Arizona voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose their party’s nominees in a race that will determine who controls the U.S. House of Representatives and whether Republicans can flip the nation’s most competitive Democratic governorship.
Arizona, once a solid Republican state, has swung between the two parties in recent election cycles. Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020, but Donald Trump won it back in the 2024 presidential election.
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The biggest issue is the Republican primary for governor, where four candidates will compete against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November. The result also sets up a key congressional election in one of the nation’s most closely watched battleground states.
Here’s what you need to know:
When does voting start and end?
Voting will begin at 6am (1300 GMT) and most voting will close at 7pm (2am Wednesday GMT). Anyone in line by 7 p.m. can vote.
Who can vote?
Registered Democrats and Republicans can only vote in their party’s primary, while independent voters can choose whether to vote in Democratic or Republican elections.
Arizona has approximately 4.3 million registered voters, of whom approximately 1.5 million are Republicans, 1.2 million are Democrats, and 1.5 million are independents or do not belong to either major party.
What races are on the ballot?
Arizona voters will choose party candidates for governor, seats in Congress, state offices including secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and state superintendent of public affairs, all 30 seats in the state Senate and all 60 seats in the state House of Representatives.
Who is running for governor?
One of the most anticipated races is the Republican primary for governor, with four candidates vying to take on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November. Hobbs, who is running for a second term, is one of only two Democratic governors seeking reelection this year in states that Trump carried in 2024.
Four Republicans are on the ballot, but the race has largely been a showdown between Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, two longtime congressmen who represent competing visions for the future of the Arizona Republican Party.
Biggs, a former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has worked closely with President Trump and has campaigned around the president’s policies. He was among the Republicans who tried to block Congress from certifying Biden’s victory in the 2020 election and has long been associated with the party’s most conservative wing. Mr. Trump had previously endorsed another Republican candidate but later withdrew from the race before endorsing Mr. Biggs.
Mr. Schweikert also supports many of Mr. Trump’s priorities in Congress, but has positioned himself as a more pragmatic conservative. He represents one of Arizona’s most competitive congressional districts and argues that Republicans lost ground in the state by nominating candidates deemed too extreme by voters.
What are the parliamentary elections to watch?
The primary will also determine the candidate for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, which was left vacant after U.S. Rep. David Schweikert decided to run for governor. The race, which covers Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix, is expected to be one of the most competitive races in the state in November and could play a key role in determining which party controls the House.
Republicans are choosing between state Rep. Joseph Czaplik, former NFL kicker and sportscaster Jay Feely, who has been endorsed by President Trump, and technology executive John Trobaugh.
On the Democratic side, Amish Shah, a doctor and former state representative who narrowly lost to Schweikert in 2024, is running against former news anchor Marlene Galan-Woods. A registered Republican until 2018, she is the widow of former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, a prominent Republican who later became a fierce critic of President Trump.
She is backed by the National Party, which supported Shah in 2024. Publisher Rick McCartney and entrepreneur Jonathan Treble are also voting. Another notable House race is Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Juan Siscomani is seeking a third term against Democrat Joanna Mendoza, a Marine Corps veteran. The two candidates were unopposed in Tuesday’s primary and are scheduled to face each other in November, in what is expected to be one of the biggest opportunities for Democrats to flip Republican-held seats in a bid to regain the House majority.
How are Israel and Gaza shaping the Arizona primary?
The growing divide in the Democratic Party over Israel’s war in Gaza is becoming evident in some Arizona congressional primaries, where candidates are clashing over U.S. support for Israel and the direction of the party’s foreign policy. Two tribes in particular illustrate these tensions.
In Arizona’s 4th Congressional District, which is considered solidly blue, Rep. Greg Stanton faces a primary challenge from progressive candidate Kai Newkirk. He made U.S. support for Israel a central issue of his campaign and argued that Stanton was too supportive.
Stanton, an ardent supporter of Israel and backed by AIPAC, recently voted against a proposal to limit U.S. military aid to Israel. According to Track AIPAC, an advocacy group that monitors pro-Israel political spending, Mr. Stanton has received about $322,000 in donations associated with AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.
In the neighboring 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Yasamin Ansari has dramatically changed her position on Israel since first running for Congress, reflecting the shifting dynamics within the Democratic Party.
Mr. Ansari won support from the Israeli Democratic Party majority in a close 2024 primary, but has since become a sharp critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and said he would no longer accept support from the group or AIPAC.
When will the results be announced?
Voting ends in most parts of Arizona at 7pm Tuesday (2am Wednesday GMT), but results will not be announced until 8pm local time (3am Wednesday GMT). Because most votes in Arizona are cast by mail or early voting, counties typically report the majority of their ballots shortly after polls close.
By election day, more than 755,000 votes had already been cast.
Most races are expected to become clear within the first few hours of counting, but close races could take longer if additional mail-in ballots need to be processed.
