Democrats lead in eight Arizona congressional races

In the state Legislature, Democrats seemed poised to retake the majority as they led in 59 races. Republicans were leading in 31. 

Democrats haven't controlled either chamber of Arizona's legislature since 1992, when the party held the majority in the state Senate. The last time Democrats held the majority in the state House was in 1964, by comparison. 

1st Congressional District

One of the most competitive races in Arizona this election cycle has been the race between former Arizona state Rep. Amish Shah, D-Phoenix, and retired NFL place kicker Jay Feely, a Gilbert Republican.

The two candidates were vying to replace U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Scottsdale, who lost the Republican primary in the gubernatorial race to U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert.

While votes are still being counted, Shah currently leads the race, with 54.89% (136,277) votes, compared with 43.20% (107,247) for Feely, as of 9 p.m. Mountain time Tuesday. 

If those results hold, Democrats would earn their first win in the district since Tom O’Halleran, D-Sedona, defeated his Republican opponents three times, in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Since 2022, Schweikert has held the seat, holding off Democrat Jevin Hodge, 50.4% to 49.6% four years ago and Shah, 51.9% to 48.1% two years ago.

For now, early returns show that it could be Shah's job to represent the district that stretches from the Arcadia neighborhood of midtown Phoenix east toward the Superstition Mountains, though plenty of votes remain in the swing district. 

2nd Congressional District

A rematch between U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Flagstaff, and former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, a Tuba City Democrat, was neck-and-neck on Tuesday night. 

In the district that sprawls from Yavapai County’s population centers of Prescott and Prescott Valley north toward Arizona’s Four Corners and White Mountain region, Crane had 49.52% of the vote, compared with 48.84% for Nez, four years after Crane beat Nez, 54.5% to 45.5%.

As the state Secretary of State's Office sorts through the final tally, Crane was leading Nez by 1,444 votes Tuesday night, though there's still plenty of time for things to change in Northern Arizona. 

Crane, a former Navy SEAL, was first elected to Congress in 2022, when he beat Democrat Tom O’Halleran, 53.9% to 46.1%.

3rd Congressional District

The only district in the state with zero Republican candidates on the ballot saw U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Phoenix, cruise to re-election.

Ansari, who faced off against Green Party candidate David Redkey and No Labels contender Alan Aversa, had 87.12% of the vote in the metropolitan Phoenix district, as of Tuesday evening.

The 34-year-old progressive Democrat grew up in Scottsdale, where she attended Chaparral High School before attending Stanford University. The university is where she interned for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who is retiring from Congress in January.

Now Ansari will return to Congress fresh off a one-sided election cycle where she went virtually unchallenged, keeping the heart of the state’s largest city under Democratic control in the House for two more years.

4th Congressional District

The other Democratic stronghold in the Phoenix area appears to be staying that way this election cycle, with U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Tempe, knocking off Zuhdi Jasser, R-Scottsdale, on Tuesday.

Stanton has been in Congress since 2018, completing two terms in the old 9th District before being moved into the current fourth, which he then won in 2024.

Two years ago, Stanton defeated Republican Kelly Cooper, 52.7% to 45.5%, pulling in 24,376 more votes in the East Valley of Phoenix area district.

Now, the 56-year-old, who served as the 60th mayor of Phoenix from 2012 to 2018, appears to have cruised toward a return to the House as he prepares to serve his fifth term in Congress, with 64.55% of the vote, compared with 33.2% for Jasser, as of Tuesday night.

5th Congressional District

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a San Tan Valley Republican, is in a tighter-than-expected battle in Central Arizona’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday.

Lamb, who knocked off former gubernatorial candidate and TV anchor Kari Lake in the GOP primary, is in a tight contest against his Democratic challenger in the general election, with Elizabeth Lee, a Gilbert Democrat, leading in the polls as of Tuesday night, 52.21%-to-47.65%. 

The race in the 5th Congressional District came about because of Biggs’ decision to run for Arizona’s gubernatorial race against Democratic incumbent Katie Hobbs.

Lee, a former nurse, is seeking to become the first Democrat to win the district since Harry Mitchell’s 2006 upset of incumbent J.D. Hayworth, the only time this century when a member of the party won in the district this century. Mitchell held the seat from 2006 through 2010, when he lost to Schweikert.

