Democrats have secured a major breakthrough in Arizona, winning both chambers of the state legislature while retaining the governor’s office. The result gives the party its first trifecta in Arizona since 1966.
The Associated Press called enough legislative contests on Friday, 6 November 2026, to confirm that both chambers had changed hands. Republicans had controlled the Arizona House for 60 years and the Senate since the early 1990s.
Arizona led a broader midterm advance. Democrats gained full control — the governor’s office and both legislative chambers — in at least six states where power had previously been shared with Republicans: Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin.
In Texas, Democrats won the state House, ending Republican control that dated to 2003, and Gina Hinojosa was elected governor — the state’s first Democratic governor since George W. Bush defeated Ann Richards in 1994. Republicans retained the Texas Senate.
Democrats also took the lower chamber in Maine and North Carolina, and won both chambers in New Hampshire, where Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte won re-election.
In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed more than 540 measures from the Republican-led legislature during her first term, covering taxes, immigration and voting laws. She has said she wants to focus on water issues and affordability and to tackle fraud and abuse in the state’s school voucher programme.
Democrats will hold the governor’s office in at least 28 states. Results were still pending in Alaska and Kansas. The National Conference of State Legislatures says the election is likely to become the one with the most legislative seats and chambers switching parties since the 2010 election.
Source: Firstpost, reporting the Associated Press.
