The 2024 Arizona Primary results are in, and while some familiar political names won, others were not so lucky.
Republicans had the only federal statewide primary on the ballot in the race for the US Senate. Otherwise, there were multiple competitive House races down the ballot, but a county-level race in Maricopa will be getting a great deal of attention.
2024 Arizona Primary Results: US Senate
2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake won her Senate primary against two opponents on Tuesday. With almost all of the votes counted, she banked over 55 percent of the vote. Her main challenger, Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, got about 39 percent of the vote.
She won all but two counties en route to her primary victory: Graham and Pinal.
Lake will take on Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in the fall election. Gallego was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
2024 Arizona Primary Results: US House
AZ-01
The 1st District made for a competitive race in the 2022 midterms, so political observers are paying close attention to whom the Democrats nominate to run against Republican Rep. David Schweikert this time, as noted in our preview. For what it’s worth, Schweikert won his primary on Tuesday with about 63 percent of the vote.
Democrats appear to have nominated Amish Shah, a former state representative. The race, however, was very close. In second place is Andrei Cherny, the former chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, while former television news reporter Marlene Galán-Woods is in third out of six candidates.
AZ-03
As Ruben Gallego runs for Senate, the race to succeed him in his 3rd District seat was intense. The Democratic primary winner is all but assured of election to Congress in November, as this is a very blue Phoenix seat.
As of now, it appears that winner will be Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix city councilor. She narrowly leads Raquel Terán by a margin of about 46 to 43 percent.
As of Wednesday morning, the race has yet to be called.
AZ-06
Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani will have his hands full in November, much like David Schweikert, as he is defending a narrow 2022 majority. Ciscomani won his GOP primary, but failed to clear 60 percent of the vote.
Kathleen Winn put up an unexpectedly strong challenge against the incumbent, taking 41 percent of the vote.
Ciscomani is heading for a November rematch with Kirsten Engel, whom he defeated by 1.5 percent in 2022.
AZ-08
The 3rd District was not the only open House seat in Arizona this time. As Rep. Debbie Lesko (R) retired, a fierce GOP primary to replace her was set off, and the results reflect it.
A winner has not been called in the race as of Wednesday morning, but Abe Hamadeh is the leader with 30 percent. The top two finishers in this race, like Kari Lake, were 2022 ballot headliners in Arizona, and all lost their statewide races. Hamadeh lost an excruciatingly close race for attorney general, while Blake Masters, on 25 percent, lost the Senate race to Mark Kelly.
The primary’s winner will have the upper hand in the November race, as this district leans well to the Republican side.
2024 Arizona Primary Results: Maricopa County
The 2020 and 2022 elections are still having repercussions in state and local races across America. There is no more specific example in Arizona’s primaries than the race for Maricopa County Recorder, the chief elections official in Arizona’s largest county, which functions similar to a county clerk in other states.
Incumbent Republican Stephen Richer lost his primary on Tuesday to Justin Heap, a state representative. In a three-candidate race, Heap took 42 percent while Richer got 36 percent. A third candidate, Don Hiatt, took 22 percent.
Richer was the subject of ire from within his own party. Though the 2020 election happened before he took office, Richer defended the county’s role in the vote count and denied the fraud that the Donald Trump campaign believed took place. Further, Kari Lake accused him of sabotaging the 2022 gubernatorial race against her in Maricopa County. The accusations became so heated that Richer ultimately sued Lake for defamation. In March 2024, Lake lost the suit by default.
Nevertheless, GOP voters in Maricopa County made a change, and Heap will face Democrat Tim Stringham in the November election. This will be a competitive election: Richer won in 2020 over now-Secretary of State Adrian Fontes by just 0.3 percent. There is no reason to believe this November’s race won’t be similarly close.
MORE RESULTS: Arizona Secretary of State
