A Democratic wave swept Arizona and the nation on Nov. 3, but three Republicans in the state’s rural north held the line. U.S. Rep. Eli Crane kept Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, and state Sens. Mark Finchem and Wendy Rogers won new terms in Legislative Districts 1 and 7, according to unofficial results from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office as of 11:02 p.m. ET on Nov. 9.
Crane, a former Navy SEAL first elected in 2022, received 163,286 votes (49.59%) to 159,763 (48.52%) for Democrat Jonathan Nez, a margin of 3,523 votes. The Associated Press called the race for Crane on Monday, Nov. 9, KTAR reported.
In the state Senate, Finchem won Legislative District 1 by about 24 points, 73,919 votes (62.03%) to 45,114 (37.86%) for Democrat Christine Ellen Dargon. Rogers won Legislative District 7 by about 21 points, 59,808 votes (60.27%) to 39,310 (39.61%) for Democrat Michiel “Mike” Montiel.
- U.S. House, AZ-02: Rep. Eli Crane, 163,286 votes (49.59%); won by 3,523
- State Senate, LD1: Sen. Mark Finchem, 73,919 votes (62.03%); won by 28,805
- State Senate, LD7: Sen. Wendy Rogers, 59,808 votes (60.27%); won by 20,498
Source: Arizona Secretary of State, unofficial results as of Nov. 9, 2026, 11:02 p.m. ET. Results are not final until the state canvass.
A Democratic wave across Arizona
The three wins came in a strong year for Democrats. Gov. Katie Hobbs won a second term by about 13 points statewide, 55.61% to 42.46%, in the Secretary of State’s unofficial count. Democrats flipped two of Arizona’s nine U.S. House seats and will hold five of them, KTAR reported.
At the Capitol, Democrats won control of the Arizona Legislature for the first time in about 60 years, the Arizona Mirror reported. Nationally, Democrats won control of the U.S. House, according to NBC News.
Three districts, one region
The three seats cover much of the same ground. All of Legislative District 1, centered on Prescott and Yavapai County, sits inside the 2nd Congressional District. So do about 81.7% of Legislative District 7’s residents, a district that stretches from the Flagstaff area through Payson and Gila County into Pinal County. Together, the two legislative districts are home to about 55% of the congressional district’s residents, according to a Politics Elections analysis of U.S. Census Bureau district boundaries and 2020 Census population.
For many voters in the region, that meant a single ballot carrying two of these candidates at once. Every voter in Legislative District 1 also had Crane on the ballot, as did most voters in Legislative District 7.
Candidates who did what they said
All three campaigns gave voters a record to point to, and several reasons to turn out.
Rogers took her ban on new photo-radar systems straight to voters. Her measure, SCR 1004, went on the ballot as Proposition 319 and was passing with 62.4% of the vote statewide in the Secretary of State’s unofficial count. “Prop 319 started as my bill, SCR 1004,” Rogers wrote on X, adding that “photo radar is on its way out.” On election night she thanked her district:
Thank you, Legislative District 7! […] But rural Arizona stood firm. You voted for freedom, border security, gun rights, lower taxes and election integrity.
@WendyRogersAZ, Nov. 4, 2026
Finchem campaigned on election security, a cause he pressed in the state Senate. When Hobbs vetoed a package of election bills in June, Finchem said in a Senate Republican release that “public cast vote records, stronger ballot security, and clearer chain-of-custody rules aren’t about attacking anyone.” After his win, he wrote that LD1 “did not just hold the line”:
We won!
Thank you, Yavapai County. […] In that environment, LD1 did not just hold the line. […] We earned that result by telling voters the truth.
@RealMarkFinchem, Nov. 5, 2026
Both state Senate wins had a familiar hand behind them: Spence Rogers of Go Right Strategies is a consultant to the Finchem and Wendy Rogers campaigns.
In Congress, Crane has stood with conservatives pressing for spending discipline. On Oct. 3, 2023, he was one of eight House Republicans who voted for the resolution that removed Kevin McCarthy as speaker, according to the House Clerk’s roll call. “My constituents sent me up here to fight for them, not to run with the herd,” Crane said in an Oct. 5, 2023, statement, adding, “We’re $33 trillion in debt in this country,” and “We owe it to our kids to protect the American dream by making the tough, uncomfortable calls now.”
