Across the measures we track — health, food, crime, jobs, and more — Arizona ranks 34th out of 50 states. Not last, but firmly in the bottom half. That's the ground Arizonans are already standing on: high hunger, gun deaths well above the national average, and rising prices squeezing every household in the state.
Here's what matters about that starting point: when Washington cuts, states in the bottom half have less room to absorb the hit. And the Arizonans we sent to Congress — Andy Biggs, David Schweikert, Paul Gosar, Eli Crane, Juan Ciscomani, and Abraham Hamadeh — didn't vote to cushion Arizona. They voted for the budget bill and the cuts that make these numbers worse.
Let's walk through the figures, and then who signed off on them.
More than 300,000 Arizonans could lose their health coverage
More than 300,000 Arizonans are projected to lose access to federally subsidized health coverage under Trump's budget bill — one of the highest losses of any state in the nation.
For a state already this far down on health outcomes, that's not a rounding error. It's insulin that doesn't get filled, cancer screenings that get skipped, and rural clinics that lose the patients who keep their doors open. When coverage disappears, the cost doesn't. It moves to the emergency room and to families who can't pay.
This didn't happen to Arizona. It was voted for.
889,600 people on SNAP — and Arizona already leads the nation in cuts
About 889,600 Arizonans rely on SNAP food benefits every single month — roughly 11.7% of the state. Here in Arizona, 1 in 5 kids faces hunger every day.
Then the budget bill hit. Since it took effect, more than 400,000 Arizonans — including 180,000 children — have already lost their food benefits. Arizona has posted the highest reduction in food-stamp recipients of any state in the country. That's not a projection or a warning. It already happened — to the family down the street and to kids who never got a vote.
$470 million in DOGE cuts — and a wildfire season Arizona can't afford
DOGE brags about the roughly $470 million it "saved" by cutting from Arizona. But look at what that number actually bought.
After DOGE's mass firings at the Forest Service, the agency treated 35% fewer acres for hazardous wildfire fuels nationwide in 2025 — with Arizona's fuel-treatment acreage dropping about 11%. In a state that watches the forecast every summer and holds its breath, thinning less brush isn't a paperwork savings. It's a bigger, hotter fire waiting to happen — and the homes, watersheds, and firefighters that pay for it.
That's the trade Arizona got: a headline "savings" number in Washington, and less protection standing between the state and the next catastrophic burn. On top of it, there were 450,000 layoffs in Arizona in 2025.
A $2,600 hidden tax on Arizona families
While prices climbed, Arizona's Republicans in Congress lined up to defend Trump's tariffs — which the Arizona Center for Economic Progress found act as a hidden tax costing the average household about $2,600 per year. A 21% tariff on Mexican tomatoes alone could deal a major blow to Arizona's produce industry, a backbone of the border economy.
So the same delegation that talks about the cost of living voted for a health-care cut, a food-benefit cut, and a tariff regime that quietly bills every Arizona household $2,600 a year. Cutting your coverage and raising your grocery bill at the same time isn't fighting for Arizona. It's the opposite.
16.9 gun deaths per 100,000 — 32% above the U.S. rate
Arizona's gun-death rate is 16.9 per 100,000 people, 32% higher than the national rate. You'd think a delegation that talks about protecting Arizona families would treat that as an emergency. Instead, our members in Congress have consistently blocked even the most basic steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Who voted for this
The Medicaid cuts, the SNAP squeeze, and the budget that greenlit DOGE didn't pass themselves. They passed because Arizona's own representatives in Washington voted yes. All six currently serve in the U.S. House — and Biggs and Schweikert are now asking Arizonans to make one of them governor:
- Andy Biggs — U.S. Representative (AZ-05), running for Governor
- David Schweikert — U.S. Representative (AZ-01), running for Governor
- Paul Gosar — U.S. Representative (AZ-09)
- Eli Crane — U.S. Representative (AZ-02)
- Juan Ciscomani — U.S. Representative (AZ-06)
- Abraham Hamadeh — U.S. Representative (AZ-08)
And it's not just the budget. ICE arrests more than tripled in Arizona in 2025 — over 6,000 people — as street operations spread into neighborhoods and workplaces, with families taken outside grocery stores and on the way to doctor's appointments. This delegation cheered it on.
The choice in 2026
Arizona doesn't rank 34th because its people don't work hard. It ranks where it does because for too long it's been treated as a place to cut — and the people we sent to Washington kept holding the door open for the cuts instead of standing in the way.
In 2026, that's on the ballot: six House seats, and two of these same members asking for a promotion to the governor's office. The numbers on this page are the record. The names above are the ones who voted for it. Arizonans get to decide whether that's the representation they keep.
