The short version
Arizona doesn’t give its governor a cabinet of loyal appointees at the top. The 1912 constitution splits executive power among officials the voters elect separately, an arrangement called the plural executive. The governor runs most state agencies, signs or vetoes bills and appoints judges from lists a commission sends up. But the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction and mine inspector each answer to the voters, not to the governor, and they often belong to a different party.
The offices
The governor is chief executive, commander of the National Guard and the last stop for every bill the legislature passes. As of 2026 the governor is Katie Hobbs, first elected in 2022.
The secretary of state certifies statewide elections, registers lobbyists and keeps the state’s official records, and has been first in line to become governor. The elections guide shows how that office fits with the county’s.
The attorney general is the state’s lawyer: consumer protection, criminal appeals, defending state laws and, under SB 1487, investigating cities.
The treasurer manages and invests state money. The superintendent of public instruction heads the Department of Education. The state mine inspector, an office few states still elect, enforces mine safety.
The Corporation Commission is a five-member elected body, created in 1912 to regulate railroads and utilities, that sets rates for investor-owned utilities such as APS and Southwest Gas and registers corporations.
Terms and the next election
These offices carry four-year terms, and the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and superintendent are limited to two consecutive terms. Corporation commissioners serve staggered four-year terms, also limited to two in a row. All the executive offices are on the ballot on November 3, 2026.
The new lieutenant governor
Arizona has never had a lieutenant governor. When a governor left office, the secretary of state moved up, which meant the governor’s successor could come from the other party with a different agenda. It happened in 1988, 1997 and 2009. In 2022 voters approved Prop 131. Starting with the November 2026 election, each party’s nominee for governor picks a running mate, and the two run as a joint ticket. The winner takes office on January 4, 2027 as first in line to succeed the governor, and the governor must also give the lieutenant governor a working job, such as chief of staff or head of the Department of Administration. After the lieutenant governor, the line runs through the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and superintendent.
Power bills and bar licenses
Scottsdale is split between two electric utilities. APS is investor-owned, so the Corporation Commission sets its rates. SRP is a public power district, a political subdivision with its own elected board, so the commission has no say over its prices. Liquor works differently again: the state’s Department of Liquor Licenses and Control and its liquor board issue licenses, but applicants in Scottsdale first go through a city council hearing at the Kiva, and the council sends the state a recommendation. The city recommends; the state decides.
Why split the executive
The constitution’s authors distrusted concentrated power, especially power the railroads and mining companies could capture. Spreading the executive among many elected officers meant no single appointment could deliver the whole state government. The Corporation Commission was the sharpest expression of that: an elected body with its own constitutional authority to set utility rates, independent of both the governor and the legislature. It had three members on six-year terms until voters passed Prop 103 in 2000, which expanded it to five with four-year terms and a two-term limit.
The cost of the arrangement is friction. A governor of one party may share the executive branch with an attorney general or superintendent of the other, and they sue each other or pull in opposite directions. As of 2026 the governor, secretary of state and attorney general are Democrats, while the treasurer, superintendent, mine inspector and all five corporation commissioners are Republicans.
The attorney general and the cities
In 2016 the legislature passed SB 1487, which requires the attorney general to investigate any county, city or town action a legislator says violates state law or the constitution. The report is due in 30 days. If it finds a violation and the city does not fix it within 30 days, the treasurer withholds the city’s state shared revenue, a large slice of any Arizona city’s general fund, as the state shared revenue guide explains. Neighboring Paradise Valley’s short-term rental rules were among the ordinances found in violation. For Scottsdale, the law is a constant background pressure on how far the council can push local rules, and the preemption guide walks through it.
The governor’s pen
Because Arizona’s governor can veto any bill, city officials lobby the governor’s office as hard as the legislature. The Axon fight shows the stakes. After Scottsdale opponents qualified a referendum on the company’s headquarters campus, the legislature passed SB 1543 in April 2025, and the governor signed it rather than vetoing it, ending the city vote. Lisa Borowsky, elected mayor months earlier, led a city that had to live with the result.