Crane brought home a law for his district. His bill, H.R. 837, directs the Forest Service to convey the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site, about 233 acres in the Tonto National Forest, to Gila County to serve and support veterans. It became Public Law 119-126 on Oct. 20, 2026, according to Congress.gov. Crane thanked voters after the race was called:
Thank you to all of the rural Arizonans that participated in this election. […] We have a lot of work to do, and I’ll work with anyone to get things done for AZ-02. […] Let’s get back to work.
@EliCraneAZ, Nov. 9, 2026
Ballot measures they sent to voters
Proposition 319 was not the only Legislature-referred measure with both senators’ votes behind it. Finchem and Rogers each voted yes on final Senate passage of five measures the Legislature sent to the Nov. 3 ballot that were passing statewide in the Secretary of State’s unofficial count, according to Senate roll calls posted by the Arizona Legislature: SCR 1004 of 2025 (Senate vote 17-12), HCR 2021 (23-5), HCR 2055 (16-13), HCR 2003 (16-12) and SCR 1004 of 2026 (16-12).
- Prop. 141 (SCR 1004 (2025)): 51.0% yes (close). Amends the state constitution to bar taxes or fees based on vehicle miles traveled, and laws that monitor or limit miles traveled without consent
- Prop. 316 (HCR 2021 (2025)): 62.1% yes. Requires voter approval for any new or higher local tax on groceries and sets a 2% maximum rate
- Prop. 317 (HCR 2055 (2025)): 56.7% yes. Declares drug cartels terrorist organizations and directs the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to do everything in its authority to address them
- Prop. 318 (HCR 2003 (2026)): 58.7% yes. The Protecting Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act: requires school teams to be designated male, female or coed based on biological sex, and bars use of private spaces not designated for a person’s sex
- Prop. 319 (SCR 1004 (2026)): 62.4% yes. Bars state and local photo enforcement for traffic unless provided by contract as of Dec. 31, 2026, and requires local voter approval to keep using it
Sources: Arizona Secretary of State, unofficial results as of Nov. 9, 2026, 11:02 p.m. ET; measure descriptions from Arizona Legislature fact sheets and the 2026 state publicity pamphlet. Results are not final until the state canvass; Prop. 141 is close.
Bills they passed through the Senate
Finchem and Rogers also voted for a slate of conservative bills that passed both chambers of the Republican-led Legislature in 2026. Each was passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, according to the Arizona Legislature’s bill records:
- Border security: SB 1457 would have let the state’s Advanced Air Mobility Fund buy advanced air mobility vehicles for border security, with priority for counties along the international border. Senate vote: 17-10.
- Election integrity: SB 1038, sponsored by Finchem, would have required counties to send their cast vote record to the Secretary of State within 48 hours after the county canvass, barred altering it and made it a public record. Senate vote: 17-12.
- Gun rights: SB 1058, sponsored by Rogers, would have created the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, barring government registries of privately owned firearms and their owners and banning merchant category codes that single out gun retailers. Senate vote: 17-10.
- Law and order: SB 1061, sponsored by Rogers, would have lowered the amount of fentanyl in a sale that triggers tougher sentencing ranges from 200 grams to 9 grams. Senate vote: 16-11.
- Rural Arizona: SB 1280 would have barred the Arizona Game and Fish Commission from transporting Mexican gray wolf pups into Arizona or spending public money to do so. Senate vote: 16-11.
Hobbs vetoed SB 1058 on May 22 and the other four on June 19.
Several reasons to turn out
In much of northern and central Arizona, voters this year could back a congressman with a new law for Gila County veterans, a state senator whose photo-radar ban was on the same ballot, or a state senator who had pressed for election-security bills. Crane, Finchem and Rogers each won.
All results are unofficial until Arizona completes its statewide canvass. Full returns are on the Politics Elections Arizona U.S. House results, Arizona Legislature results and Arizona ballot measure results pages.
