One of the state’s most competitive political districts is Legislative District 2 in north Phoenix, which currently has split representation by two Republican lawmakers and one Democrat. This is a potential pickup area for Democrats hoping to flip control of the state Legislature.
In the state Senate, Democratic Rep. Judy Schwiebert (D-Phoenix) is competing against Republican Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix). Both candidates have served in the Legislature before.
Schwiebert has served in the House since 2021. Bolick was elected in 2018 and 2020 and was reappointed to the Senate later in 2023 to replace an outgoing lawmaker.
Bolick did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Schwiebert is a former teacher and the founder of a community theater program. She says her priority is public education, followed by cost of living, reproductive health care and addressing drug trafficking.
“Ninety percent of Arizona families are choosing public, district and charter schools, and we are funding them at 49th in the nation so that teachers have to dig into their own pockets to buy pencils and papers and school supplies, so I just think that’s wrong,” Schwiebert said.
Schwiebert said she hears regularly from independents and Republicans who support her.
“People are fed up with the extremism that is happening in the Republican Party, and they are ready for people like me and others in the Legislature who want to get down to business and work for the people of our state,” she said.
When President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump in 2020, Bolick signed on to a resolution to grant Arizona’s Electoral College votes to Trump. She is also well-known for sponsoring a bill that would have given the state Legislature the power to reject presidential election results.
In the most recent legislative session, Bolick was one of a handful of Republicans who voted to repeal Arizona’s near-total abortion ban.
In District 2’s House races, one Democrat and two Republicans are competing for the two seats available.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Justin Wilmeth says his No. 1 priority as a candidate and the head of the House Commerce committee is the economy.
“I feel like the economy, at least locally in the city and the state, is doing very well with interest from outside companies and even outside of the state and outside of the country wanting to come to Arizona, and I just want to be a good purveyor of that. … So, my big focus is making sure that the people of LD2 have a good district for their economy and for their homes and to live and thrive,” he said.
Wilmeth describes himself as a Reagan conservative and a supporter of the free market with a background as a staffer and campaign manager.
He acknowledges that what he’s most known for is making Pluto Arizona’s state planet, but he also highlighted his bill allowing people to cancel their gym memberships online and over the phone, which became a necessity during COVID-19.
Wilmeth said he’s shown he can work across the aisle.
“I've had 11 bills signed by Gov. [Katie] Hobbs in two years, so I feel like that's a pretty good measuring stick on being a rational, reasonable Republican that can work with both sides,” he said.
The other Republican in the race is Ari Bradshaw, who is running for the first time.
He says he goes by his personal beliefs more than party affiliation and describes himself as a “liberal Republican.” He said he supported the repeal of Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban.
“I wouldn't be getting involved if I were happy with the direction of either political party or the nation as a whole, and so I figured, why not try to be the change that I want to see?” Bradshaw said. “I'm a pretty big believer in individual liberties and making sure that the government in general stays out of both your pocketbook and your bedroom,” he said.
He has experience with loved ones suffering from substance abuse, so finding a comprehensive approach to helping people struggling with addiction is one of his top priorities, along with education, water and border security.
“Opioid addiction and those struggles which are faced by not just my family, but seemingly everyone who I've met in my community. Everyone has some story of either a family member or a friend who they grew up with. They went through something similar, and I found that it's not being addressed very well, or at least it's not being addressed with anything besides harsher penalties, which I don't think is the only — or necessarily correct — way to go about approaching everything,” Bradshaw said.
Up against Wilmeth and Bradshaw is Democrat Stephanie Simacek, who is running for the Legislature for the first time.
Simacek is a former teacher like Schwiebert who serves on a school board and — also like Schwiebert — she says funding public education is her number one priority
Schwiebert and Simacek are supporting one another.
Simacek says Schwiebert was the one who suggested that she run to take her place in the state House.
“I said I wasn't qualified to do so, and she asked me why, and I said because I'm not an attorney or, I don't have a degree in political science and strong background in government. And she said, ‘That's why you need to run. You're a mother. You're a teacher. You're a community member, and we need people down at the state Legislature who will represent those people in our communities,’” Simacek said.
Simacek said she believes her priorities differ from her opponents’ in that she is more focused on kitchen-table issues.
“My priorities are very focused on what Arizonans are concerned about every single day: Where their child is going to go to school. Are their needs being met? Is there food in their bellies? Do they live in a home that they can afford? And, I don't feel that my opponents are focused on everyday Arizonan concerns. I think they kind of change the subject and start talking about broader things that are more extremist-type issues,” Simacek said.
