With votes continuing to be tabulated in Arizona, Republicans appear to be tracking toward a return to power in one or both of the chambers in the state legislature.
Over the past two years, Arizona Republicans have narrowly controlled the state House and Senate, giving them the ability to hold Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs in check. Both major political parties poured significant resources into competitive seats over the past year to wrestle a majority for the next legislative session.
As of Wednesday night, Republicans are leading in 16 of the 30 contests for State Senate. Two of those races – District 2 (Shawnna Bolick) and District 4 (Carine Werner) are currently within 2,000 votes. Of the 14 seats that Democrats are leading, three – District 9 (Eva Burch), District 17 (John McLean), and District 23 (Brian Fernandez) – are also within 2,000 votes at this time.
On the House of Representatives side, as of Wednesday night, Republicans are leading in 32 of the 60 contests. Democrats have an advantage in the other 28 races. Results in District 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, and 23 may be fluid in the coming days with additional votes being factored in the candidate’s respective favor.
Control of the legislature is vital to the agenda of the next two years, when Governor Hobbs will be facing re-election and working to enact more of her policy directives to demonstrate her value to the state. Should Democrats manage to win a majority of both the state House and Senate, Hobbs and her legislative allies would be able to pass left-leaning priorities and sign those into law. One of these targets would be the historic Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, which has been under tremendous scrutiny and criticism by Hobbs and other Democrats since it was expanded during Republican Governor Doug Ducey’s administration a few years ago.
The winners of the campaigns for state House and Senate will be sworn in for the new legislative session in early January.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A liberal Democrat is attempting to maintain her representation of a middle-of-the-road Phoenix-area legislative district for another term in office.
State Senator Eva Burch of Arizona Legislative District 9 is seeking to make a return to the chamber for the next term of office, running for reelection in the upcoming November General Election.
The incumbent Democrat proudly displays several endorsements from left-leaning organizations on her campaign website, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Moms Demand Action, Climate Cabinet PAC, Emily’s List, Human Rights Campaign in Arizona, Arizona List, End Citizens United, and Sierra Club.
Burch is staunchly in the camp of her open-borders colleagues in the legislature – as her voting record indicates. Last year (2023), Burch voted no on HCM 2007, which expressed the legislative desire that Congress enact the State Immigration Enforcement Act, which would allow states or political subdivisions of states, to enact, implement, and enforce criminal penalties that are prohibited in the criminal provisions of immigration laws.
This past legislative session (2024), Burch voted against SB 1231, which would have made it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry. She also opposed SCR 1042, which proclaimed the Legislature’s support for the people and governor of the state of Texas in its efforts to secure our nation’s southern border. Additionally, she voted no on HB 2157, which would have prohibited a court from using a defendant’s deportation as the sole reason for early termination of probation or intensive probation.
More recently, Burch refused to support a legislative effort to refer a border security measure to the ballot in this November’s General Election – HCR 2060, voting against the bill when it was considered by her chamber. The proposal, if passed by voters in the fall, would empower local law enforcement to better secure their communities from the increasing calamities from the border crisis. A recent poll from Noble Predictive Insights showed that over fifty percent of Democrat respondents support the measure.
The Democrat lawmaker has also established a clear voting record for opposing bills that seek to lower taxes and reduce burdensome red tape for Arizona businesses. In 2023, she voted no on SCR 1018, which was a resolution restricting counties, cities, towns, municipal corporations, and political subdivisions from imposing a tax, rule, or law based on vehicle miles traveled. Burch also voted against SB 1156 that year, which would have increased the amount of the individual income tax subtraction for unreimbursed adoption expenses.
In the 2024 legislative session, Burch returned to her anti-small government ways, voting against SB 1056, which would have prohibited city councils or county board of supervisors from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote. Also, she voted no on SB 1153, which would have prohibited a proposed rule from becoming effective if the proposed rule is estimated to increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 within five years.
Burch is also a soft-on-crime legislator. Over the past two years, she has opposed several bills that would strengthen Arizona statutes against crime and increase penalties for lawbreakers and those who seek to perpetrate harm on innocent men, women, and children. In 2024, she voted no on SB 1414, which would require a person who is convicted of a third or subsequent organized retail theft offense to be sentenced as a category two repetitive offender. She also voted against HB 2591, which would have prohibited a public power entity or public service corporation from entering into a contract with a person or company that uses forced labor or oppressive child labor.
Last legislative session, Burch voted no on SB 1583, which would have mandated that a level one sex offender who commits specified sexual offenses is required to register on the internet sex offender website if the offender was sentenced for a dangerous crime against children. Additionally, she opposed SB 1323, which would have made an employee or independent contractor of a public school who refers students to or uses any sexually explicit material in violation of existing statute criminally liable for a class 5 felony.
Arizona Legislative District 9 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Democrats and Republicans over the past nine statewide elections, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Out of those nine contests, Democrats have won five compared to four for the Republicans.
