The arizona delegation

congressional officials …

Arizona is a moderately sized congressional delegation with one first-term senator, two freshman members of the House, and one retiring congressman.

Of the 11 members only one is female, and ten are male.  Three are lawyers, several are business people, and one has a dental degree.

Arizona State University and the University of Arizona have each conferred four degrees - the highest awarded delegation members.

Four members of the Arizona congressional delegation are former combat veterans, one having served five tours of combat as a Navy SEAL and the other in combat as a Marine.

The average tenure for the delegation is 4.1 terms, assuming everyone completes their service through the end of 2026. The longest-serving member has been in Congress for 12 terms.

When you look at these profiles, we have given each a letter grade for their effort this Congress, based on various factors, which you will find in What Is Thomas Looking For? These letter grades are probably pretty familiar to you if you have ever been a school student (we hope the answer to that is we all have!)

If you see a meager score for a particular member, it will probably be due to one or two key factors: ethics challenges or anti-democratic behavior.

• Republicans have been hit hard on their lack of push back on former and now current President Trump and their support of election denying in the 2020 presidential campaign. The unanswered soaring deficit on their watch, the dismantling of allied relationships around the globe, and opposition to funding anti-authoritarian initiatives. The denial of climate change weighs heavily on us as well. We make no secret that transparency and Government in the Sunshine are important to us, and we further argue that some have been awful stewards of this category. For example, three of the 11 Arizona delegation members voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results the same evening as Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

• Democrats have been hit hard for their lack of progress on key matters because they control the United States Senate and have a razor-close margin in the U.S. House of Representatives. They have not been, in our opinion, innovative or necessarily insistent on finding rational, reasonable solutions to the problems plaguing the American public today. We want to see more and better.

• Both have been dinged for being too partisan and not collaborative where evident. In our opinion, being too doctrinaire or an obstructionist to good government in the 21st century does not get one a good grade from Thomas.

We also indicate what we believe might be the outcome of these Members’ 2026 elections today. The majority of House members were re-elected in 2024. Neither of the two United States Senators is up for re-election this season.

Our prospect ratings fall into three categories:

• Safe Bet - which means what it means. These members of Congress are running strong and look to be overwhelming prospects for re-election at this time. However, we reserve the right to re-categorize their chances if necessary.

• It’s A Race - means this race is too close to call, and we can not reasonably predict who will win this seat.

• Nudging - means the seat is leaning one way or another for this candidate. We have just a small number of current members of Congress in this category. Stay tuned!

So, would you like to meet these fascinating Arizonans? If so, keep reading on!

what is thomas looking for?

There are a few seats nudging that Thomas will watch in Arizona for 2026:

• AZ01 - David Schweikert (Incumbent Republican nudging Republican)

• AZ04 - Greg Stanton (Incumbent Democrat nudging Democrat)

• AZ06 - Juan Ciscomani (Incumbent Republican nudging Republican)

the senators

United states senator mark kelly (D)

Arizona’s senior senator is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate. A former Navy combat Captain and Space Shuttle commander who flew in space on four missions, Kelly serves on the Armed Services Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; the Select Committee on Intelligence; the Joint Economic Committee; and the Special Committee on Aging.  He is a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy and has a graduate degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He is married to former Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords and is the father of two.

Thomas Take: Not up for re-election in 2026

Thomas Rank: A

Website

United States Senator ruben gallego (d)

Arizona’s junior senator, Ruben Gallego, is a freshman elected in 2024.  The married father of two serves on the Banking and Finance Committee, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Committee, and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.  Gallego is a graduate of Harvard University and a former combat member of the United States Army.

Thomas Take: Not up for re-election in 2026

Thomas Rank: Too early to rank

Website

the representatives