Democrats Wasted Millions On Race To Far-Left AZ-01 Primary: Report
House Democrats again criticized their own party’s risky primary meddling scheme in AZ-01, where Democrats wasted more than $3.3 million so far.
Most significant: Democrat lawmakers admitted Marlene Galan-Woods is just as liberal as Amish Shah.
- From Punchbowl News today: “Privately, some House Democrats told us they were surprised at the DCCC’s involvement because they didn’t see a sharp enough ideological distinction between the two candidates to warrant an intervention.”
“What a debacle for Democrats. D.C. Democrats’ primary meddling accomplished nothing except dragging Amish Shah, Marlene Galan-Woods and Jonathan Treble so far left they’re toxic in a general election.” – NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen
In case you missed it…
DCCC risks another primary setback in Arizona
Punchbowl News
Max Cohen and Ally Mutnick
July 17, 2026
The latest test of the DCCC’s aggressive primary endorsement strategy comes next Tuesday in Arizona’s 1st District, where the party-endorsed Marlene Galán-Woods faces the real possibility of losing the nomination to Amish Shah for the second cycle in a row.
Privately, some House Democrats told us they were surprised at the DCCC’s involvement because they didn’t see a sharp enough ideological distinction between the two candidates to warrant an intervention.
[…]
While top Arizona Democrats, like Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), are coalescing behind Galán-Woods in the race’s final stretch, multiple Democratic lawmakers and operatives told us they see Shah as the favorite.
Bad blood. When the DCCC endorsed Galán-Woods in May, Shah quickly lashed out at committee leadership for “fueling the broken cabal.”
Shah started as the clear frontrunner because he was the 2024 nominee. But outside groups and the DCCC have been rushing to close that gap in the final weeks. The campaign arm has run nearly $500,000 in ads with Galán-Woods. Two super PACs working to protect abortion rights and elect Hispanic candidates are spending some $2.8 million on ads on her behalf, per AdImpact.
[…]
The backdrop. This cycle, the DCCC has gotten involved in multiple competitive primaries in top swing seats. While a number of the party’s preferred candidates have won, there have been high-profile setbacks in California’s 22nd District and Maine’s 2nd District. Arizona’s 1st District could be next.
A growing number of House Democrats also are criticizing the DCCC’s primary interventions.
“The problem that I have with this one is it’s a pretty crowded primary, and so in those cases, I don’t believe the DCCC should get involved,” Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said. “People are making the decisions on who they want to represent [them], and we should let those districts figure it out.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told us he stands by the DCCC’s primary endorsements.
“We have a couple of primaries that have to work themselves out. We’ll see what occurs and then we’ll come together as a family,” Jeffries said.