Candidates backed by President Donald Trump swept through their Republican primaries in Arizona on Tuesday while the Democratic primary for a key Phoenix-area battleground House race remained uncalled as of early Wednesday morning. In the GOP gubernatorial primary to take on Gov. Katie Hobbs, voters overwhelmingly backed Rep. Andy Biggs, an anti-establishment conservative and former chair of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. With 75 percent of the vote in, Biggs led a four-way field with 73 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with his nearest opponent, Rep. David Schweikert, trailing with 15 percent. Hobbs was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Biggs is leaving behind the deep-red 5th District, a suburban seat southeast of Phoenix where Trump-backed Mark Lamb defeated homebuilder Daniel Keenan in the GOP primary. In recent weeks, Lamb, a former Pinal County sheriff who ran for Senate in 2024, has been embroiled in scandal. An Arizona Republic investigation found that he used threats to suppress allegations of sexting and shared homophobic and racist texts. Lamb has called the allegations “lies.” Lamb was leading Keenan, 59 percent to 41 percent, with 75 percent of the vote in, the AP reported. He will next face Democrat Elizabeth Lee, a progressive who prevailed in a three-way primary, in a district Trump carried by 20 points in 2024. Key battleground district In the race to succeed Schweikert in Arizona’s 1st District, retired NFL kicker and sports commentator Jay Feely defeated two opponents to claim the Republican nomination. With 76 percent of the vote in, Feely had just under 50 percent to 35 percent for former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and 15 percent for technology executive John Trobough, according to the AP. Feely initially launched a campaign to succeed Biggs in the 5th District but pivoted in December to Schweikert’s seat with Trump’s encouragement. The 1st District, a battleground seat northeast of Phoenix, is seen as pivotal to Democrats’ hopes of flipping the House this fall. As of 5 a.m. Eastern time, the AP had not made a call in the Democratic primary. Former state Rep. Amish Shah, the 2024 Democratic nominee who lost to Schweikert by 4 points, was leading former broadcast journalist Marlene Galán-Woods and two other candidates with 77 percent of the vote in. Galán-Woods had the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which also spent big on her behalf. That decision by House Democrats’ campaign arm to pick sides in the primary drew criticism from Shah and other Arizona Democrats, including Rep. Adelita Grijalva. Galán-Woods, a former Republican, also had the backing of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and EMILY’s List. Shah, meanwhile, boasted the support of current and former state legislators, including former state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican who resisted pressure from Trump and his allies in 2020 to overturn Joe Biden's victory in Arizona. Like Shah, Galán-Woods, whose late husband, Grant Woods, served two terms as Arizona attorney general, was also making a repeat run for the 1st District, having finished third in the 2024 Democratic primary. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race for the 1st District a Toss-up. Other races In the blue-leaning 4th District, anchored in Tempe in suburban Phoenix, Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton fended off a challenge from his left, avoiding an outcome that hit several House colleagues in primaries in New York and Colorado last month. With 77 percent of the vote in, Stanton, a former Phoenix mayor, was leading progressive organizer Kai Newkirk 77 percent to 33 percent, the AP reported. He will next face physician and Navy veteran Zuhdi Jasser, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination. November matchups were set before Tuesday in two other competitive Arizona races, where the major-party candidates ran unopposed in their primaries. In the 6th District in the state’s southeastern corner, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, one of the chamber’s most vulnerable Republicans, will face Democratic Marine veteran JoAnna Mendoza in a race rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections. And in the sprawling 2nd District, which covers northeastern and central Arizona and the exurbs of Phoenix and Tucson, Republican Rep. Eli Crane faces a rematch with Democrat Jonathan Nez, the former Navajo Nation president whom he defeated by 9 points in 2024. Inside Elections rates the contest Likely Republican.