Burch ran unopposed in the July 30 primary election. She is facing off against the winner of the Republican primary, Robert Scantlebury. In the 2022 General Election, Burch defeated Scantlebury by more than 3,000 votes to assume her seat.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
A liberal Democrat is attempting to return to her representation of a middle-of-the-road Phoenix-area legislative district for the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
State Senator Eva Burch of Arizona Legislative District 9 is seeking to make a return to the chamber for the next term of office, running for reelection in the upcoming November General Election.
The incumbent Democrat proudly displays a number of endorsements from left-leaning organizations on her campaign website, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Moms Demand Action, Climate Cabinet PAC, Emily’s List, Human Rights Campaign in Arizona, Arizona List, End Citizens United, and Sierra Club.
Out of all the pro-abortion Democrats in the state legislature, Burch may be one of the most fervent advocates. On her website, Burch highlights “Reproductive Freedom” as one of her key issues. She writes, “Eva knows the importance of having access to abortions, contraceptives, and overall reproductive freedom. As a healthcare provider, she knows that these decisions about healthcare should be made between an individual and their doctor, not politicians. Eva will fight to ensure that these deeply personal matters stay out of politicians hands.”
Earlier this spring, Burch boasted of her recent “safe, legal abortion” in an opinion piece for Rolling Stone, stating that “the pregnancy wasn’t viable.” She detailed the efforts from her Planned Parenthood provider to give her additional information and options about her looming decision, expressing anger “at the politicians who had clearly put laws in place to force doctors to try to coerce their patients out of having an abortion, regardless of circumstance.”
At the end of her op-ed, Burch wrote, “There is only one solution to this abortion problem, and it lives in the November ballot box. We have to elect pro-choice candidates up and down the ticket, from the White House to the state legislatures. The facts of the day remain that this means voting for Democrats. Until Republicans are willing to release their ransom of this issue, abortion rights will continue to erode all across the country.”
In another piece for Elle, Burch said, “I share my story in the hopes that we can change the narrative about what abortion care looks like, who the abortion patient is, and how legislation impacts real people seeking abortion care. The overwhelming amount of love that I have received and the willingness of strangers to tell me their own stories gives me hope that November will be a time of celebration, not heartbreak. We have the power to write our own stories.”
Burch previously shared a video of a phone conversation she had with Vice President Kamala Harris back on the state Senator’s most-recent birthday. Then, Senator Burch posted, “I’m counting this as the best birthday a girl could ask for. Last week, I received a call from Vice President Harris, who told me that she had heard my abortion story. She called to thank me for using my voice in the fight for reproductive freedom here in Arizona.”
I'm counting this as the best birthday a girl could ask for.
Last week, I received a call from @VP Harris, who told me that she had heard my abortion story. She called to thank me for using my voice in the fight for reproductive freedom here in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/yS88W0myfQ
She added, “I’m so grateful to have a compassionate leader like Vice President Harris in our country. With her encouragement and the encouragement of so many of you who have reached out to support me, I will continue to share my story.”
The Democrat lawmaker has encouraged her followers to help get an abortion access measure on the ballot for the November General Election. According to Arizona for Abortion Access, the constitutional amendment, if passed by voters, would “establish a fundamental right to abortion,” prohibiting state legislators from “limit[ing] access to abortion before fetal viability” and “protect[ing] access to abortion after fetal viability if a treating healthcare provider determines an abortion is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient…”
If you are in Arizona, find a place to sign the petition to enshrine abortion access in the Arizona constitution → https://t.co/pomXd4JpsW
Last year, one of Arizona’s top pro-life leaders, Cathi Herrod from the Center for Arizona Policy, came out in fierce opposition to these efforts, alerting her followers that this measure “would tear down virtually all pro-life precautions and make it nearly impossible to regulate abortion.” Herrod also explained how, if passed, the constitutional amendment would likely allow abortion at all stages of life in the womb, stating, “The broad exemption of ‘mental health’ of the mother after viability is widely understood, even in the courts, to mean virtually anything the abortion provider wants it to mean, including stress or anxiety. Even barbaric partial-birth abortion is legal under this exemption.”
Arizona Legislative District 9 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Democrats and Republicans over the past nine statewide elections, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Out of those nine contests, Democrats have won five compared to four for the Republicans.
Burch is running unopposed in the July 30 primary election. She will face off against the winner of the Republican primary, which is comprised of Robert Scantlebury and Christopher Stapley. In the 2022 General Election, Burch defeated Scantlebury by more than 3,000 votes in the November 2022 election to assume her seat.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
State Sen. Eva Burch (D-LD09) called her GOP colleagues “cruel” for restricting her ability to abort her child.
Burch made the remarks in a speech on the Senate floor on Monday. The senator said that she learned that her pregnancy was not progressing — nonviable — and that she had opted for abortion rather than wait on a miscarriage.
