Oscar De Los Santos

Who gets to talk?: GOP lawmakers said it would be “unprecedented” to censure Rep. John Gillette for spewing racist rhetoric at Muslims, saying the House Ethics Committee doesn’t police lawmakers’ speech. But as the Capitol Times’ Jakob Thorington points out, that’s not entirely true. Lawmakers are trying to censure Democratic Rep. Analise Ortiz for posting on social media about ICE raids. Last year, a House ethics panel said Ortiz and Rep. Oscar De Los Santos engaged in disorderly behavior by leading a chant opposing the state’s abortion ban. And in 2017, Sen. Mark Finchem filed an ethics complaint against former Rep. Mark Cardenas over a Facebook post. (September 22, 2025)

The post-session rebrand: The Capitol Times dropped a series of Q&As recapping the 2025 session with Arizona’s legislative leaders, and some lawmakers are taking an interesting approach to reframing this year’s chaos. House Speaker Steve Montenegro said the “relationship between the House and the Senate is fine” after this year’s budget feud, while Senate President Warren Petersen said “unnecessary division within the party made the process more difficult than it needed to be.” Democratic leaders Rep. Oscar De Los Santos and Sen. Priya Sundareshan highlighted their party’s budget wins and called for a clean renewal of Prop. 123 next year. (July 22, 2025)

From deputy to death wishes: Republican Rep. John Gillette’s troubling past as a deputy sheriff in Illinois has resurfaced after he called Muslim people “fucking savages” and said a congresswoman should be “hanged,” Ray Stern writes for the Arizona Republic. The Kingman representative had dozens of complaints against him between 1995 and 2009 while working for the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. House minority leader Oscar De Los Santos dug up Gillette’s tumultuous past to show his history with violence, including complaints of “alleged battery, sexual assault” and “excessive force.” (October 15, 2025)

Something everyone agrees on: GOP Rep. Nick Kupper introduced the “Own Something and Be Happy Act” yesterday, which he says is “aimed at preventing large institutional investors from dominating Arizona’s single-family housing market.” Among other provisions, the bill would block institutional investors from bidding on homes for 60 days after the homes are listed for sale. Kupper pointed to President Donald Trump recently calling for banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, while Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, a Democrat, said they’re both trying to copy him. (January 15, 2026)

Odd bedfellows: Trump announced yesterday that he would crack down on large investors who buy single-family homes. The announcement spurred Democratic state Rep. Oscar De Los Santos to say he has been “fighting to stop large corporations from buying Arizona homes” since he was elected, and he’s “glad President Trump has seen the light.” (January 8, 2026)

Lucy and the football: Legislative Democrats once again believe this year will be their year to flip the state Legislature blue because, as House Democratic Leader Oscar de los Santos puts it, “the country is fed up with Donald Trump’s obsession with petty politics and nonsense and distractions,” the Arizona Capitol Times’ Jakob Thorington reports in a rundown of the seven districts Democrats plan to target in the 2026 election. Democrats have hoped to flip the Legislature for decades, and they got close in 2018, the first midterm following Trump’s first presidential election, but came up one seat short of splitting the House after a Democratic lawmaker in a safe Democratic district lost her election. (January 14, 2026)