New Democratic Majorities Positioned to Rewrite School Choice, Election, and Immigration Laws

Arizona’s midterm results delivered a seismic shift, handing Democrats majorities in both chambers for the first time in decades and pairing them with Governor Katie Hobbs for a full trifecta. With the gavels about to change hands, the question is no longer whether progressive priorities advance, but how aggressively new leadership pursues them. Several familiar faces now positioned to control key committees and set the agenda are staunch progressives whose records point to a push to reform school choice and border enforcement.

State Senator Priya Sundareshan has long focused on “guardrails” and income caps on the ESA voucher program. State Rep Oscar De Los Santos also opposes school choice. State Senator  Analise Ortiz, an ACLU alum, has been hyper-focused on protections for undocumented immigrants and criminal-justice changes that would limit cooperation with ICE.

Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan is the clear favorite for Senate President. The Tucson attorney and former Environmental Defense Fund staffer has already signaled her priorities: water policy and the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. As the chamber’s top Democrat, she will set the rules and assign chairs. House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, the former South Phoenix teacher who’s served as the House’s top Democrat, is the favorite to become Speaker. He has repeatedly called school voucher programs “scams.”

In the Senate, Analise Ortiz (LD24) looks positioned for a major role as the ranking Democrat on Judiciary and Elections. She has built her record on voting access, criminal justice reform, and immigrant rights and is a leading candidate for Majority Leader giving her direct influence over election bills, criminal code changes, and border-related measures. State Senator Lauren Kuby has a background in sustainability, has openly supported automatic voter registration and the elimination of ESA vouchers. She’s a natural fit for Education, Government, or Elections committees, where she could advance those items.

Charter school and school-choice protections that Republicans expanded under Governor Ducey will face immense pressure, with unified control, the new majority can rewrite eligibility, funding formulas, and accountability rules without bipartisan support.With Judiciary and Elections under Democratic control, legislation implementing automatic registration through driver’s licenses or other state interactions can move quickly without Republican friction about election integrity.

The sharpest turn left will most certainly be on the border. Democrats have proposed bills restricting state and local law enforcement partnerships with federal immigration authorities, expanding benefits access regardless of status, and watering down state-level enforcement tools before. Republican majorities have repeatedly shot those down.

With Democratic majorities in both chambers, that constraint disappears. Don’t expect Hobbs to veto or slow the progressive agenda on ESAs, voter registration, or immigration; the trifecta gives her every incentive to sign the priorities now controlled by Sundareshan, Ortiz, De Los Santos, and their allies. Arizona’s policy direction is about to shift sharply, and the governor’s veto pen that once served as the last line of defense will stay in the drawer this time.