Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs had hoped fellow Democrats would make enough gains during this month’s election to flip one or both chambers of a state Legislature that Republicans narrowly controlled, easing the path for her policy agenda ahead of a 2026 reelection campaign. Instead, the opposite happened. Rather than lose their legislative majorities in the state, Republicans expanded them. And even some moderate Republicans who were willing to work with Hobbs on some issues lost their seats — not to Democrats in the general election but to hard-line conservatives in the GOP primary. Republicans are signaling there could be more resistance this time to Democratic plans on reproductive rights, voting access and the state water shortage.
