Key races for House and Senate are on the ballot in Tuesday’s Arizona primaries.
Arizona voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose nominees in four key primary elections: Senate, governor, and two House races. The most closely watched race will be the Republican primary for the Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake — Rep. Martha McSally, Kelli Ward, and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are all running.
There’s also a competitive Democratic primary for governor to see who will challenge Republican incumbent Doug Ducey and two House races — including one where Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick and Matt Heinz are fighting bitterly.
Polls close at 7 pm local time/10 pm Eastern. Live results are below, powered by Decision Desk.
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Arizona Senate primary
Sen. Jeff Flake is retiring, leaving an open seat
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While Rep. Martha McSally is considered the frontrunner in the Republican primary for US Senate, there’s also a bitter competition playing out between Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio, two hardline, Trumpy Republicans. (Remember, President Trump pardoned Arpaio earlier this year for criminal contempt of court, a misdemeanor.) McSally, meanwhile, is facing questions about her loyalty to Trump — she didn’t endorse him in 2016 but now calls him a “friend.”
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Arizona is a key pickup opportunity for Democrats after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake announced he wouldn’t seek reelection. Democratic candidate Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is the likely winner of her race; she has one little-known challenger named Deedra Abboud.
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Arizona governor primary
Democrats are challenging Republican Doug Ducey
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It’s looking likely that Ducey will win the Republican primary, despite a challenge. Ducey’s approval rating has fallen in recent weeks, and he is facing a tough dynamic with the state’s fired-up teachers, who marched on the state capitol by the tens of thousands, demanding better pay.
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On the Democratic side, David Garcia has maintained a steady lead in the polls, with Steve Farley in second place. Garcia is running as a progressive; he supports Medicare-for-all and campaign finance reform. (He recently pledged to return almost $7,000 worth of campaign contributions he got from individuals identified as lobbyists after promising to take no lobbyist money.)
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Arizona’s First Congressional District
Democrat Tom O’Halleran is up for reelection
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Incumbent Rep. Tom O’Halleran is facing a challenge from Republicans. O’Halleran actually used to be a Republican himself when he was in the Arizona state legislature, but he left the party in 2014 and ran as a Democrat two years later. The district voted for Trump in 2016.
O’Halleran is unopposed, but on the Republican side, there’s a Trump loyalty contest going on. Steve Smith is running on his experience as an elected official, but Wendy Rogers is garnering a fair amount of name recognition and is running on her loyalty to the president.
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Arizona’s Second Congressional District
Rep. Martha McSally’s seat is open
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There are competitive Republican and Democratic primaries for McSally’s seat. Republican candidates including CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Marquez Peterson, veteran Brandon Martin, and former Douglas City Councilor Danny Morales are running. Peterson leads in fundraising.
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Doctor and former Arizona state Rep. Matt Heinz and former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick are the frontrunners. Kirkpatrick has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, while Heinz was the Democratic nominee for the district in 2016.
There’s a bitter fight brewing between Heinz and Kirkpatrick, who are pretty close in the polls and running negative ads against each other. Heinz recently compared Kirkpatrick’s quest to return to Washington to meth addiction.
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Author: Ella Nilsen
