Arizona Rep. Aaron Lieberman’s stunning resignation Monday made him the second Democratic lawmaker to resign his office in recent weeks.

In the Senate, Democrat Kirsten Engel of Tucson recently announced plans to resign at the end of the month so she can focus on her campaign for the U.S. House.

The announcement likely came as a shock to state Democratic leaders.

The second-term lawmaker from Paradise Valley represents one of the most competitive legislative districts in the state.

Democratic precinct committeemen from Legislative District 28 will nominate three potential replacements, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will choose a winner. Lieberman’s replacement must be a Democrat.

With several other lawmakers running for higher office, more resignations are possible before the end of the year.

Lieberman announced that he’s immediately resigning from the state House so he can devote himself full-time to his campaign for governor.

“I am all in on this race for Governor, and for that reason, I have decided that it is both logistically practical and ethically imperative to resign my seat in the state legislature,” Lieberman said in a press statement Monday, according to the Arizona Mirror.

“During my time in the state legislature, I worked across the aisle to get good things done, but I had a front-row seat to watch bad things happen to our state, from banning mask mandates in our schools to slashing nearly $3 billion in state revenues,” Lieberman stated.

He faces a tough Democratic primary for governor against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and businessman Marco Lopez.

The Legislature is not scheduled to be in session until January.

When they return to the Capitol, state lawmakers will find an unusually large number of new colleagues for a session that doesn’t follow an election.

In addition to Lieberman and Engel, there are or will soon be two other vacancies in the House after Democratic Rep. Raquel Teran was elevated to the Senate to replace a Democratic senator charged with sex crimes.

Republican Rep. Bret Roberts also recently announced plans to quit after he and his family made plans to move out of state, his office announced.

 

 

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The Associated Press contributed to this article