Kate Brophy McGee has been unanimously elected as the chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, becoming the first woman to hold this position in nearly 25 years. Brophy McGee, who represents District 3, which includes much of Phoenix and its northern suburbs, outlined her priorities for the county at a meeting on January 5.
“Your county government is already doing a lot of things right: keeping the property tax rate low; following constitutionally mandated spending limits; and making long-term investments that improve government service and promote community well-being,” said Chair Brophy McGee. “My promise to you is that we will maintain that strong fiscal position, protect taxpayers, and meet service demands, regardless of what comes our way.”
Brophy McGee plans to focus on quality-of-life issues such as housing security and public safety. In 2025, Maricopa County Justice Courts processed more than 80,000 eviction filings for the third consecutive year. To address this issue, she announced a pilot program with the City of Phoenix aimed at developing effective and financially sustainable interventions. “Together, we’re going to build a model that works,” she said.
The chair also emphasized efforts to reduce delays in treatment admissions for individuals in the justice system with serious mental illness. She pledged collaboration with Presiding Judge Pam Gates to strengthen this process. “By working together, we can strengthen this process and better ensure timely access to care for people during their time of greatest need,” Brophy McGee stated.
Public safety remains a major budget priority for Maricopa County, which typically allocates about half its annual budget to these measures. Brophy McGee said she would continue supporting law enforcement through budgeting and work toward ending federal oversight of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
A recent survey showed residents are concerned about rapid regional growth. Brophy McGee highlighted county government’s role in ensuring new developments have necessary infrastructure like water and roads. She pointed to improvements such as a centralized permitting process and modernized zoning ordinance as steps forward.
“We’re going to put in place Infrastructure Readiness Assessments so we can get early visibility into unincorporated county areas where capacity is lagging, and we will make this information easier for the public to access with a Development Pipeline Dashboard,” she explained. “This dashboard will provide a real-time view of development activity and associated infrastructure so we all know what’s happening in our neighborhoods.”
In 2026, Maricopa County will oversee four elections including state and national midterms. The county also plans to release results from an independent review of election processes. “Where auditors have identified ways we can be better, we’ll move swiftly to make those changes,” said Brophy McGee. She called on the County Recorder to explain why more voters had their signatures rejected in November 2025’s jurisdictional election: “We want to be sure those voters can participate in future elections if they are eligible to do so.”
Brophy McGee acknowledged her status as the first female chair since Jan Brewer in 2001 during today’s Passing of the Gavel ceremony attended by several prominent Arizona women leaders ahead of America’s upcoming 250th birthday.
“When we follow the example of these trailblazing leaders—when we do the hard thing, when we refuse to give into political pressure—we are doing what the founders intended and what American democracy demands,” she said.
Educational outcomes remain an ongoing challenge for Maricopa County students. During the 2022-23 school year, nearly two-thirds (62.9%) of students in grades three through eight did not pass mathematics assessments according to AASA data (https://www.azed.gov/), while 65% of high schoolers failed math on the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/). English proficiency was also low: over half (57.2%) failed English assessments in grades three through eight (https://www.azed.gov/), with similar results among high schoolers on ACT English exams (https://www.azed.gov/). However, there were some improvements reported for 2023-24: about one-third (33.9%) passed high school math ACTs (https://www.azed.gov/) and 36% passed math AASA tests at lower grade levels (https://www.azed.gov/).
More information about Chair Brophy McGee’s priorities is available at Maricopa.gov/District3.
