Key points:

• Many legislative primary races remain too close to call
• Some incumbents build big leads over challengers
• Closely watched congressional race called for Feely

Several key legislative primaries remained undecided Tuesday night as candidates in competitive districts vied for spots on the November ballot that will decide the Arizona Legislature’s balance of power.

Republicans can only lose one of their seats to maintain a clear majority in the Senate, and two to keep their control of the House of Representatives.

In the Senate races, the top vote-getter punches their ticket to the general election, while in the House races, the top two advance.

LD3 House

Appointed Rep. Cody Reim, R-Rio Verde, trailed in a tight Republican House primary race Tuesday night. 

Reim was appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to replace former state Rep. Joe Chaplik after he resigned to run for Congress. He’s running in the election for his seat, but he trailed former Fountain Hills Mayor Jay Schlum by less than half of a percentage point early Tuesday night. 

Republican George Khalaf, the president of pollster Data Orbital, led all House Republican primary candidates with just under 34% of votes after unofficial early results. Schlum received 26.52% of votes, while Reim trailed Schlum with 26.27% of votes.

A fourth Republican in the race, Thomas Walsh, had 13% of the votes. 

An automatic recount is triggered by state law if candidates are within a half-percent point from each other. With the top two vote recipients advancing to the general election, Schlum and Reim may trigger a recount if results stand. 

LD7 House

Incumbent Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, and former state Rep. David Cook led early through Tuesday’s initial election results from the Secretary of State for their Legislative District 7 House race. 

Blackman led the four House candidates in the race with about 34% of the votes, while Cook received 28%. Cook served in the House for eight years but unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 2024 after he was termed out. Now, the former lawmaker is seeking a return to his seat. 

Andrew Costanzo, the runner-up in the race and a former Turning Point USA ballot chaser and state GOP precinct committeeman, had just under 21% of the vote after early results, while Barby Ingle, another GOP state committeewoman, got about 16% of the vote. 

LD13 House

The mayor of Chandler is poised to continue his run for the state House after an early lead in his legislative district during Tuesday’s primary election. 

Mayor Kevin Hartke led Republican candidates in a three-way race for two nominations for the general election this November. He led the field with almost 44% of the vote Tuesday night. 

Rep. Jeff Weninger, R–Chandler, is not seeking re-election to his House seat but is instead running for Chandler mayor. Weninger trailed with 39% of the vote in his race against his opponent Matt Orlando’s 60% of the vote, according to Maricopa County election results. 

Weninger’s wife, Janet Weninger, is attempting to replace her husband in the House and received the second-most votes in the Republican primary race with 34% of votes, while Republican Debra Schinke had almost 22% of votes. 

The winners of the primary will go on to face Democrats Rockee Armstrong and Jacob Weinberg in the general election. Both Democrats ran unopposed in their primary and LD13 is considered as one of the state’s competitive general election districts.

LD20 House

Two Democratic lawmakers seeking a return to the state Capitol led early in their primary race for the state House. 

Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, and Rep. Betty Villegas, D-Tucson, held early leads in their district’s Democratic House primary race with 33% and almost 32% of votes, respectively, after early election results on Tuesday night. Gonzales is termed out of the Senate but is attempting to flip chambers at the Legislature. 

The two lawmakers are running against two other Democrats, Genoveva Diaz and Ben Koehler. Diaz had 19% of the vote while Koehler got 15%.

LD21 House

Incumbent Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, trailed early in her bid for re-election after Tuesday’s early primary election night results. 

Stahl Hamilton trailed her House seatmate Rep. Consuelo Hernández, D-Tucson, and progressive candidate Miranda Lopez by about 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Hernandez led the field with almost 31% of the vote, but the gap between Lopez and Stahl Hamilton was thin on Tuesday night. Lopez received 24.61% of the vote, while Stahl Hamilton had 24.44% of the vote.

While Stahl Hamilton and Hernandez are seatmates, the two are not running together. Hernandez is instead running on a slate with Martiza Higuera, who trailed the field with 20% of the vote. 

If the gap between Lopez and Stahl Hamilton remains under a half-percent, an automatic recount will be triggered for their race. 

LD22 House

The only incumbent in the state’s most crowded Democratic legislative race led her primary opponents after early primary election results.

Rep. Elda Luna-Nájera led the LD22 Democratic House primary race with 29% of votes by about 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Besy Munoz, the runner-up in the 2024 version of this race to Luna-Nájera, had almost 27% of votes and was in position to advance to the general election if results hold. 

Rep. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, is not running for re-election to the House after more than a decade serving in the House and Senate. Former Avondale Vice Mayor Veronica Bejarano-Malone trailed Munoz with almost 25% of votes, while Democrats Steven Chapman and Gewn Johnston received 10% and nearly 9% of the vote, respectively. 

