Montenegro to serve as speaker, Petersen holds onto Senate presidency – The Center Square

Photo: Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, speaks outside of the Arizona Capitol. (photo credit Cameron Arcand / The Center Square) 

The Arizona state Legislature is seeing some new leadership in its upcoming session.

In private meetings in and around the capitol on Tuesday, members voted on their picks to run the show. Rep. Steve Montenegro will succeed outgoing Speaker Ben Toma. Montenegro won with 18 votes and ran against Rep. Joseph Chaplik and current Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci.

Rep. Michael Carbone will be the House Majority Leader after running against current House Majority Whip Theresa Martinez and incoming and former Rep. Justin Olson for the spot. Rep. Julie Willoughby ran unopposed for House Majority Whip.

On the Senate side, Senate President Warren Petersen was re-elected but did not face anybody else gunning for the spot. The Arizona Republic reported that Sen. David Gowan ended up dropping his bid before voting occurred. Sen. Janae Shamp will be the majority leader, and Sen. Frank Carroll will serve as the whip for the Republicans.

“My esteemed colleagues of the AZ Senate have re-elected me by acclimation as Senate President,” Petersen tweeted Tuesday.

“With our expanded majority we will make sure our communities are safe and that our kids have the best educational opportunities possible. We will continue to lower taxes and eliminate government waste. We will work with the Trump administration to make sure our border is safe. We will secure our water supplies and our elections.”

On the Democratic side, Rep. Oscar De Los Santos was selected as the House Minority Leader, and Rep. Nancy Gutierrez will serve as Assistant Leader and Reps. Quantá Crews and Stacey Travers will be the whips for their caucus.

In the Senate, Sen. Priya Sundareshan will serve as the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Flavio Bravo will be the Assistant Leader and Sen. Rosanna Gabaldón will be the whip. Sen. Lela Alston was selected as Senate Minority Caucus Chair.

“While Republicans have expanded their majority, it is paramount that we communicate and provide a better, bipartisan pathway forward. No matter what setback we may face, our priorities will continue to center working class Arizonans, vulnerable populations, and our future generations,” Sundareshan, who was the co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

Republicans grew their numbers in the legislature, with 17-13 projected in the Senate and 33-27 projected in the House, but some races are still considered too close to call.