Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert are fighting to ensure Democrats retain Arizona’s U.S. House seats

WASHINGTON — Two of the country’s toughest congressional races are in Arizona, where Democrats are trying to unseat seven-term Rep. David Schweikert of Fountain Hills and first-time Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Tucson.

The elections were among the best opportunities for Democrats to pick up seats to take control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans held a razor-thin majority.

Ciscomani’s race was a rematch against former Sen. Kirsten Engel, who trailed by 1.5 percentage points two years ago.

Both contests were among the most expensive in the country, most recently bringing in about $35 million each, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

1st District: David Schweikert vs. Amish Shah

Schweikert’s Democratic challenger, Amish Shah – an emergency room doctor who served in the Legislature for five years – has paid the incumbent $5.7 million to $3.9 million through Oct. 24 in his bid for the Phoenix-based 1st District. Territory boomed, campaign finance reports show.

Each faced more than $10 million worth of attack ads from outside groups.

Republican consultant Jaime Molera said the spending reached “a threshold of so much money” that it ultimately just created “noise” for voters. He praised Arizona Democrats for being “more organized and better funded” this fall.

Schweikert was elected in 2010 and survived a close decision in 2022. He won by just 3,000 votes – less than 1 percentage point. Six Democrats entered the primary to run against him this year.

Democrats viewed the deeply conservative Schweikert as incompatible with a district where independents accounted for a third of voters and Democrats accounted for 27%, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Schweikert has long focused on fiscal responsibility, emphasizing calls for reducing national debt and lowering inflation.

Shah, an emergency room doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, highlighted abortion rights and emphasized his record of working across party lines in the House, even if it disappointed his fellow Democrats. He resigned from Parliament in February to concentrate on his candidacy for Congress.

He also promised to secure the border, stimulate the economy, make health care more affordable and promote education.

6th District: Juan Ciscomani vs. Kirsten Engel

Like Schweikert’s voters, about a third of Ciscomani are independents.

However, Republicans have a narrower lead in the 6th District, 36% to 30%, and Engel trailed by just 5,200 votes two years ago.

Democrats criticized Ciscomani for his opposition to abortion rights and Proposition 139, which would codify abortion rights in the state constitution.

The strategy was clearly intended to boost Democratic turnout and encourage Republican women to abandon him, Molera said.

Ciscomani is known as a relatively bipartisan member of a GOP conference controlled by hardliners. He went on to secure the border and fix the economy, attacking Engel over a 2022 comment in which he rejected the idea that the U.S.-Mexico border was in crisis.

The focus on border security and the economy was smart, Molera said, and it helped him a lot to be “perceived as a more centrist Republican.” But, he said, Engel’s financial support “has had a huge impact on helping her become as competitive as she is.”

Engel, a law professor at the University of Arizona who served in both houses of the Legislature before turning to Congress, brought Ciscomani between $7.6 million and $6.2 million, according to OpenSecrets.

Another $22 million poured into the race from outside groups, split about evenly between both sides.

She emphasized reproductive rights and water rights and accused Ciscomani of being far less moderate than he would like voters to believe — pointing to his opposition to abortion rights and his affiliation with the Patriot Academy. It is a Christian nationalist group whose goal is “to train citizens to understand and influence government policy with a biblical worldview.”

Engel received support from abortion rights advocates. It also received support from groups like March for Our Lives, which works to curb gun violence.