Incumbent Reps. Judy Schwiebert, D-Phoenix, and Justin Wilmeth, R-Scottsdale, are leading Republican newcomer Christian Lamar for the Legislative District 2’s House seats, according to preliminary voting results.

Schwiebert and Wilmeth have received 42.15% and 30.17% of votes as of 8:45 p.m. Lamar tallied 27.68%.

Both the incumbents are seeking their second terms in the House. With the GOP projected to maintain majority control over the House, Democrats only ran Schwiebert as a single-shot candidate to challenge both Wilmeth and Lamar.  

This is the second election for Schwiebert where she ran as a single-shot candidate. In 2020, she received the most votes among three candidates as the only Democrat in then Legislative District 20, collecting 34.4% of the vote.  

Schwiebert outraised both Wilmeth and Lamar $276,832 to their combined $203,796. Outside groups have contributed $304,828 in independent expenditures for Schwiebert and $90,775 in independent expenditures against her.  

Wilmeth currently represents Legislative District 15 and won the 2020 general election with 34.3% of the vote, second to Rep. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix.  

Wilmeth and Lamar have seen $241,911 and $87,514 in independent expenditure spending for them respectively, but outside groups are targeting Lamar more in expenditure spending against them. Wilmeth had $85,398 spent against him while Lamar had $173,730 spent against him. 

Lamar says he wants to overturn Arizona’s 2020 presidential election results if he’s elected to the House, according to his campaign website. He previously worked on the campaign team for Rep. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix.  

After several tabulation machines in Maricopa County had issues reading ballots on election day, Lamar alleged the issues were mostly happening in Republican precincts.

“AZ Dems are actually opposing allowing more time to vote? Get outta here. Now we know for sure the majority of precincts which had Maricopa County Election Day printer config issues were Red Republican precincts or polling places less favorable for Dems,” Lamar posted on Twitter Tuesday.

Minutes before polling locations closed Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan denied a petition from the Republican National Committee and other Republican plaintiffs requesting the extension of voting hours due to the tabulation issues. Ryan said the court had no evidence anyone was denied the right to vote.

District 2 is in north Phoenix and leans Republican but is one of the highly competitive races this election, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. More votes still need to be counted before the state declares winners.