Outgoing Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) will return to the chamber next session as chief of staff for the Republican minority caucus, incoming Minority Leader John Kavanagh confirmed Tuesday.
Kavanagh (R-LD3) told the Yellow Sheet Report that Petersen’s selection follows the planned departures of current Chief of Staff Josh Kredit and Deputy Chief of Staff Fletcher Montzingo. Kavanagh said both would have to accept pay cuts to remain as minority staff.
“We were in a crisis,” Kavanagh told the outlet. “We were in a situation where we didn’t have anybody who had the skillset, the knowledge [and] the personal connections to do the job.”
Petersen confirmed the appointment in a Tuesday text message to Yellow Sheet, saying he appreciated Kavanagh’s confidence and was excited to serve the minority caucus.
The appointment follows Petersen’s unsuccessful campaign for attorney general against Democratic incumbent Kris Mayes.
Petersen did not seek reelection to his legislative seat; his current term ends in January 2027.
Kavanagh told Yellow Sheet that the caucus needed a chief of staff familiar with the legislative process who had relationships with lawmakers in both parties. Former Senate staffer Grant Hanna had already left prior to the 2026 session to become House majority chief of staff.
“We realized that there was somebody hiding right in front of us [for chief of staff] and that was [Warren Petersen],” Kavanagh said. “He’s probably the most powerful person we could have selected.”
Petersen’s salary or an exact start date has not been confirmed.
The staffing changes come as Republicans prepare to enter the minority in both legislative chambers. Democrats secured 20 seats in the 30-member Senate and 37 seats in the 60-member House.
Senate Republicans elected Kavanagh as minority leader Monday. They also selected Sen. Tim Dunn (R-LD25) as assistant minority leader and incoming Sen. Leo Biasiucci (R-LD30) as minority whip. Kavanagh appointed Sen. Mark Finchem (R-LD1) as deputy assistant minority leader of communications.
The caucus identified taxes, law enforcement, and Arizona’s long-term water supply as priorities for the upcoming session. Its announcement said Republicans would introduce their own legislation and pursue bipartisan agreements where they believe cooperation would benefit Arizonans.
Petersen was first elected to the Arizona House in 2012 and subsequently served in both chambers. He became Senate president in 2023 and was reelected to that leadership position in 2025. His Senate biography lists previous legislative roles as House majority leader and chairman of the Senate Commerce, Judiciary, and Rules committees.
Arizona Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) highlighted improvements in veterans’ health care access, disability benefits processing, and housing assistance while reaffirming his commitment to strengthening oversight and accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
In a recent constituent newsletter, Hamadeh, who serves on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, outlined several developments in federal veterans’ services, including reductions in disability claims backlogs, expanded medical appointment availability, and increased investments in VA health care facilities.
Hamadeh emphasized his commitment to ensuring that veterans receive the medical care, benefits, and assistance they earned through military service, pointing to ongoing efforts to improve federal services and address administrative challenges.
According to figures cited in the newsletter and published by the VA, more than 300,000 additional veterans enrolled in VA health care during 2026 as of October, while 43 new VA health care clinics have opened nationwide since January 2025.
This Week From The Office of Congressman Hamadeh
• Delivering On My Promise To Veterans • Welcome News • At Your Service
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) November 6, 2026
The congressman also highlighted a reduction of more than 70% in the backlog of VA disability claims since January 20, 2025, along with a 46% decrease in average disability claims processing times over approximately the same period.
Medical appointment availability has also expanded.
During Fiscal Year 2025, the VA delivered more than 82 million direct-care appointments, representing a 4.1% increase over the previous fiscal year. Community care appointments approached 60 million, an increase of 12%.
Since January 2025, the department has also made more than 3.4 million appointments available during extended hours, including mornings, evenings, and weekends.
Hamadeh pointed to additional investments in VA infrastructure, including nearly $5 billion approved for Fiscal Year 2026 to repair, upgrade, and modernize medical facilities, which he described as the largest non-recurring maintenance investment in the department’s history.
Efforts to address veteran homelessness were also highlighted, with the VA helping 51,936 homeless veterans obtain permanent housing during Fiscal Year 2025, marking the department’s strongest annual performance in seven years.
Despite the reported progress, Hamadeh acknowledged that problems remain within the VA system, particularly regarding eligibility determinations and oversight of medical services provided outside VA facilities.
“One of my continuing priorities is ensuring that veterans have access to quality medical care, whether that treatment is provided at a VA facility or through a qualified community provider,” Congressman Hamadeh wrote.
In July, Hamadeh and Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) called on VA Secretary Doug Collins to address findings from a June VA Office of Inspector General audit examining the Veterans Community Care Program.
The program allows eligible veterans to receive medical treatment from community providers when certain conditions are met, including limited access to VA facilities, extended appointment wait times, or the need for specialized services.
According to the audit, approximately 25% of the 1.4 million veterans referred for community care during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 did not meet the program’s eligibility requirements.
Investigators also found that approximately 38% of 4.8 million veterans who received direct VA care lacked documentation showing that their eligibility for community care had been assessed.
Additionally, 58% of approximately 1.8 million veterans who were eligible for community care but received direct VA treatment lacked documentation indicating they had declined the community care option.
The Inspector General estimated that inaccurate eligibility determinations resulted in approximately $440 million in potentially avoidable expenditures during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025, an amount that could reach approximately $1.7 billion annually if the identified problems continued.
