Kiana Maria Sears
Democratic · AZ · Arizona State Senator for Legislative District 9
Kiana Maria Sears is the Democratic Arizona state senator for Legislative District 9. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed her in March 2025 after Eva Burch resigned. Sears previously served on the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board and worked in public policy and utility regulation, including seven years as an executive utility regulatory consultant at the Arizona Corporation Commission. She earned a Master of Public Administration from Arizona State University.
Track record
Environment and Public Health
· 2 records
Sears cosponsored SB 1382, requiring water-measuring devices and reporting for additional groundwater withdrawals.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against HB 2572, which established new provisions for irrigation grandfathered rights.
April 16, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Reduce Wealth Gap
· 1 record
Sears cosponsored SB 1721, requiring prevailing wages and fringe benefits on state-sponsored or state-financed public construction contracts.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Government Efficiency
· 3 records
Sears voted for SB 1372, requiring public-record requesters to affirm that requested records would not be used commercially.
April 29, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against HB 2824, which authorized state legislators to hold an individual in contempt.
April 16, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for HB 2451, allowing one uncontested change by an administrative law judge in administrative hearings.
April 15, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Healthcare Affordability
· 1 record
Sears voted against HB 2693, which allowed insurers and AHCCCS to limit coverage for genetic sequencing.
April 16, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Government Spending Reduction
· 1 record
Sears voted for HB 2704, authorizing tax distributions for a new Arizona Diamondbacks stadium.
June 19, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Public Safety and Crime Control
· 4 records
Sears voted for HB 2223, requiring disclosure and notification when a registered sex offender seeks a legal name change.
April 1, 2026For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for HB 2112, requiring commercial pornography websites to verify a user's age before granting access.
May 6, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for HB 2611, establishing a class 4 felony for assaults involving two or more accomplices.
May 6, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for SB 1604, requiring secure placement for criminal defendants found dangerous and incompetent when a state mental-health facility is not feasible.
April 29, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Housing Affordability
· 3 records
Sears cosponsored SB 1442, restricting corporate purchases of single-family residences.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for SB 1540, extending the types of property eligible for Arizona's $400,000 homestead exemption.
April 29, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears said housing reform should examine multiple options, use legislative research data, and avoid unintended consequences rather than rely on a single model.
March 24, 2025For
Source: content.govdelivery.com · researched July 18, 2026
Social Programs and Welfare
· 2 records
Sears voted against SB 1296, which amended eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits.
April 29, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for HB 2945, appropriating funding for Arizona's disability-services program.
April 24, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Public Education Quality
· 2 records
Sears cosponsored SB 1699, changing distribution intervals for Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears cosponsored SB 1694, adding meeting, reporting, safety-assessment, and audit requirements for charter schools.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Gun Control
· 1 record
Sears cosponsored SB 1600, creating criminal liability when a minor accesses a readily dischargeable firearm because it was negligently left unsecured.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Election Integrity
· 4 records
Sears voted for HB 2022, moving Arizona's primary-election date to the second-to-last Tuesday in July.
February 5, 2026For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against SB 1280, which required counties to send cast-vote records to the Secretary of State within 48 hours after submitting their canvass.
April 29, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against SB 1375, which required county recorders to provide free online public access to voter-information rolls.
April 29, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears supported modern secure ballot-processing equipment, earlier mail-ballot counting under security controls, updated deadlines, and added poll-worker training to speed election results.
March 24, 2025For
Source: content.govdelivery.com · researched July 18, 2026
Data Privacy
· 1 record
Sears voted for HB 2112, requiring commercial pornography websites to verify a user's age before granting access.
May 6, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Civil Rights
· 4 records
Sears voted against SB 1635, which prohibited people from alerting others to law-enforcement activity.
March 2, 2026For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears cosponsored SB 1753, extending antidiscrimination protections in education, employment, housing, and public accommodations to sexual orientation and gender identity.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against HB 2438, which prohibited changing a birth certificate to reflect a person's gender identity.
April 15, 2025For
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears committed to continue work with Arizona's Jewish community, the Anti-Defamation League, and school No Place for Hate programs to combat antisemitism and discrimination.
March 24, 2025For
Source: content.govdelivery.com · researched July 18, 2026
Corporate Accountability
· 1 record
Sears cosponsored SB 1322, prohibiting price increases of 15 percent or more for essential goods and services during abnormal market disruptions.
January 14, 2026For
Source: azleg.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Public Infrastructure
· 1 record
Sears voted against SB 1309, which required electrical-grid improvements intended to protect against severe weather and drought.
April 15, 2025Against
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
General
· 10 records
Sears filed for the 2026 Democratic primary for Arizona State Senate District 9 with 673 petition signatures.
March 13, 2026
Source: azsos.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against SB 1520, requiring state law enforcement to share requested information with the federal government.
February 25, 2026
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against SB 1055, requiring state law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities when a person without legal status is arrested.
February 23, 2026
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted against HB 2749, establishing a reserve fund for bitcoin and other digital assets.
April 30, 2025
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for SB 1543, authorizing an Axon headquarters development in Scottsdale.
April 15, 2025
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears voted for HB 2076, amending statutory definitions and rules governing life-insurance illustrations.
April 9, 2025
Source: justfacts.votesmart.org · researched July 18, 2026
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Sears to the vacant Arizona Senate District 9 seat following Eva Burch's resignation.
March 26, 2025
Source: maricopa.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears opted not to seek reelection to the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board in 2024.
November 5, 2024
Source: mpsaz.org · researched July 18, 2026
Sears was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, receiving 948,195 votes in the general election.
November 6, 2018
Source: elections.maricopa.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Sears began service on the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board, where she ultimately served through 2024.
January 1, 2016
Source: apps.azlibrary.gov · researched July 18, 2026
Integrity and Ethics
· 2 records
AZFamily reported that Sears, who neither paid for nor organized a lobbyist-funded catered meal, complained about its quality and requested that the restaurant remake the order for a later date; she did not respond to the outlet's request for comment.
June 10, 2026
Source: azfamily.com · researched July 18, 2026
In her LD9 appointment questionnaire, Sears stated that she did not believe she had experienced ethical violations or disciplinary actions during her prior elected service.
March 24, 2025
Source: content.govdelivery.com · researched July 18, 2026
Elections
- State Senator - District No. 9 · July 21, 2026 · State Senate District 9; Arizona · incumbent
Profile last researched July 18, 2026.