Ben Toma
2023 - Present
2025
1
Ben Toma (Republican Party) is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 27. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 13, 2025.
Toma (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 8th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on July 30, 2024.
Toma became Arizona state speaker of the house on January 9, 2023.[1] He served as Arizona state House majority leader from 2021 to 2023.
Toma received a bachelor's degree in integrative studies (philosophy) from Arizona State University West in 2003. He began his career working for American Express as a business performance manager and manager of portfolio analytics. In 2008, Toma began working as a real estate broker at Century 21 Toma Partners.[2]
Toma first held public office in 2014, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy representing the Mesquite District on the Peoria City Council in Arizona. He served on the council until 2015 after losing the special election to fill the seat.[3] In 2017, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Toma to fill a vacancy representing District 22 in the Arizona House of Representatives. Toma won the election in 2018 with 32% of the vote, along with Frank Carroll (R), who also won the election in the multi-member district with 31% of the vote. Toma was re-elected in 2020 and 2022. Toma did not seek re-election to the Arizona House in 2024, instead running to represent Arizona's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House.
Toma completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Toma said, "I’m running because I’m tired of candidates who campaign as conservatives or who try to do Trump impressions to fool voters. I have a proven record of protecting taxpayers, limiting the size of government, and protecting our liberties." He said his priorities were: "Economy, Small Government, & Low and Fair Taxes," being "Pro-life & Pro-school Choice," and being "Pro Law Enforcement & 2nd Amendment." On his 2024 campaign website, Toma said he "authored and passed two landmark pieces of conservative legislation that were previously thought 'impossible' by both supporters and opponents," referring to a bill introducing a flat tax and a bill providing funds for parents to educate their children outside of public schools.[4]
Biography
Ben Toma was born in Romania and moved to the United States in 1987.[5] Toma graduated from Park Rose High School in Portland. He studied at Portland State University from 1995 to 1996 and earned a B.A. in integrative studies (philosophy) from Arizona State University West in 2003. His career experience includes working as a business performance manager and manager of portfolio analytics at American Express and as a designated broker at Century 21 Toma Partners. He served on the Peoria City Council in Arizona from 2014 to 2015.[6][7]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Toma was assigned to the following committees:
- House Rules Committee
- Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Speaker of the House
- Legislative Council, Chair 2024
2021-2022
Toma was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Toma was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Arizona's 8th Congressional District election, 2024
Arizona's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Republican primary)
Arizona's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Arizona District 8
Gregory Whitten and Abraham Hamadeh are running in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 8 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Gregory Whitten (D)  | |
 | Abraham Hamadeh (R) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jeremy Spreitzer (D)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 8
Gregory Whitten advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 8 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gregory Whitten | 100.0 | 47,406 |
| Total votes: 47,406 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 8
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 8 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Abraham Hamadeh | 29.9 | 30,686 |
 | Blake Masters | 25.7 | 26,422 | |
 | Ben Toma | 21.0 | 21,549 | |
 | Trent Franks | 16.3 | 16,714 | |
 | Anthony Kern | 4.8 | 4,922 | |
 | Patrick Briody | 2.3 | 2,336 | |
 | Isiah Gallegos (Write-in) | 0.0 | 35 | |
| Total votes: 102,664 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Debbie Lesko (R)
Endorsements
Toma received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R)
Pledges
Toma signed the following pledges. To send us additional pledges, click here.
2022
See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and incumbent Kevin Payne defeated Don Kissinger in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma (R) | 34.6 | 40,249 |
| ✔ |  | Kevin Payne (R) | 34.6 | 40,240 |
 | Don Kissinger (D) | 30.8 | 35,839 | |
| Total votes: 116,328 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 (2 seats)
Don Kissinger advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Kissinger (Write-in) | 100.0 | 681 |
| Total votes: 681 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and incumbent Kevin Payne defeated Brian Morris and Jay Griffin in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 27 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma | 41.3 | 17,278 |
| ✔ | | Kevin Payne | 40.1 | 16,772 |
 | Brian Morris | 11.0 | 4,617 | |
| Jay Griffin | 7.5 | 3,143 | |
| Total votes: 41,810 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and incumbent Frank Carroll defeated Wendy Garcia and Mary Honne in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma (R) | 32.3 | 92,912 |
| ✔ |  | Frank Carroll (R) | 32.1 | 92,231 |
 | Wendy Garcia (D) | 18.6 | 53,522 | |
 | Mary Honne (D) | 17.0 | 48,821 | |
| Total votes: 287,486 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Wendy Garcia and Mary Honne advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wendy Garcia | 57.3 | 20,854 |
| ✔ | | Mary Honne | 42.7 | 15,519 |
| Total votes: 36,373 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and incumbent Frank Carroll advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma | 50.0 | 33,677 |
| ✔ | | Frank Carroll | 50.0 | 33,667 |
| Total votes: 67,344 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2018
Ron Ha'o (R) ran as a write-in candidate.
