Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill are leading their Republican counterparts in the Arizona Corporation Commission race.

After the second batch of election results dropped at 10 p.m., Pratte and Hill appeared on track to defeat incumbent Republican Commissioner Kevin Thompson and Rep. Ralph Heap, R-Mesa.

The Democrats told the Arizona Capitol Times on Tuesday night that they hope the voter enthusiasm for their race translates into ratepayer engagement at the commission. 

“We still need all those people who voted for the commission to stay involved with these cases, because that’s where the real power comes from,” Hill said. “The commissioners are voting, but we need that input from the communities.”

If their lead holds, Hill and Pratte will join Republican Commissioners Lea Márquez Peterson, Rachel Walden and Rene Lopez on the dais in January. Pratte, a member of the Navajo Nation, would also be the first Indigenous woman elected to statewide office in Arizona. 

The Commission’s five seats are currently occupied entirely by Republicans. Those commissioners are tasked with regulating and setting rates for electric, water and gas utility companies in Arizona. 

The race got off to a rocky start for the Republican hopefuls. Heap unseated Thompson’s running mate and fellow Commissioner Nick Myers in the primary, but was immediately tripped up by a campaign finance complaint alleging he improperly obtained political signs without reporting the expense. 

That complaint became a months-long investigation by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, which remained unresolved as of Election Day. As the probe unfolded, Heap stopped responding to media inquiries, declined to attend candidate debates and left his Clean Elections funding untouched. 

Meanwhile, Thompson was left to spar with Hill and Pratte over increasing utility bills, data center growth and the state’s energy supply. 

Myers, who attributed his loss to Heap’s primary challenge from the far right, blamed Tuesday night’s results on Arizona’s conservative groups. 

“I know it’s pretty early in the ballot counting, but given the counts right now, including the number of ballots cast today, any future candidate that hitches their horse to @TPAction, @TPUSA or @azfec should think long and hard before committing,” Myers wrote on social media. “This is beyond embarrassing.”