Arizona Senate

Arizona State Senate
Arizona Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	4 terms (8 years)
Leadership
President of the Senate	Andy Biggs (R)
President pro Tempore	Sylvia Allen (R)
Majority Leader	Steve Yarbrough (R)
Minority Leader	Katie Hobbs (D)
Structure
Seats	30
File:Senate diagram 2014 State of Arizona.svg
Political groups	Governing party   Republican (18) Opposition party   Democratic (12)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article 4, Arizona Constitution
Salary	$24,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014 (30 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2016 (30 seats)
Redistricting	Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Arizona State Capitol Phoenix, Arizona
Website
Arizona State Senate

The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms with term limits that limit Senators to four terms for a total of eight years. Members of the Republican Party are currently the majority in the Senate.

As with the Arizona House of Representatives, members to the Senate are elected from the same legislative districts as House members, however one Senator represents the constituency, while for the House there are two Representatives per district. This districting system is similar to those of the Idaho and Washington State Senate. In political science, this type of legislative district is called a multi-member district.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

The Senate convenes in the adjacent legislative chambers at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.

Leadership of the Senate

Arizona, along with Oregon, Maine and Wyoming, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the nominal senate president in many states. As a result, the Senate elects its own presiding officer, the President of the Senate, who presides over the body, appoints members to all of the Senate's committees and to joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. The Senate President also appoints a President pro tempore, who serves for the duration of a session of the legislature, to preside in his absence, and may appoint a temporary President pro tempore in the absence of the President and President pro tempore.

The current President of the Senate is Republican Andy Biggs of District 12, the Senate Majority Leader is Steve Yarbrough of District 17. The current Minority Leader is Katie Hobbs of District 24 with Steve Farley of District 9 as the Assistant Minority Leader.

Leadership information

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
President of the Senate	Andy Biggs	Republican	Gilbert	District 12
President pro tempore	Sylvia Allen	Republican	Snowflake	District 6
Majority Leader	Steve Yarbrough	Republican	Chandler	District 17
Majority Whip	Gail Griffin	Republican	Hereford	District 14
Minority Leader	Katie Hobbs	Democratic	Tolleson	District 24
Assistant Minority Leader	Steve Farley	Democratic	Tucson	District 9
Minority Whip	Lupe Contreras	Democratic	Cashion	District 19

Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
2011-2013	21	9	30	1
2013-2015	17	13	30	0
Begin	17	13	30	0
November 23, 2015	18	12
December 15, 2015	17		29	1
December 22, 2015	18		30	0
Latest voting share	60%	40%

Current members, 2015–2017

District	Senator	Party	Residence	Assumed office on
1	Steve Pierce	Rep	Prescott	2009
2	Andrea Dalessandro	Dem	Green Valley	2014†
3	Olivia Cajero Bedford	Dem	Tucson	2011
4	Lynne Pancrazi	Dem	Yuma	2012
5	Sue Donahue	Rep	Lake Havasu City	2015†
6	Sylvia Allen	Rep	Heber	2015†
7	Carlyle Begay	Rep	Ganado	2013†
8	Barbara McGuire	Dem	Kearny	2013
9	Steve Farley	Dem	Tucson	2013
10	David Bradley	Dem	Tucson	2013
11	Steve Smith	Rep	Maricopa	2011
12	Andy Biggs	Rep	Gilbert	2011
13	Don Shooter	Rep	Yuma	2011
14	Gail Griffin	Rep	Hereford	2011
15	Nancy Barto	Rep	Phoenix	2011
16	Dave Farnsworth	Rep	Mesa	2013†
17	Steve Yarbrough	Rep	Chandler	2011
18	Jeff Dial	Rep	Chander	2011
19	Lupe Contreras	Dem	Cashion	2015
20	Kimberly Yee	Rep	Phoenix	2013
21	Debbie Lesko	Rep	Peoria	2009
22	Judy Burges	Rep	Sun City West	2012
23	John Kavanagh	Rep	Fountain Hills	2007
24	Katie Hobbs	Dem	Phoenix	2013
25	Bob Worsley	Rep	Mesa	2013
26	Andrew Sherwood	Dem	Tempe	2015†
27	Catherine Miranda	Dem	Phoenix	2006
28	Adam Driggs	Rep	Phoenix	2011
29	Martin Quezada	Dem	Phoenix	2012
30	Robert Meza	Dem	Phoenix	2011

† Member was originally appointed.

Committees

Current committees include:

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Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
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Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

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See also

• Arizona State Capitol
• Arizona Legislature
• Arizona House of Representatives
• List of Representatives and Senators of Arizona Legislature by Districts
• American Legislative Exchange Council members

External links

• Official Arizona State Senate website
• Billhop – Arizona legislative wiki
• Project Vote Smart – State Senate of Arizona