LD24 House

Incumbent state Rep. Lydia Hernandez, D-Phoenix, trailed two Democrats in her primary race — Alberto Flores and Lisbeth Arescurenaga — in a bid to keep her seat, according to the election night count. 

Flores, Arescurenaga, and Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, are running on a progressive slate in the district, and all three candidates led early. 

Ortiz is running unopposed in the primary, but Flores received more than 39% of the vote in the district’s Democratic House primary race while Arescurenaga had 36% of the vote. 

Hernandez, the governing board president at Cartwright Elementary School District, had 15% of the vote, while Democrat Rosa Cantu received about 9% of the vote, according to early returns. 

The incumbent representative has faced controversy in recent years among other Democrats and was recently censured by the LD24 Democratic precinct committee for frequently voting with Republicans and displaying “conduct inconsistent with Democratic values.” 

Hernandez told Arizona Capitol Times after the censure that she was focused on flipping the Legislature to Democratic control and that her votes with Republicans were necessary due to GOP control of the House and Senate.

LD27 Senate

With about 10% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Sen. Kevin Payne was still fending off primary challenger former Sen. Anthony Kern, who wants his LD27 seat back. 

Payne led by about 444 votes at around 10 p.m.

Legislative District 27 covers parts of Peoria, Glendale and north Phoenix. Kern previously served as a state senator and representative. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2024. 

Kern is a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus. He was one of the fake electors in the 2020 election and was indicted by a grand jury in 2024. Attorney General Kris Mayes plans to dismiss the case after a ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers found the prosecution failed to present the entirety of the Electoral Count Act.  

LD2 Senate

Other races had more of a distance between incumbents and challengers. 

Sen. Shawnna Bolick managed to keep a wide lead over Timothy Ferrara. She led by 71.5% to Ferrara’s 28.5% as of Tuesday night. Bolick has served in her Senate seat since 2023 and had the most bills signed last year. 

Ferrara is running as a Clean Elections Candidate, which provides public campaign funding in exchange for playing by fundraising and spending rules.

On the Democratic side of that race, Amelia Gallitano led Daniel Toporek by a wide margin. Gallitano had almost 80% of the vote as of 10 p.m. During the debate, both spoke eloquently about issues in the district, including housing costs, affordability and public education. 

The two candidates didn’t differ much on their opinions, but Toporek said he wouldn’t pause new data center approvals; instead, he’d pass legislation to make sure those profitable entities are producing their own power. 

Gallitano said data centers create a lot of short-term jobs, but not long-term jobs, and added Arizona needs “real limits.”

Senate Roundup

• LD3 incumbent Sen. John Kavanagh started out with a huge lead over Robert Wallace. Kavanagh claimed almost 85% of the vote, while Wallace gained the remainder so far at 15.1%. Kavanagh and Wallace traded barbs and websites about each other. During the debate, they traded policy positions and jabs as their personal beliefs and political backgrounds were pushed to the forefront.
• In LD6, replacing Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, Jamescita Peshlakai led Rep. Myron Tsosie by 62.3% to 37.7%. 
• The Democrats duked it out in LD8 in Tempe. Sen. Lauren Kuby hung on to 75.8% of the vote by 10 p.m. while Deborah Nardozzi claimed 24.2% so far. During the debate, the candidates traded barbs over corporate donations, attempted to prove their progressive bona fides and described how they would tackle the state’s housing and affordability issues.
• In the LD17 race to replace retiring Sen. Vince Leach, Christopher King claimed 63.5% of the vote while Anthony Dunham claimed 36.5%.
• Rep. Alma Hernandez was leading the Democratic primary of LD20 over Rocque Perez 53.7% to Perez’s 46.3%. 

And while we’re here:

Congressional District 1

Former Arizona Cardinals Kicker Jay Feely led his two Republican opponents after initial primary election results Tuesday night. 

The Associated Press projected Feely as the winner of the Congressional District 1 Republican primary race shortly after results first dropped. President Donald Trump has endorsed Feely for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. David Schweikert. 

Feely led early Tuesday with over 49% of the vote over former state Rep. Joe Chaplik and technology CEO John Trobough. Chaplik received 35% of the vote, and Trobough had 15% of the vote after initial results. 

The AP had not yet called the Democratic primary race for the four candidates attempting to flip Schweikert’s seat. Former state Rep. Amish Shah led the Democratic field with 42% of the vote by about 8:45 p.m., while former journalist Marlene Galán-Woods trailed with 32% of the vote. 

Shah defeated Galán-Woods and four other Democrats in the 2024 primary for the same race. Smart amenities business owner Jonathan Treble had 17% of the vote early Tuesday night, and small business owner Rick McCartney had 8% of the vote.