Republican incumbent Jan Brewer, the former chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, ran for a second four-year term, after winning her first term in 2002. She was challenged by Democrat Israel Torres, the former Arizona Registrar of Contractors and a businessman and attorney, and Libertarian Ernest Hancock, a talk radio producer, real estate agent, and restaurant owner.
Two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission are up for re-election. Republican incumbents Kris Mayes and Gary Pierce ran for the seats, challenged by Democrats Richard Boyer and Mark Manoil. Libertarian Rick Fowlkes also ran for the position.
All 60 seats in the Arizona House of Representatives and all 30 seats in the Arizona Senate will be up for election. There are five incumbents not seeking re-election to the seats they currently hold, and eight races in which there is only one candidate for election.
Five incumbents—three Democrats and two Republicans— retired and didn't seek another elective office. Eleven State House members ran for the State Senate, and one State Senator ran for a seat in the State House; switching between chambers, especially when a term limit has been reached in one chamber, is a common occurrence in the Arizona Legislature.[2] Two members of the State Legislature sought statewide offices, and one sought election to the United States House of Representatives.
There were 14 races in which an incumbent Senator or both the incumbent Representatives are sought reelection and faced a primary challenge for the nomination(s) of their respective parties. Out of the 90 state legislative races, there are only six in which there are candidates ran without opposition. The Republican Party needed to pick up one seat in the State House and two in the State Senate and lose none of their own in either chamber to gain a legislature that could override a Governor's veto. The Democratic Party needed to pick up nine seats in the State House without losing any of their own to form a House majority, and pick up three in the State Senate without losing any of their own to form a Senate majority.
When a vacancy occurs on the bench, a Judicial Nominating Committee approves the names of at least three applicants for nomination, from which the Governor appoints one to the position. After appointment, all Judges and Justices are subject to judicial election retentions, statewide for Justices and in their separate districts for Judges. Supreme Court Justices serve a six-year term; all other state Judges serve four-year terms. There is a mandatory retirement age of 65 for all judicial offices.
This article does not yet include complete information about the state propositions placed on the ballot, but major propositions for Arizona in 2006 included:
An attempt to add language to the AZ Constitution that would declare a marriage as only between a man and a woman (did not pass; as of 2006, AZ is the only state to reject a same-sex marriage ban proposed to its voters, though an amendment to the state constitution passed in 2008)
Two competing statewide smoking bans—one sponsored by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and one sponsored by various health organizations. (The health orgs' Prop 201 passed and will ban smoking in all indoor locations except some tobacco shops and some fraternal organizations)
Four propositions that affected illegal immigrants, including ones that would make English the official language of Arizona, and restrict some currently held rights of illegal immigrants.
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