Hamadeh and Gosar urged VA leadership to implement the Inspector General’s recommendations, strengthen oversight procedures, improve documentation, and address administrative failures affecting veterans’ access to medical care.
Hamadeh also emphasized the importance of constituent services within his congressional office, noting that experienced caseworkers have been assigned to assist veterans and their families with benefit disputes, federal paperwork, and other challenges involving the VA.
The congressman said he intends to continue working with colleagues across party lines to improve veterans’ services while holding the department accountable for its performance.
“Our veterans fulfilled their duty to America. It is our responsibility to fulfill America’s duty to them,” Hamadeh wrote. “That was my promise when I ran for Congress, and it remains one of my highest priorities today.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The city of Tucson won’t be adhering to the immigration enforcement conditions attached to the $4.2 million federal grant for law enforcement.
Tucson City Council voted unanimously to accept the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Technology and Equipment Program grant last week after Roi Lusk, the city attorney, advised the council that the city was free to ignore the immigration enforcement conditions.
Conditions of acceptance of the $4.2 million included the requirements that the city not interfere with governmental information exchange on citizenship status. It also required the city to not operate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Lusk based his analysis on a federal ruling in the District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued earlier that day. The ruling barred the federal government from requiring immigration enforcement as a condition of receiving public safety grants.
Chief Judge John McConnell declared that the DOJ lacked the authority to add its own conditions onto the existing grant structure established by Congress.
“The law in this circuit is clear that Congress’s decision to impose a formula structure on a grant program constrains DOJ’s authority to add the immigration enforcement conditions at issue here,” said McConnell.
Tucson’s city attorney shared that the city is involved in four separation lawsuits with federal agencies across multiple jurisdictions across the country concerning the immigration enforcement requirements. In all four of those lawsuits, courts have enjoined the immigration enforcement conditions.
“In order to get a federal injunction, you have to sort of prove your case already,” said Lusk. “In every single one of these cases, the court has sided with [us] the cities and [they] find that we would likely prevail in court at trial.”
Tim Thomure, city manager, explained to the council that the city had requested the grant from the federal government to replace police vehicles and motorcycles. The city remains in active litigation with the federal government to divorce this grant money from the immigration enforcement requirement.
“We’ve been battling this for two years now and counting,” said Thomure.
Even if a court were to rule in the future in the federal government’s favor to require immigration enforcement as a condition of funds acceptance, Lusk said the city wouldn’t have to return any funds spent regardless of nonfulfillment of immigration enforcement.
“Our acceptance of the grant after we’ve already performed would prevent the federal government from enforcing it against us because we’ve already performed under the accepted conditions, and not under the unaccepted conditions,” said Lusk. “There have been dozens of federal grants that we’ve accepted, hundreds of millions of dollars and dozens of grants that we’ve accepted under these conditions and in each one of them we’ve filed the same type of cover letter indicating that those conditions are currently enjoined and that’s been approved by our litigation partners and the federal courts themselves.”
Attorney General Kris Mayes has joined several multi-state lawsuits challenging similar grant funding requirements centered on mandated immigration enforcement or limitations to grant spending on illegal aliens since President Donald Trump took office last year.
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Republican Rep. Eli Crane has won reelection in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating Democratic challenger Jonathan Nez in a rematch that remained uncalled for nearly a week after Election Day.
The Associated Press called the race Monday morning, with Crane holding approximately 49.7% of the vote to Nez’s 48.5%. Crane, a former Navy SEAL who has represented the district since January 2023, secured a third term.
The call resolves Arizona’s final outstanding congressional contest and leaves Democrats with five of the state’s nine U.S. House seats for the next Congress. Republicans entered the election holding six seats.
“I’m going to keep fighting against the status quo in Congress,” Crane said. “Both parties have been driving this country into the ground for decades, and the American people are sick of it.”
He thanked voters for supporting him and acknowledged Nez’s decision to run again.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he continued, “and I’ll work with anyone to get things done for AZ-02. But I’ll also stand in the way of anyone trying to move this country in the wrong direction. Let’s get back to work.”
Nez had not conceded as of this report.
The candidates previously faced each other in 2024, when Crane defeated the former Navajo Nation president by approximately nine percentage points. This year, the lead changed hands during ballot counting before Crane established the advantage that preceded Monday’s race call.
The district covers much of rural northern and eastern Arizona, including Flagstaff, Prescott, and the Navajo Nation, and extends into northern Pinal County.
Outside organizations increased their spending on the contest during the closing weeks. An analysis of Federal Election Commission filings found that groups supporting Crane outspent those supporting Nez by more than two to one after the July primary, with most of the spending occurring in October.
KTAR identified No Going Back PAC as the largest outside spender, directing approximately $3.4 million toward supporting Crane and opposing Nez. House Majority PAC spent nearly $1 million against Crane.
Crane launched his first general election advertisement in July, emphasizing his military service and work on behalf of rural Arizona. His campaign said at the time that it planned a seven-figure paid media investment.
Crane’s victory follows Republican wins in two other competitive Arizona congressional contests. Rep. Abe Hamadeh defeated Bernadette Greene-Placentia in the 8th District, while former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb defeated Elizabeth Lee for the open 5th District seat.
Democrats gained the 1st District, where Amish Shah defeated Jay Feely, and the 6th District, where JoAnna Mendoza defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani.