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and Frank Carroll defeated Teri Sarmiento and Valerie Harris in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma (R) | 31.6 | 65,310 |
| ✔ | | Frank Carroll (R) | 31.3 | 64,729 |
 | Teri Sarmiento (D) | 18.8 | 38,895 | |
 | Valerie Harris (D) | 18.3 | 37,832 | |
| Total votes: 206,766 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Valerie Harris and Teri Sarmiento advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Valerie Harris | 55.5 | 13,418 |
| ✔ | | Teri Sarmiento | 44.5 | 10,778 |
| Total votes: 24,196 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ben Toma and Frank Carroll defeated Matt Bullock and John Heep in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 22 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Toma | 34.5 | 21,502 |
| ✔ | | Frank Carroll | 26.6 | 16,599 |
| Matt Bullock | 22.6 | 14,084 | |
| John Heep | 16.3 | 10,142 | |
| Total votes: 62,327 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ben Toma did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Ben Toma completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Toma's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I’m a husband, father, small-business owner, and committed conservative. As the House Majority Leader I’ve fought an emboldened Democrat minority and beaten them. Working with my seatmate Kevin Payne, we’re passing reforms to make our elections more secure and transparent. I authored and led passage of the largest tax cut in state history, have record tax revenues, increased K-12 classroom funding and teacher pay, expanded school choice to every child in AZ, and stopped left-wing attempts to indoctrinate our kids, Due to these policies, we have one of the strongest economies and job markets in the nation. I have a 100% pro-Constitution voting record and, as the father of five girls, am absolutely committed to protecting our 2nd Amendment rights. I’m running because I’m tired of candidates who campaign as conservatives or who try to do Trump impressions to fool voters. I have a proven record of protecting taxpayers, limiting the size of government, and protecting our liberties. This battle is not for the faint of heart, or for those whose ambitions matter more than ideology. Let’s work together to protect Arizona.
- Economy, Small Government, & Low and Fair Taxes: I believe the best way to grow the economy and recover from this downturn is to get the government out of the way. Regulations that hinder growth need to be repealed, and government budgets must be scrutinized so we can trim bloat and reduce taxes. Business owners will invest their capital to expand and create jobs if they can keep more of their hard-earned money and have less red tape to deal with. My record proves it: I designed and passed the largest tax cut in state history in 2021.
- Pro-life & Pro-school Choice: I’m pro-life. It’s a shame to see the liberal media hype up certain kinds of violence while completely ignoring the thousands of lives lost each day due to abortion. Regarding education, the best thing we can do for Arizona children is to give them options where to go to school. I fully support school choice. I believe competition in education is the #1 way to increase the quality of our education system and to see that our best teachers make the salaries they deserve. Throwing more and more taxpayer dollars at education without true reform isn’t the answer. The system needs fixing.
- Pro Law Enforcement & 2nd Amendment: I fully support our Constitutional right to bear arms. The freedom to defend oneself is a necessary and practical freedom, especially during this time of riots and pushes to de-fund police departments. I have and will continue to oppose all efforts to curb our freedom to own and operate firearms. Further, I think it’s insane to push for de-funding the police. The vast majority of police officers are great people who try their absolute best to keep us safe while fairly enforcing the law. I will always support our law enforcement community and their efforts to keep our communities safe.
I'm passionate about good policy regardless of the area. I've been blessed to get big wins in cutting the income tax (with the AZ flat tax), simplifying the tax code (the remote seller a.k.a. "Wayfair" reform), universal backpack funding (the ESA expansion to all AZ families), religious freedom (the "Religion is Essential" bill), and the 2nd chance record sealing bill in the criminal justice space (with support from law enforcement). Further, the budget we just passed include $560+ million to secure our borders because the Feds refuse to do their job, included $1+ billion to pay off debt, $1+ billion for water, and $1+ billion in strategic infrastructure investments. No matter how difficult the subject, or limited the chance of success, I will continue to work on common sense reforms until they pass because they are good for all AZ residents.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Ben Toma did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arizona scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 9 to July 31.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 10 to June 25.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 11 to June 30.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 13 to May 26.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 28.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 54th Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 4.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 53rd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 4.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Arizona District 8 |
Officeholder Arizona House of Representatives District 27 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Legistorm, "Arizona State Rep. Ben Toma," accessed July 26, 2024
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Ben Toma," accessed January 14, 2023
- ↑ City of Peoria, "Historic List of Council Members," accessed June 24, 2024
- ↑ Toma's campaign website, "About," accessed June 24, 2024
- ↑ Ben Toma 2022 campaign website, "About Ben," accessed February 14, 2022
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Ben Toma," accessed January 14, 2023
- ↑ Facebook, "Ben Toma," accessed January 14, 2023
