The2024 Arizona Senate election was held on November 5, 2024. Voters elected members of theArizona Senate in all 30 of the state'slegislative districts to serve a two-year term. Primary elections were held on July 30, 2024.[1]
Prior to the elections, theRepublican Party held a narrow majority over theDemocratic Party, controlling 16 seats to their 14 seats.
In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump each won 15 of Arizona's 30 legislative districts. Senate District 13, centered around the city of Chandler, which Biden won by 3% in 2020, was the only district Biden won in 2020 which was currently held by a Republican going into the 2024 Arizona Senate election.
Arizona, located along the United States border with Mexico, has a unique political history. Upon its admission to the Union in1912, the state was dominated by Democrats who had migrated there from the South, and aside from the landslide victories of RepublicansWarren G. Harding,Calvin Coolidge, andHerbert Hoover, the state voted for Democrats until1952, whenDwight Eisenhower carried it, and began a lengthy streak of Republican victories interrupted only byBill Clinton's narrow victory in1996. Since then, Arizona was considered aRepublican stronghold, but has become a criticalswing state and is seen as a purple state. Republican presidential candidateDonald Trump won Arizona by 3.5% in2016,[2] while Democratic presidential candidateJoe Biden prevailed by 0.3% in2020.[3]
TheArizona Democratic Party has not won outright control of either state legislative chamber since the 1990s. The last time the party won control of both chambers was in the 1960s.[4] Since then, the state's trend towards Democrats and a consolidated effort on flipping control of the legislature has made this election seen as a tossup with both parties having an equal chance to win control of one or both chambers.
This election is expected to be one of the most competitive state legislative races in the 2024 election cycle. Most ratings suggest the race to be a toss-up or having Democrats as the slight favorite to win the chamber. Additionally, the state Democratic Party's fundraising advantage is also expected to play a major role in which party wins control of the chamber.[4] If Democrats won both chambers, it would have been the first time that Democrats had a trifecta in the state since 1966.[5]
Incumbent SenatorKen Bennett faced a strong primary challenge after voting multiple times against conservative bills and stymieing Republican legislation.[19][20][21] The first challenger was Steve Zipperman, a previous primary opponent from2022, and the second wasMark Finchem, Republican nominee forSecretary of Statetwo years prior. Despite the strong possibility of splitting the vote, both Finchem and Zipperman stayed in the race, with Finchem ultimately prevailing by 15.07% over Bennett.[22] This defeat represented the worst primary performance of any incumbent legislator this cycle in either chamber from either party.
State representativeMelody Hernandez was the only candidate to file for the Democratic primary, but withdrew after her nominating petitions were challenged for having an insufficient number of valid signatures.[24] She was replaced by formerTempe City CouncilmemberLauren Kuby on the ballot, who was selected by local precinct committee members in a 39-28 vote over fellow state representativeDeborah Nardozzi.[25][26]
Results by gains and holds
Results by winning party vote share
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Results by county
Results by precinct
Results by county
Results by precinct
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