Arizona: Jeb Bush Endorses Matt Salmon; Raul Grijalva Backs David Schapira
Two Arizona House candidates each picked up an endorsement that will likely help them in their contested primaries.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is endorsing former Rep. Matt Salmon in Salmon’s quest to return to Congress in Arizona’s 5th district. And on Monday, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D) announced he is backing state Senate Minority Leader David Schapira in his race for the 9th district seat.
Salmon is the frontrunner in the GOP primary against former state Speaker Kirk Adams. The winner of the primary will almost certainly win in the fall. Roll Call rates this race as Safe Republican.
“Voters are looking for candidates who stand up for what they believe in and can win, not by hiding their values but by sharing them with voters,” Grijalva said. “David is that candidate.”
Grijalva is something of a polarizing figure in Arizona Democratic politics. His 2010 boycott of the state over the state Legislature’s tough immigration policies alienated some moderate Democrats and many say contributed to the defeat of two Congressional incumbents in that year’s GOP wave. But Schapira is in a hotly contested primary against former state Democratic Party Chairman Andrei Cherny and former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Roll Call rates that race as a Tossup.