Dems likely fall short of taking control of state House, Senate

PHOENIX – The blue wave that bolstered Arizona votes for Joe Biden and Mark Kelly did not result in a trickle-down effect for Democrats closer to the bottom of the ballot.

Preliminary results show that Democrats fell short of their goal of taking control of one or both chambers of the Legislature. Even turnout supporting legalizing recreational use of marijuana and taking the state’s richest residents to help finance K-12 education, issues that could be considered popular among Democrats, wasn’t enough to convince the majority of voters in the state’s 30 legislative districts to shift away from their patterns of who they want to send to the Capitol to craft state laws.

The bright spot for the Democrats was the ouster of veteran state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee from the district that encompasses north central Phoenix and Paradise Valley. Democrat Christine Marsh, a former teacher of the year who lost narrowly to Brophy McGee two years ago, was running 5 points ahead of her this time.

Watch now: Here are the results in Southern Arizona races so far

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But the result in what had at one time been a dependable Republican district — it is home to Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Dan Quayle — may be no surprise. There has been a steady shift in political sentiments as shown by the fact that both state representatives from LD28 already are Democrats.

Absent some last-minute updates, that still leaves Republicans in control of the chamber, though their majority now is just 16-14. Other incumbent Republican senators appear to have outlasted their Democrat foes, including J.D. Mesnard of Chandler and Paul Boyer of Phoenix.

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And Republican Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff, who won the right to be the GOP contender by outlasting incumbent Sylvia Allen in the primary, won the Senate seat by defeating Democrat Felicia French.

Across the courtyard there currently appears to have been no net change in the 31-29 GOP edge in the House, though there are a few races where votes are not yet counted.

There were, however, some internal shifts.

Republican incumbent Anthony Kern of Glendale found himself running third in the race for the two House seats from his district. Democrat Judy Schwiebert was running first, with Republican Shawnna Bolick apparently hanging on to her seat.

But the political balance was retained when Democrat Gerae Peten was outpolled by Republican Joel John in the district that stretches from west Phoenix to Yuma.