Happy Holidays!

With the announcement of House Committee Chairs today, at least the leadership posts in both the House and Senate are in place while we still wait to see the committee assignments for both chambers.

Despite a massive changeover in members, over 50% of both chambers will consist of freshman, there has been no partisan shift. Prior to the election, the Senate was split 16-14 in favor of Republicans who also held a 31-29 advantage in the House. Those margins remain identical after the election. However, Arizona will experience a massive political shift with the election of Democrat Katie Hobbs as Governor bringing the state capitol into split partisan control for the first time in over a decade.

Despite no adjustments to the partisan make-up of the Legislature, there will be a tremendous change in leadership for both Republicans and Democrats. All four caucuses have conducted their leadership elections and have announced the following leadership teams:

Senate Majority:

President Warren Petersen

Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli

Majority Whip Sine Kerr

Senate Minority:

Democratic Leader Raquel Teran

Democratic Assistant Leader Mitzi Epstein

Democratic Caucus Chair Lela Alston

Democratic Whip Rosanna Gabaldon

House Majority:

Speaker of the House Ben Toma

Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci

Majority Whip Teresa Martinez

House Minority

Democratic Leader Andres Cano

Democratic Assistant Leader Lupe Contreras

Democratic Co-Whip Melody Hernandez

Democratic Co-Whip Marcelino Quinonez

While the committee assignments have yet to be determined, the following committees have been established and chairs appointed:

Senate:

Appropriations John Kavanagh

Commerce Steve Kaiser

Education Ken Bennett

Elections Wendy Rogers

Finance J.D. Mesnard

Government Jake Hoffman

Health & Human Services T.J. Shope

Judiciary Anthony Kern

Military Affairs, Public Safety & Border Security David Gowan

Natural Resources, Energy & Water Sine Kerr

Rules Warren Petersen

Transportation & Technology David Farnsworth

House:

Appropriations David Livingston

Appropriations Sub-Committee on Education Matt Gress

Appropriations Sub-Committee on Health & Welfare Selina Bliss

Commerce Justin Wilmeth

Education Beverly Pingerelli

Ethics Joseph Chalick

Government Tim Dunn

Health & Human Services Steve Montenegro

Judiciary Quang Nguyen

Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Lupe Diaz

Municipal Oversight & Elections Jacqueline Parker

Natural Resources, Energy & Water Gail Griffin

Military Affairs & Public Safety Kevin Payne

Regulatory Affairs Laurin Hendrix

Rules Travis Grantham

Transportation & Infrastructure David Cook

Ways & Means Neal Carter

The session will begin on January 9th.

Attached is a roster of the Greater Arizona legislators, the areas they represent and other information such as leadership posts or committee chairmanships: