot measure Proposition 127 on renewables
Prop. 305: The proposition asked voters to either approve or overturn a massive expansion of Arizona’s school-voucher program that would open the program up to any public-school student.
The outcome of the vote on Proposition 305 will have big implications for the school- choice movement in Arizona and nationally, as the state has long been ground zero for the conservative issue and Republican leaders have crowned the Empowerment Scholarship Account expansion as a national example.
Votes against the measure held a large lead in early results, and the Associated Press called the race for the “no” campaign. That means the expansion of ESAs will not be in place.
RESULTS: Arizona voters decide on Prop. 305
Prop. 306: Proposition 306 asked voters to curtail the powers of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, which runs a public-financing system for candidates and enforces financial-reporting rules for campaigns and groups that spend money in elections.“Yes” votes on the measure held a lead, with the Associated Press projecting it would pass.
Prop. 420: At the city level, early results showed Scottsdale residents likely approved a measure to stop commercial development in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a 30,000-acre desert in the city.
If early vote counts hold, the “yes” vote on Prop. 420 will require any future development in the preserve other than trails and planned trailheads to go to voters. It will also limit preserve funds to purchasing land and preserving trails unless authorized by voters.
RESULTS: Arizona voters deciding Prop. 306
Legislative races
A handful of Arizona Senate races offered Democrats hope of splitting party control of the statehouse.
Now, Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature and control the Governor’s Office, meaning the budget is crafted by one party and major legislative proposals often don’t include input from the minority party.
In the Senate, Republicans hold 17 seats to Democrats’ 13. Two wins from Democrats of Republican-held seats, while maintaining the 13 they currently have, would split control of the chamber, giving Democrats a negotiating seat.
If they win three, Democrats would control the Senate, though the House would likely remain Republican-controlled.
The last split Senate was in 2001-02.
RESULTS: Arizona Legislature: Can Dems win a majority?
There are seven key races to monitor for a potential split or Democratic-controlled Senate: Legislative Districts 6, 8, 17, 18, 20, 21 and 28.
Early results show races in Legislative Districts 6 and 28 neck and neck.
The Associated Press projected winners in the Senate races for Legislative Districts 8, 17, 20 and 21: Republican Reps. Frank Pratt of Casa Grande, J.D. Mesnard of Chandler, Paul Boyer of Phoenix and Rick Gray of Sun City all held leads.
In Legislative District 18, incumbent Democratic Rep. Sean Bowie of Phoenix held off his Republican challenger.
Democrats’ odds were less favorable in the state House of Representatives, where the GOP holds a 35-25 majority.
But early results showed a few seats could be changing party hands.
According to early tabulations, four Republican incumbents in the House were trailing or just narrowly leading their Democratic challengers on Tuesday night: Reps. Bob Thorpe of Flagstaff, Todd Clodfelter of Tucson, Jill Norgaard of Phoenix and Maria Syms of Paradise Valley.
Court-retention elections
Arizona’s two Supreme Court justices on the ballot retained their seats, despite discontent with the court’s ruling that knocked an education-funding measure off the ballot.
Both Justices John Pelander and Clint Bolick easily kept their seats on the bench, commanding about 75 percent support, returns showed.
All of the justices up for retention on the two state Court of Appeals statewide and in Maricopa County kept their seats.
Republic reporters Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Ronald J. Hansen, Maria Polletta, Ryan Randazzo, Dustin Gardiner, Russ Wiles, Lily Altavena, Jessica Boehm, Lorraine Longhi and Mary Jo Pitzl contributed to this article. The Farmington Times also contributed.
Reach reporter Rachel Leingang by email or by phone at 602-444-8157, or find her on Twitter, @rachelleingang.
Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/06/arizona-midterm-elections-summary-overview-senate-governor-congress/1808930002/
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