Influx of new lawmakers could be headed to AZ Legislature

A dozen first time lawmakers could be headed to the Arizona Capitol next year.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 12 Republican and Democratic candidates with no prior legislative experience were leading in legislative districts that either lean heavily Republican or Democratic, or would face no challenger from their opposing party in November.

That means it’s likely they’ll win their seats in the House and Senate this fall.

Lauren Kuby is one of those new faces expected at the Capitol in 2025. She won the Democratic Arizona Senate primary in Legislative District 8 and will now face Republican Roxana Holzapfel in the general election.

But Democrats have represented that area in the Senate for over a decade —
Democrats hold a 10% voter registration advantage over Republicans.

Sen. Juan Mendez (D-Tempe), the district’s current senator, defeated Holzapfel by 25% in 2022.

Kuby, a former Tempe councilwoman, said she’s already preparing for her work as a legislator by talking with current lawmakers and attending a National Caucus of Environmental Legislators conference.

“So I'm learning a lot about best practices of other States and hoping to combine that knowledge with the knowledge that I have from being a senior global future scientist at ASU … and trying to get those laws passed in Arizona,” Kuby said.

She said she is also going door to door in LD8, which includes parts of Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix and the Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, to find out more about resident priorities in the district.

“That's my superpower — knocking doors throughout all those communities and learning about the needs and wants of my district,” Kuby said.

Kuby could join 11 other candidates — seven Republicans and four Democrats — who have no legislative experience and are currently leading in non-competitive general election districts.

That includes Republican Hildy Angius, who, like Kuby, has local government experience. Angius, a member of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors, will face Democrat J’aime MorgAine in Legislative District 30, where Republicans hold a 40% voter registration advantage.

The other potential first time legislators are all running for seats in the Arizona House of Representatives.

• Democrat Aaron Marquez in LD5
• Democrats Janeen Connolly and Brian Garcia in LD8
• Republican Ralph Heap in LD10
• Republican Khyl Powell in LD14
• Republican Michael Way in LD15
• Democrat Anna Abeytia in LD24
• Republican Nick Kupper in LD25
• Republican James Taylor in LD29
• Republican Lisa Fink in LD27