Of Arizona's 17 territorial governors, all federally appointed, 14 were Republicans and three Democrats. Statehood meant a prolonged period of Democratic dominance. From 1912 through 1950, the state had nine Democratic and three Republican governors; during that period, Republicans held the statehouse for only six years.
Republican Party fortunes improved dramatically after 1950, largely because of the rise to state and national prominence of a conservative Republican, Barry Goldwater, first elected to the US Senate in 1952. From 1951 to 1994, eight Republican governors occupied the state house for 26 years, and five Democratic governors for 18 years. Several Arizona Republicans were appointed to high office during the Nixon years, and in 1973, another Republican, John J. Rhodes, became minority leader in the US House of Representatives. Democrat and former governor Bruce Babbitt was named Secretary of the Interior for the Clinton administration in 1992.
In 1996 Bill Clinton ended 40 years of Republican presidential victories in Arizona, becoming the first Democratic winner since 1952, with 47% of the vote to Bob Dole's 44% and 8% for Independent Ross Perot. In 2000, the pendulum swung back to the Republican side, with George W. Bush winning 51% of the vote to Al Gore's 45% and 3% for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. In 2002 there were 2,229,180 registered voters; 38% were Democratic, 43% Republican, and 19% unaffiliated or members of other parties in 2001. The state had eight electoral votes in the 2000 presidential election.
Democrat Dennis DeConcini won reelection to the US Senate in 1988; he retired in 1994, and his seat was won by Republican Jon Kyl. Republican John McCain was reelected senator in 1992 and again in 1998; McCain ran for the presidency in 2000 but dropped his bid. Following the November 1994 election, Arizona's delegation of US Representatives went from three Democrats and three Republicans to one Democrat and five Republicans; in the 108th Congress (2003–04), Arizona's congressional delegation had increased, and there were six Republicans and two Democrats in the House. Arizonans elected a Democrat, Janet Napolitano, as governor in 2002; she was the first female governor to be elected back-to-back behind another female governor, Jane Dee Hull. In 2003, Arizona's state legislature consisted of 17 Republicans and 13 Democrats in the senate, and 39 Republicans, 20 Democrats, and one independent in the state house. In 2003 there were 25 women serving in the state legislature.