Arizona 2012 Election Results

Arizona held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 90 legislative seats across 60 districts and the office of Corporation Commissioner. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept the legislature and the governorship but lost their two-thirds majorities in both chambers: the Senate went from 21-9 to 17-13, and the House to 36-24.
• Democrats unseated two Republican senators on the new maps:
  • Rep. Ed Ableser (D) beat Sen. Jerry Lewis (R) of Mesa by about 14 points in Senate District 26. Lewis had unseated Russell Pearce the year before.
  • David Bradley (D) beat Sen. Frank Antenori (R) by about 9 points in Senate District 10.
  Sen. Andy Biggs (R) then won his bid for Senate president.
• Republicans swept all three Corporation Commission seats on the ballot. Bob Stump (R) won a second term. Bob Burns (R) and Susan Bitter Smith (R) ousted Democratic commissioners Paul Newman (D) and Sandra Kennedy (D), who had defended or sought to raise the state's renewable-energy standard. Bitter Smith, the third-place winner, finished about 67,000 votes ahead of Newman.
• Of the 5 legislative incumbents who lost, two were House members in two-seat districts:
  • In House District 10, Rep. Bruce Wheeler (D) and Stefanje Mach (D) took both seats; Mach finished about 3,100 votes ahead of Rep. Ted Vogt (R).
  • In House District 28, three sitting members ran for two seats: Reps. Kate Brophy McGee (R) and Eric Meyer (D) held on, and Meyer finished about 2,000 votes ahead of Rep. Amanda Reeve (R).
  Elsewhere, 2 races finished inside two points, and 10 legislative races had only one candidate on the ballot.
• Voters passed 4 of 9 measures, including Proposition 117, a 5% annual cap on increases in taxable property values. By nearly two to one, they rejected Proposition 204, which would have made a temporary one-cent sales tax for schools, transportation, and human services permanent. They also rejected a top-two primary (Proposition 121) and a claim of state sovereignty over public lands (Proposition 120).

Legislature

• House (60 seats): 20 D, 40 R before the election, 24 D, 36 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (30 seats): 9 D, 21 R before the election, 13 D, 17 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures