Despite MAGA opposition, AZ Rep. Chris Mathis (D-LD18) delivered for public school students, protected Medicaid, and helped lower child care costs in 2025. Now he is seeking a third term.
Since 2021, Mathis has confronted Republican resistance in the Arizona legislature, spotlighting a contentious year marked by fierce battles over water policy and electric utility scams.
Mathis is one of the Terrific Trio of Tucson LD18 Democrats, including Sen. Priya Sundareshan, co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, and Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, Arizona House Democratic Minority Co-Leader.
While Sundareshan and Gutierrez have taken roles in the spotlight, Rep. Mathis prefers to work backstage. “Most of the work I do at the Capitol is behind the scenes, working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” Mathis confided.
Mathis is urging Arizonans to stay engaged, contact their legislators, and support his reelection. Only organized public pressure can turn next year’s water, education and budget fights into real victories for Southern Arizona.
Put Rep. Mathis on the 2026 ballot. Sign his petition at https://apps.azsos.gov/apps/election/eps/op/
Mathis, a law professor, represents Tucson and Southern Arizona, and devoted much of the 2025 session to water and energy policy, serving as ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee.
His bipartisan Rural Groundwater Management Act – co-introduced in the Senate by Sen. Sundareshan — sought to rein in unchecked pumping in rural Arizona through stricter regulation and local control. But the bill was blocked from even getting a hearing by Republican committee Chair Gail Griffin, despite hundreds of hours of negotiation.
“We’ve made significant progress on what this new type of regulatory framework should look like,” Mathis said in a recent update to supporters. Despite the setback, Gov. Katie Hobbs moved forward with executive protections for the state’s highest-risk groundwater basins under the existing 1980 Groundwater Management Act.
The stakes escalated as Mathis joined Arizona’s delegation negotiating the future of the Colorado River compact. Fears of federal litigation drove Mathis to secure $3 million for water rights defense. He traveled with the state delegation to the Colorado River Water Users Association Conference and plans to return next month. Any new compact will require legislative approval, making bipartisan support crucial for 2026.
Utility asset scam
Turning to utility reform, Mathis waged an unsuccessful fight against two bills that limit power company liability and allow the risky securitization of assets. He said the legislation harms ratepayers and violates the state constitution. Mathis plans to introduce repeal legislation in 2026, working closely with the Sierra Club.
Against a backdrop of Republican resistance — including refusal to address the ballooning $1 billion ESA voucher program for private schools and continued “flat tax cuts” for millionaires — Mathis and fellow Democrats scored rare bipartisan victories in this year’s budget. Key wins included:
- $37 million for low-income schools and expanded free meals.
- $45 million to cut child care waiting lists in half.
- $34 million for college scholarships launching Arizona’s Community College Promise Program.
- $17 million for homelessness and veteran housing.
- Pay raises for firefighters, law enforcement and emergency responders.
Protecting Medicaid
A particularly significant victory came in protecting Medicaid services for Arizonans with severe developmental disabilities. Mathis’s Terrific Trio colleague, Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, led the fight to preserve funding for paid parental caregivers after Republicans initially threatened the program.
In total, Mathis introduced 27 bills, but only a commemorative license plate bill received a committee hearing — a reflection of what he called Republican “intransigence despite having a slim majority.”
“We face many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, whose callous, ‘starve the beast’ approach to budgeting…ignores an otherwise broad consensus to fund existing programs that help our neighbors and those in economic distress,” Mathis said.
“Our (Democratic) caucus was able to leverage our budget votes to deliver for public school students, protect Medicaid and make big investments to help bring down the cost of child care and make college tuition-free for Arizona’s students from working families,” he said..
“It was the first budget I was able to support in the past three years,” Mathis said.
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