The sorrow that cast a pall over the traditionally jubilant opening day of the legislative session was all too visible on Sen. Linda Lopez’s face.

Less than a year after the agency was nearly abolished, the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections stepped away from the abyss after a legislative committee recommended that it be continued for five years.

Senator-elect Andy Biggs will not only head the Appropriations Committee – where the budget bills are traditionally assigned – the Gilbert Republican also was appointed as vice chairman of the Government Reform and Judiciary committees.

Two incongruent personalities. Two divergent political agendas. The stage is set for a showdown, and if that happens, Capitol insiders expect the 2011 legislative session to be an epic power struggle.

Many candidates who spent big and lost big this election cycle were bound by one thread — they’re Democrats.

Indeed, Democrats in several races outraised and outspent their opponents by tens of thousands of dollars while others benefited as much by independent spending aimed at helping their campaigns.

A full list of the 50th Legislature membership

Arizona’s Clean Elections system has had a polarizing effect on Arizona politics since becoming law in 1998. Supporters claim it eliminates the influence of special-interest money in elections, while opponents say the system is unfair and dampens free speech.

If the public held an anti-incumbent sentiment, it didn't extend to the Republican primary race in a North-Central Phoenix district, where voters chose a known name over relative newcomers.

Rep. Adam Driggs, who is in a three-way Senate race for the Republican Party’s nomination in Legislative District 11, has received a huge boost from independent groups. But he's not the only one.

Senate candidate Rich Davis applied for a homestead tax deduction on a property in Washington D.C. that he no longer uses as a primary residence, and one of his opponents has pounced on the mistake.