Former Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari was confirmed as the winner of the Congressional District 3 primary following the release of automatic recount results, putting her on the path to a highly likely general election victory in the heavily Democrat tilted district. 

According to the automatic recount results, announced by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge Tuesday, Ansari held onto her lead and prevailed over former Arizona Democratic Party chair and former Senate minority leader Raquel Terán by 39 votes. 

Because Congressional District 3 lies entirely in Maricopa County, the county elections department ran all ballots through the tabulation machines a second time after another round of logic and accuracy testing, submitted the results to the court and saw the final count read aloud by a judge Tuesday. 

The final tally showed Ansari received 19,087 votes and Terán received 19,048. Unofficial final election results initially showed Ansari beating Terán by 42 votes, or a 0.1% margin, which under state law triggered an automatic recount and revealed a difference of three votes. 

“When we got into this race a year and a half ago, many told me it wasn’t possible … And this victory, this 39 vote landslide victory, it’s the product of 165,000 doors that were knocked across the district,” Ansari said. “We made thousands of phone calls, wrote thousands of postcards, everything, every little thing of it mattered.”  

In a written statement, Terán said she had called to congratulate Ansari. 

“The recount concluded this morning, and though we came so incredibly close, this time, we lost,” Terán said. “This 39 vote difference has been a testament to what we as Democrats already know: every vote matters.” 

Over the course of the campaign, Ansari and Terán both highlighted their respective progressive records. 

Ansari, as former Phoenix vice mayor, emphasized her work on housing and homelessness, heat relief, climate change and workers rights, while Terán noted her work heading a repeal of the 1864 abortion ban during her time in the Senate and ensuring the election of Democrats in top state offices in 2022 as chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.  

The race between Ansari and Terán brought out millions in outside spending, and barbs over funding followed. 

On the campaign trail, Terán claimed Ansari had accepted dark money from “MAGA extremists” and zeroed in on Protect Progress, a cryptocurrency PAC in particular. Protect Progress spent about $1.4 million in support of Ansari. 

In addressing the same claims again today, Ansari noted Senate candidate and current CD3 congressman Ruben Gallego is set to benefit from $3 million in spending from the same PAC. 

“It’s a Democratic PAC supporting Democrats all across the country,” Ansari said, though she added, “I would have much preferred this race with no outside money.” 

Ansari now heads to the general election to face Republican Jeff Zink, though according to the Arizona Independent Official Congressional Map, the district is not competitive and leans Democrat. 

She said her campaign apparatus would now pivot to focus on securing wins for Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, and the passage of the Arizona Abortion Access Act, and would continue door-to-door to bolster voter participation come November. 

“The tough part for us is over,” Ansari said.