Arizona primary takeaways: Trump's picks prevail and a House Democrat survives

Arizona voters on Tuesday gave President Donald Trump the candidates he wanted in primary elections and sent a mixed message to the Democratic establishment, choosing candidates for governor and the U.S. House that set up key races this fall.

Three Republicans who questioned or attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential contest won nominations for offices with influence over certifying 2028 election results in the pivotal swing state.

While Trump’s MAGA brand has stumbled in Arizona in recent years — as demonstrated by the failure of Kari Lake to win either governor or Senate races — voters went with the president’s choice of Rep. Andy Biggs for the GOP nomination for governor over the more traditional conservatism of Rep. David Schweikert.

On the Democratic side, one candidate favored by the national party held off a challenge from the left.

Here are some takeaways from the Arizona primaries, which tee up contests that could help determine control of the House in November’s midterms:

Biggs beat Schweikert for the chance to run this fall against Democratic incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs, who was unopposed in her primary.

As chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus from 2019 to 2022, Biggs has made a name as a prominent Trump supporter and MAGA activist who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. That hasn’t always played well in Arizona, and his staunch opposition to abortion sets up a stark contrast with Hobbs in the general election.

Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2024 that made abortion legal until the point of fetal viability, but many Republicans who control the state legislature continue to favor restrictions.

Hobbs, who promotes herself as a bipartisan politician, has said in interviews that she expects a close contest with Biggs. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, the election analysis site, rates the state as leaning Democratic.

Election denial is on the Arizona ballot this fall, with Republicans’ choice of Biggs for governor, state Senate President Warren Petersen for attorney general and state Rep. Alexander Kolodin for secretary of state.

Petersen has long made unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and, earlier this year, gave the FBI files from a 2021 state Senate investigation into claims of election irregularities in Maricopa County as part of Trump’s ongoing effort to question the results. That county investigation had confirmed that Democrat Joe Biden was the victor.

Kolodin is a lawyer who was sanctioned by the State Bar of Arizona and placed on probation for his role in filing the “kraken” lawsuit in 2020 that sought to prevent the state’s presidential electors from casting their ballots for the victor, Biden. The suit made false claims about election irregularities and was thrown out by a federal judge.

Kolodin has continued seeking to restrict voting in his role as a state lawmaker, introducing legislation to limit early voting. As secretary of state, he would be in charge of running Arizona’s elections, with the swing state poised to play a significant role in the 2028 presidential contest.

He defeated Gina Swoboda, former head of the state Republican Party, for the nomination and will challenge incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes this fall.

Biggs was among Republicans in the House who voted against certifying the 2020 election, which Trump lost. Trump attempted to pressure Arizona’s governor at the time, Republican Doug Ducey, into overturning the state’s election results, but Ducey resisted.

Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker for the Arizona Cardinals, won the Republican nomination for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. If he wins this fall, Feely would join a select list of former NFL players who made the transition to Congress. Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), a former safety who won a Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders in 1981, is currently serving. Former congressman Colin Allred (D-Texas), once a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, is seeking a comeback this fall after giving up his seat to run for Senate in 2024.

Feely played for seven teams over a career of some 13 years, then reported on NFL and college games as a television announcer until 2025. He earned Trump’s endorsement with a campaign based on what his website calls “faith, freedom and the fight to take back our country.”

Cook Political Report rates the open seat as a toss-up, though, and Democrats have the affluent Scottsdale-based district high on their list of possible flips to help them retake control of the House.

Former state lawmaker Amish Shah is leading in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the 1st District seat over the candidate favored by the House Democratic campaign arm, retired broadcast journalist and former Republican Marlene Galán-Woods. The Associated Press has not called the race as of Wednesday morning.

Some grassroots Democrats preferred Shah, an emergency-room doctor who beat Galán-Woods for the nomination in 2024, then lost the general election to Schweikert.

Galán-Woods is the widow of Arizona’s former GOP attorney general Grant Woods, who had been a confidant of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and renounced the Republican Party once Trump came to power. Galán-Woods says she switched around the same time. “I have always been pro-choice, pro-democracy, pro-climate. My values have never changed. What changed was the Republican Party,” she said in a 2024 debate.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign operation of House Democrats, and other party stalwarts such as Emily’s List went to bat for Galán-Woods, who had a narrow fundraising lead over Shah as of July 1.

Galán-Woods would be the third DCCC-backed candidate to lose a contested House primary this year, including Jasmeet Bains in California and Joe Baldacci in Maine, as Democratic voters have expressed frustrations with their party’s establishment.

While left-wing challengers have had success against more centrist Democrats in some parts of the country, the trend didn’t hold in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District. Incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton easily won his primary against challenger Kai Newkirk, a self-described democratic socialist.

Newkirk won the endorsement of several national left-wing groups and attacked Stanton for supporting military aid to Israel, opposing Medicare-for-all and accepting corporate political donations.

Stanton, who has represented the district since 2019 and is a former mayor of Phoenix, far outraised Newkirk. The district includes parts of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, and has become more conservative since a 2022 redistricting.