A new GOP state representative was sworn in Wednesday morning, just as lawmakers at Arizona’s Capitol are set to begin voting on a Republican spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
Navajo County supervisors chose Sylvia Allen to replace former Rep. David Marshall, who resigned from the Legislature last month to become the Navajo County recorder.
Allen is no stranger at the Capitol. For years she served as chair of the Arizona Senate’s Education Committee, and Allen was known for staking out controversial positions and pushing conspiracy theories.
At the Capitol on Wednesday morning, Allen said she takes pride in again representing a sprawling legislative district that covers mostly rural communities north and east of Phoenix.
“I felt a joy when I thought about offering my name, because I love my district, I love rural Arizona. It’s in my DNA,” she said.
Allen will serve out the remainder of Marshall’s legislative term, which ends in January.
Later Wednesday, lawmakers are expected to begin votes on the House and Senate floor on a partisan spending plan — negotiated among the Republican caucuses, without input from legislative Democrats and Gov. Katie Hobbs, who walked away from negotiations with GOP leaders last month.
The GOP budget spends roughly $800 million less than the budget Hobbs proposed in January.
-
Find everything you need to know about elections in Arizona and Maricopa County from KJZZ's politics team. -
Two third-party candidates who are under an investigation by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission that could force them to pay back millions in public funding have filed a lawsuit challenging the commission’s power to claw back the money. -
More than 900 thousand voters registered in Maricopa County have no party affiliation, a larger group than either Democrats or Republicans. -
Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani and Democrat Joanna Mendoza sparred over the direction of the country under the second Trump administration as they made their pitch to voters in Arizona’s Congressional District 6, one of just a few competitive districts that could determine which party controls Congress next year. -
Democrat hopefuls Jonathon Hill and Clara Pratte accused Republican incumbent Kevin Thompson for out-of-control data center development and rising utility bills.
