Explore the races, meet the candidates, and compare their priorities.
LD16 · 2-Year Term
Population
261,084
Registered Voters
152,740
District Lean
R+6.1
Voter Registration Breakdown
Debate recap
Central Arizona Democrats buck party on Arizona income tax during debate “That is always the best way to operate is to have incentives rather than penalties,” Democratic candidate Elaine Aldrete said.
Read the recap: LD16 debate recap (opens in a new tab)State Senate
Republican · Senate
TJ Shope is Senate president pro tempore and has never lost a race for the Legislature, where he has served since 2009, or the Coolidge Unified School District board, where he served from 2009 to 2020. He sponsored the law letting college athletes earn money from their name, image and likeness, and a $400 million appropriation in 2022 to widen 26 miles of Interstate 10. Hobbs vetoed his bill responding to pay-to-play allegations against her. He skipped the Clean Elections debate.
Prominent Endorsements
Democrat · Senate
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Elaine Aldrete won an at-large seat on the Drexel Heights Fire District governing board in 2024 and serves a term running through 2028. She founded the nonprofit Teaching Life Choices and was treasurer for four campaigns in the 2024 cycle. At the Clean Elections debate, which her opponent skipped, she broke with most Arizona Democrats by opposing any increase in the state's 2.5% flat income tax, favoring tax incentives instead, and called for an income cap on school voucher eligibility.
Prominent Endorsements
State House
Republican · House
Chris Lopez owns a trucking company and a food concessions business in Casa Grande and won his first term in 2024, taking the second House seat about 3 points ahead of Democratic incumbent Keith Seaman. He is vice chairman of the House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee. His bills have clustered on health and human services, transportation and commercial vehicles, and government operations. He skipped the Clean Elections debate.
Prominent Endorsements
Republican · House
Teresa Martinez was appointed to the House on November 1, 2021, to replace Bret Roberts. She had been political director of the Arizona Republican Party and a staffer for Reps. Rick Renzi and Paul Gosar. Fourteen of her bills have been signed since 2023, among them Emily's Law, creating a statewide alert for missing Indigenous children; Hobbs vetoed another directing officials to help enforce federal immigration law. She skipped the Clean Elections debate.
Prominent Endorsements
Democrat · House
Julia Gusse is an Air Force veteran who has been a legislative liaison for the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, directed Arizona State University's Veterans Upward Bound program and was a VA senior adviser under President Joe Biden. On the Maricopa City Council from 2011 to 2014 and 2017 to 2020, she drew a formal warning in 2014 for berating a prospective council appointee at a public meeting and later stood by the remarks. After losing in 2020 she voted against certifying the canvass for her city election.
Prominent Endorsements