“I’m choosing abortion because I’m pregnant and for reasons that I should not have to explain to you, or to the church, or to the state of Arizona. I need to not be pregnant anymore. That’s the best outcome for me,” said Burch.
Burch said she was unable to receive an abortion from an abortion clinic last Friday as quickly as she desired due to state law requiring an ultrasound, informed consent, and a 24-hour waiting period.
“I don’t think people should have to justify their abortions,” said Burch. “There’s no one-size-fits-all for people seeking abortion care, and the legislature doesn’t have any right to assign one.”
Arizona law requires an abortionist to obtain the “voluntary and informed consent” of a mother based on the diagnosed condition of her unborn children.
A mother given a lethal fetal diagnosis must be advised of perinatal hospice services as an alternative to abortion. A lethal fetal condition is defined as a pre-birth diagnosis expected to result in the death of the unborn child within three months after birth.
A mother given a nonlethal fetal diagnosis must be advised of the range of outcomes for individuals living with the diagnosed condition; government and nongovernmental resources for mitigating the condition; and options for adoption.
Burch claimed that the informed consent requirement was a means to “shame, coerce, and frighten” her.
The senator also relayed her experience with a previous pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. Burch claimed that she was unable to obtain treatment to remove her deceased embryo because her condition wasn’t deemed “critical enough.” Per state law, abortion doesn’t include the termination of an ectopic pregnancy or removal of a dead fetus. This is a definition supported and reiterated by Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“[I]f you have a miscarriage and the doctor performs a surgical procedure to remove the deceased fetus, that is not an abortion,” states a webpage on abortion by Mayes.
Failure to remove a dead fetus from the uterus in a timely manner can cause deadly complications, such as disseminated intravascular coagulation. Denial of such lifesaving care would be considered medical malpractice.
Even so, Burch claimed lawmakers were to blame for her physical and emotional duress.
“The clauses for emergencies aren’t good enough. These laws can serve to intimidate doctors and it muddies the waters when they’re trying to make complex decisions in situations that are really volatile,” said Burch.
Arizona prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and outright bans abortions sought for reasons of fetal genetic abnormality, race, or sex.
Burch said it was “inappropriate” for women seeking an abortion to have to undergo the transvaginal ultrasound.
Burch didn’t go into the details of her unborn child’s nonviability. Though uncommon, misdiagnosis of nonviability early on in pregnancy does occur for various reasons, such as an inaccurate conception date causing an inability to detect a fetal heartbeat. These misdiagnoses are usually caught with a followup ultrasound.
Burch also claimed that abortion carries a lower risk than pregnancy. The senator also cited datasets determining that women who can’t receive an abortion were more likely to be domestic violence victims, facing eviction and bankruptcy, bearing children with developmental delays, and poor.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
In the final six days before Election Day, young pro-life activists are deploying in Mesa and Scottsdale to mobilize voters.
That impacts State Senate Districts 4 and 9, both swing districts. District 4 candidates are Republican Nancy Barto and Democrat Christine Marsh. District 9 candidates are Republican Robert Scantlebury and Democrat Eva Burch.
Behind the grassroots activists is Students for Life Action (SFLA), the political action committee (PAC) arm of the Students for Life (SFL) nonprofit. SFLA stated in a press release that their goal in Arizona is to inform voters about the abortion lobby’s endorsed candidates and Senator Mark Kelly’s record on abortion.
SFLA comes into play weeks after it was revealed that Kelly campaign staffers were likely telling voters that the senator is pro-life for months. Kelly supports abortion.
SFLA also deployed groups into 10 other states: Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Washington. Notably, one SFLA captain, 18-year-old Kaitlyn Ruch, is the Republican candidate for the Montana House.
Groups in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, & Virginia took part in the Overpass Outreach campaign. Check out some displays and a few exciting updates on which candidates across the country are #TooExtreme4Me:https://t.co/XyQnQvdwda
Arizona won’t enforce its ban on abortion until next year. In response to the agreement with Attorney General Mark Brnovich last week, Planned Parenthood resumed abortion services throughout the state (with the exception of a Tucson clinic, which continued operations prior to the agreement).
Even if the state’s abortion ban goes into effect, there’s no guarantee of uniform enforcement. The cities of Tucson and Phoenix both passed resolutions effectively decriminalizing abortions. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover also pledged to not prosecute violations of abortion law.
The upcoming election will further determine the fate of the state’s abortion law. Democratic Maricopa County Attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle pledged to disregard state bans and restrictions on abortion.
“I will #NotNowNotEver prosecute people or their providers for performing abortions or undergoing an abortion procedure,” tweeted Gunnigle last month.
Our stance has been clear from day one. I will #NotNowNotEver prosecute people or their providers for performing abortions or undergoing an abortion procedure.https://t.co/Znv012OYBe
Hobbs told CNN on Wednesday that she would veto any new legislation further restricting abortion in the state.
Meet Katie Hobbs; a PPAA champion who will fight to restore reproductive rights and against abortion bans. We will not stand for anti-abortion politicians.
