Arizona Dems’ crowded, chaotic race to the Left
Arizona Democrats bought themselves a “chaotic,” “crowded” race to the Left primary in the first Congressional district.
Democrats’ first district primary joins the raft of “messy primaries” with “problematic candidates” causing “primary headaches” for Democrats across the country.
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NOTE: Ben Petersen, a Western press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, predicted the Democratic primary will result in a “chaotic, costly race to the left” that will produce a nominee who will “fall flat with Phoenix and Scottsdale voters.”
Open, targeted House seats drive fundraising as numerous hopefuls line up
Cronkite News
Lauren Irwin
Arizona is expected to be a battleground for presidential and Senate races in 2024, but it’s looking as if the state could also have some high-profile House races.
With a year until the primary, candidates for just three seats have already raised more than $7.6 million, according to Federal Election Commission reports, as an open seat and a number of targeted House races are drawing numerous hopefuls.
With a year until the primary, candidates for just three seats have already raised more than $7.6 million, according to Federal Election Commission reports, as an open seat and a number of targeted House races are drawing numerous hopefuls.
In all, incumbents and challengers for the state’s nine House seats reported raising more than $9.3 million as of June 30, according to FEC reports.
Most of that money has been raised in District 1, the Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Cave Creek district represented by seven-term Republican Rep. David Schweikert. But Schweikert has won re-election by increasingly narrow margins, culminating in his 2022 victory over Democrat Jevin Hodge by just over 3,000 votes.
That has drawn a lot of Democratic interest: Five Democrats have already announced bids for Schweikert’s seat.
“That’s a very affluent district,” said Rodd McLeod, an Arizona political campaign strategist. “There is a lot of money there and so you’re going to have a pretty busy and dynamic primary there.”
There is already a lot of money. Schweikert had more than $634,023 cash on hand as of June 30, which puts him between Democratic challenger Andrei Cherny’s $557,554 in the bank and well short of the $852,083 held by Democrat Andrew Horne – who pumped more than $700,000 of his own money into the race.
Other Democratic challengers include Dr. Amish Shah with $368,438 cash on hand; Marlene Galán-Woods, who only entered the race in late May, had $274,302 available; and Kurt Kroemer, who reported $142,656 in the bank.
Sean Noble, a political consultant for Compass Strategies, thinks the large number of Democrats running in District 1 will hurt each other – and the party – more than they hurt Schweikert and the Republicans.
“I think the Democrats have hurt themselves by making this such a crowded primary,” Noble said.
Ben Petersen, a Western press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, predicted the Democratic primary will result in a “chaotic, costly race to the left” that will produce a nominee who will “fall flat with Phoenix and Scottsdale voters.”
Schweikert’s seat is listed as one of two toss-ups in Arizona, along with the 6th District seat held by freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson. Inside Elections said those two seats are in play but tilt Republican. But David Wasserman, senior editor for Cook Political Report’s House analysis team, said Schweikert’s been in this position before.
“Schweikert is perennially in rough financial shape and yet usually finds a way to get by,” said Wasserman, noting that Arizona’s Aug. 6 2024 primary gives Schweikert time to raise funds to stay competitive. “This next cycle looks like no exception.”