Biggs held the 5th District seat from 2016 through 2024, winning his five races by an average margin of 21% during that stretch.

Now, Biggs’ GOP heir apparent will have to wait a bit longer before heading to Washington, with Lee currently leading the race, 52.21% to 47.65%. 

6th Congressional District

The other race that was considered a toss-up by most polling services all the way up to Election Day was Southern Arizona’s 6th District. 

But on Election Night, Democrats seemed destined to hold the district for the first time since Karan English held it from 1993 to 1995, with Mendoza leading Ciscomani, 57.11% to 40.88%, as of Tuesday evening. 

The reconstituted 6th Congressional District has been represented by Ciscomani since 2022, with the Hermosillo, Mexico native beating Democrat Kirsten Engel, 50.7% to 49.2% and 50% to 47.5%, in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

On Tuesday night, Mendoza declared victory in the race, saying her win was the result of decades of hard work in and around Southern Arizona. 

“I grew up in a farmworker family that knew what it meant to work incredibly hard and still struggle to get by," Mendoza said in a statement on Tuesday night. "I joined our armed services to escape rural poverty, and I spent 20 years in the Marine Corps serving this country. But when I came home to Southern Arizona, that service did not end. I believe that people who work hard, raise families, and serve their communities deserve a representative who works just as hard for them.

“Tonight, the voters of this district have given me the opportunity to serve again. I don't take that responsibility lightly," she added. 

For now, the Arizona district appears to be going to Democrats for the first time since President Bill Clinton’s first term in office. Mendoza appeared to deliver a decisive victory for the party in one of the most competitive districts nationally this election cycle, though there are plenty of votes left to count. 

7th Congressional District

The daughter of longtime Democratic Congressman Raúl Grijalva will hold onto her late father’s seat for the next two years.

Adelita Grijalva, D-Tucson, rolled to victory on Tuesday, knocking off Republican opponent Daniel Butierez, a Nogales Republican, 74.65% to 25.2%. 

Grijalva previously served on the Pima County Board of Supervisors and on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board from 2002 through 2025, when she ran and defeated Butierez in a special election after Raúl’s death by 39.5%.

Raúl served in the House from 2002 through his death in 2025, having represented the state’s 3rd and Seventg districts (in two different iterations) during that span.

8th Congressional District

In the West Valley of the Phoenix metro area, U.S. Rep. Abraham Hamadeh, R-Scottsdale, is in a tight race against Democratic challenger Bernadette Greene-Placentia.

With 197,021 ballots counted, Hamadeh finds himself neck to neck with the former long haul truck driver, with Greene-Placentia currently holding a 50.95% to 48.87% lead. 

Greene-Placentia’s campaign raised awareness about the threat of sexual violence that women across America face, with The Phoenix New-Times breaking the news of her rape by two men over the summer while she was trying to repair a damaged campaign sign.

For now, her campaign for the House remains a work in progress, though several members of Congress, including Ansari, have vowed to use her story to enact change, both in Washington and beyond, regardless of where the final count stands in the eighth district.

As of Tuesday night, it's a toss up as to whether Hamadeh will head back to Washington to represent the state’s 8th District, or if Greene-Placentia will cap off the night with an upset in the eighth district.

9th District

The 9th Congressional District in Arizona saw longtime U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Bullhead City. take a big lead over Danielle Sterbinsky, D-Wittmann.

On Tuesday evening, Gosar’s 55.27% of the vote meant the 67-year-old who was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming will likely earn a ninth term in Congress.

The former Flagstaff dentist first reached the House by knocking off Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick in the old 1st District, before redistricting moved him to the fourth (from the 2012 through 2022 elections) and eventually into the ninth district in 2024.

Gosar’s opponent this cycle is a U.S. Navy veteran who has worked in human resources remotely from her home in Wittmann, a small town on U.S. Highway 60 about halfway between Glendale and Wickenburg.

She joins a list of Democrats who will likely come up short against Gosar, with the 67-year-old holding a 10.65% lead over Sterbinsky on Tuesday.