Who They Are: Arizona Legislature
T.J. Shope (R)
State Senator · District 16, Arizona Legislature
On the Nov. 3 ballot.
- How
- Elected
- Party
- Republican
- Since
- January 2023
- Term ends
- Jan. 11, 2027
- Next election
- Nov. 3, 2026
- Background
- Senate president pro tempore; in the Legislature since 2013.
- Pay
- $24,000 a year, by statute since 1999: A.R.S. § 41-1103 via the Commission on Salaries for Elective State Officers; the amount was approved by voters as Proposition 302 in 1998. Plus per diem under A.R.S. § 41-1104, higher for members from outside Maricopa County.
What the office does
Each of Arizona's 30 legislative districts elects one senator to a two-year term, and no senator may serve more than four consecutive terms in the seat.
Arizona's lawmaking power belongs to the Legislature, a Senate and a House of Representatives; the people keep the initiative and referendum for themselves. The Legislature meets every year at the Capitol starting the second Monday of January, and the governor can call special sessions limited to the subjects named in the call.
A bill passes only with a majority of all members elected to each house, then goes to the governor. A veto is overridden by two-thirds of the members elected to each house.
Source: Arizona Constitution, Article IV, Part 1, § 1; Part 2, §§ 1, 3, 15 and 21; Article V, § 7.
In our reporting
Not yet named in a report.
See the whole chart: Arizona Legislature.
Seat details: official page.
Official portrait via the Arizona Legislature (azleg.gov)
Who They Are was researched and written by Nicholas De Leon with Claude Fable 5.1 from the official pages, election canvasses, statutes and contracts linked on each chart; the reports naming each person are matched by code from What They Decided, and no model wrote any of it. Last updated 10:31 AM MST on October 5, 2026. Read more about how this is made.