Harry Enten at Nate Silver’s new 538.com site looks at why Arizona lawmakers are so much more conservative than Arizona voters:

But the legislature’s conservatism is out of step with the people it governs. Voters in Arizona are more in favor of abortion and gay rights than the nation as a whole, and only a few points more conservative on illegal immigration.1

The disconnect stems from the state’s long history of Republican voting habits and quirks in its electoral system, which together have led to an influx of legislators far more extreme than the voters who elected them.

Arizona is mostly Republican and has been for generations. Since 1952, no other state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. In 2012 exit polls, only Kansas showed a higher proportion of Republicans to Democrats when people were asked about their party identification.

But Republicanism is changing, and as the GOP has gotten more conservative, Arizona Republican voters have stayed a bit more moderate. According to exit polls taken during the 2012 presidential primary, Arizona GOP voters were no more likely to say they were very conservative or a member of the tea party than those in the average state. We’ve seen proof of that when they vote for president. In February 2012, Republican voters in Arizona sided overwhelmingly with the most moderate candidate remaining in the primary race: Mitt Romney. He crushed his conservative rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum by nearly 20 points.

Given all that, why do these hyper-conservative state legislators keep getting elected? Because the Arizona electoral system allows for extreme candidates to compete on an equal playing field with their more moderate competitors.

Enten puts at least part of the blame on Clean Elections and term limits.

This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2014.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

8 replies on “Why Are Arizona Lawmakers So Conservative?”

  1. I consider myself a pretty moderate voter when it comes to most issues, a conservative on fiscal issues, and basically a libertarian on civil issues. I do not get how out of step our legislatures are with the rest of this state.

    House Bill 2587, which separates the crime of livestock cruelty from other types of animal cruelty and eliminates the option of felony charges, is completely against what most voters feel about animal welfare in this state. SB 1062, addressed a non-issue in this state. SB 1070, even though I agree enforcing immigration law, was written by American Legislature Exchange Council. I do not support any bill that is pushed by ALEC, even if I agree with it.

    That is the main issue with our state government, it is in bed with ALEC. However, there is a bigger issue with how the GOP has pushed out the moderate voter. I really do not have a party anymore…

  2. I think Democratic Diva gave a good rebuttal to the notion that clean elections creates right wing monsters in the lege. Nancy Barto, Steve Yarbrough and Bob Worsely, all sponsors of SB1062, are all right wing kooks (and in Steve Yarbrough’s case, also highly unethical), yet they did not use clean elections to get elected.

    Diva says, “The so-called Country Club Republicans gravitate to this explanation because it absolves them of their own considerable complicity, going back decades, in driving the GOP far to the looney tune fringes.” I agree. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Throw out the damn ALEC collaborators.

    http://www.democraticdiva.com/2014/02/27/o…

  4. And in Nov, the lemmings will do as they’ve always done…and get what they’ve always got……..and then they’ll act astonished that things have gotten worse

  6. The question remains, if conservatives are so out-of-touch how come they get elected/reelected? The issues liberals have pushed from reconquista, ACA, EPA running amok, regulation that kills jobs and a host of other delusional, feel good programs have effectively smothered your community organizing plans. In short, you overplayed your hand as seniors are worried that their costs will go up for health care, their physicians may opt out of their plans, co-pays are going up, most healthy twenty- somethings are not participating, and Obama has put so many exclusions on implementation that Obamacare is a hollow shell. 2014/2016 may well put an end to the liberals utopian dreams as the adults you disparage will repair the damage. But with free birth control and the phony medical marijuana initiatives you can still feel good about yourselves while we address the ruinous debt you have incurred. I expect a rise in STD’s, abortions, and emphysema as a result of your liberal policies that ignore the effects of the licentious behavior your coalition condones. Europe has already figured out the obvious. American liberals are slow learners.

  7. How likely is it that any European country is going to invite American Insurance companies in to write a law that will force people to buy insurance from a for-profit corporation? Am I missing the obvious? Or are you watching too much Feaux News?

  8. Cascabel; 2014/2016 will tell the tale. Seems it is inconvenient for some of the posters to question IRS activities regarding their non-profit targeting of 501(c) conservative groups during the previous election. Typical that you resort to ad hominem attacks to avoid discussing topics on their merits trotting out your old bugaboo FOXNEWS. To those of you who focus on ALEC it is noted for the record that there are lobbyists for both political parties in state and national government. Okay, apparently for Soros front groups to push your agenda but criticize the Koch Bros. for doing the same for an agenda you oppose. Hypocritical statements add nothing to the dialogue. By the way, you seem unaware of insurance/banking/CPA companies that provide services on a global scale.

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