Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, is facing her first election for the Legislative District 2 Senate seat since being appointed in 2022. Her opponent, Rep. Judy Schwiebert, D-Phoenix, said she was asked by her party to switch chambers and run for the seat, calling it a “major pick-up opportunity.” 

The political opponents served alongside each other in the House in 2020 as representatives for what was then Legislative District 20. 

The two will face off for the seat, which represents parts of northern Phoenix. The district is considered highly competitive, according to the Independent Redistricting Commission. The district had 34,364 Democrats and 44,748 Republicans registered to vote, as of the most recent report from the Secretary of State’s Office, giving the GOP an advantage ahead of the general election. 

Democrats view the LD2 seat as a significant opportunity to shift the power in the chamber, according to Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Communications Director Ashton Adams. Specifically, the party saw Schwiebert as the candidate that will “play a crucial role in flipping the Arizona State Senate.” 

The chamber is currently led by a 16-14 Republican majority, so leadership of the Senate could hinge on the results of just one or two seats. Democrats have funneled high spending into competitive districts, with LD2 being considered among the few “flippable” districts.

“In discussions with the local legislative district leadership, it was clear there was an opportunity to provide the moderate, commonsense leadership this district deserves,” Adams said. 

Schwiebert said that she eventually agreed to running in the Senate because she saw the seat as “uniquely vulnerable” because Bolick was appointed to the seat. 

Bolick was selected by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to fill former Sen. Steve Kaiser’s vacancy in July of 2023. She previously served two terms in the House before unsuccessfully running for secretary of state in 2022. 

In her short tenure in the Senate, she has played a prominent role in the chamber. 

She garnered criticism from Republican colleagues during the 2024 legislative session for being one of the handful of GOP lawmakers who voted with Democrats to repeal the near-total ban on abortion. In explaining her vote, she shared her personal experiences with pregnancy, including needing a D&C for a non-viable pregnancy. 

Bolick has focused on education issues both in the Legislature and outside of it. She served on the state’s Early Childhood Education and Health Board, the Arizona State Board of Education’s Academic Standards Development Committee, and was appointed as a representative to the Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission.

Schwiebert is a teacher who has similarly focused on education while in office. 

She said the entire reason she felt motivated to run for the Legislature was to raise teacher’s salaries. 

“We make teachers’ jobs very, very difficult here in Arizona, and as a result, one of three students no longer has a permanent, qualified teacher in their classroom,” Schwiebert said. “I thought that’s a disaster, not only for our children and their families, but it’s also a disaster for our economy.”

She said the first bill she would hope to pass, if elected, would be to raise the Aggregate Expenditure spending limit, which funds public schools. The current spending limit was set in 1980, which she called “outdated” and said it is causing a “crippling” impact on public school funding. She also supports extending Proposition 123 to further fund public schools. 

Bolick also supports increased funding for schools and teachers, according to her campaign website. Notably, she believes teachers should be “rewarded for their children’s academic excellence.” 

“If students are excelling in their subject those teachers should receive additional compensation for their successes in their classroom,” her campaign website said. 

Bolick is a school choice advocate who supports the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. In contrast, Schwiebert said she supports the program for certain students, particularly those with special needs, but that it needs more accountability.

The state’s Empowerment Scholarship Fund has turned into a “discount coupon for people who could already afford a private school,” Schwiebert said, noting a need for reform within the program. 

While Bolick voted with Democrats to repeal the near-total abortion ban, she spoke in opposition of the Arizona Abortion Access Act, now Proposition 139, during the 2024 legislative session. 

Schwiebert said she supports the proposition, which would primarily allow abortion up to fetal viability – with exceptions for the life and mental health of the mother. 

“I think that politicians too often use abortion as a political football,” Schwiebert said. “It needs to be taken out of politics and put in the hands of women and their doctors, the ones who know what is needed, because there are so many different situations that could become complicated, and politicians shouldn’t have to know and be involved in all those decisions.”

Bolick’s campaign has highlighted border security as a top-line issue, alongside improving the state’s economy by creating a “a tax system that taxes all consumed income at the flattest rate.” 

When it comes to border security, Schwiebert said she supports funding of increased law enforcement presence at ports of entry, but said it is “absolutely” the job of the federal government to regulate border policy. 

However, she does not support Proposition 314, dubbed the Secure the Border Act, and said it was a “politically motivated unfunded mandate that does nothing to solve any of those problems.” 

Schwiebert said that working across the aisle, especially when you represent a purple district, is pivotal. 

“The important thing is making sure that we get the policy passed that’s good for Arizona, rather than bragging about who got credit for it,” Schwiebert said. 

GOP consultant Chuck Coughlin said the election will likely be incredibly close. Bolick beat her primary opponent, Josh Barnett, by about 7% of votes, while Schwiebert ran unopposed. 

Coughlin said the Senate seat is shaping up to be “Democrats’ number one pickup opportunity.”

In 2022, Kaiser won the race by just 2,960, or 3.6% of votes. Both parties have concentrated efforts on canvassing, highlighting the impact that each vote could have on the district’s election outcomes.

LD2 Democrat Chair Meg Patel said their district’s mission is to knock on as many doors as possible, describing it as a “must-flip district.” 

She said education funding and housing affordability are the biggest priorities to LD2 Democrat voters. 

“LD2 is the most purple district in the county, in the most purple county in the country,” Patel said. 

The race for the Senate seat has brought it heavy funding from both parties. While Bolick has a significant voter registration advantage, Schwiebert was leading in campaign funding. Schwiebert had $327,518 on hand, as of the pre-primary reporting period, while Bolick trailed behind with  $164,386 on hand. 

Bolick did not respond to the Arizona Capitol Times’ request for an interview before our deadline.