A Republican school board member in Scottsdale running for state Senate in Legislative District 4 has taken the lead over a Democrat incumbent.

Carine Werner, who currently serves on the Scottsdale Unified Governing Board, now leads by 1% of votes in the district. She has 50.5% to Sen. Christine Marsh’s 49.5%. Earlier Wednesday, Werner closed the gap from Tuesday to just .04%.

The two candidates are competing for a senate seat to represent Legislative District 4, which comprises North Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. 

It is a crucial seat for both Republicans and Democrats with a 16-14 GOP majority in the Senate. A win for Marsh would not gain Democrats a seat, but it would keep the party close as they try to pick up seats in other districts, while Republicans are looking for breathing room by flipping Marsh’s seat. 

A measure passed by the legislature and signed into law in 2022 now requires any race within half a percent to be automatically recounted.

In 2022, Marsh beat former Republican Sen. Nancy Barto by 1% of votes in her race, which resulted in Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, being the only GOP representation of the district at the state legislature. 

LD4 leans Republican with nearly 3.5% of voters favoring GOP candidates, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. It is one of the commission’s highly competitive districts of the state. 

GOP consultant and LD4 resident Chuck Coughlin called the district the most purple district of the state. 

Werner, a governing board member of Scottsdale Unified School District, is seeking her first term of office at the legislature. She is running on a ticket with Gress, whose seat Democrats are also heavily focusing on flipping in the state House

Marsh has served in the Senate since 2020 when she narrowly beat former Republican Sen. Kate Brophy McGee after losing to her by 0.2% of votes in 2018.