Arizona GOP Rep. Juan Ciscomani wins re-election, keeping off problem from Democrat Kirsten Engel

PHOENIX — GOP Rep. Juan Ciscomani has gained the rematch with Democrat Kirsten Engel for Arizona’s sixth Congressional District, 49.5% to 48.2%, with 86% of the vote counted, Resolution Desk tasks.

Ciscomani is a freshman Republican who sits on the celebrated Appropriations Committee, in addition to Veterans Affairs. He beforehand labored for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration.

Engel teaches legislation on the College of Arizona and is a former state consultant.

Ciscomani narrowly defeated Engel in 2022 with 50.7% of the vote — only a 1.4-point margin. The Republican’s victory on the time flipped the seat purple with Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s retirement.

Because the district is alongside the southern border, the problem got here to the forefront quite a few occasions all through the race. The Tucson Sector noticed greater than 463,000 migrant encounters in fiscal 12 months 2024 alone, per US Customs and Border Safety knowledge.

Voter registration on this toss-up district barely favored Republicans, and it contains components of Tucson, surrounding suburbs and a good portion of rural southeastern Arizona. The district sits partially within the extra densely populated and bluer Pima County, together with close by rural counties.

Arizona offered comparatively robust election outcomes for Republicans, as Rep. David Schweikert additionally retained his seat, President-Elect Donald Trump gained the state’s 11 electoral votes and the state legislature maintained its Republican majorities. Nonetheless, GOP Senate nominee Kari Lake is projected to lose her race to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.

A goal of each events’ marketing campaign committees and different exterior teams, this costly race generated greater than $20 million in advert spending, per Open Secrets and techniques.

Shortly after Resolution Desk HQ referred to as Ciscomani’s race, the desk then projected that Republicans would preserve management of the Home of Representatives at precisely 218 seats thus far.

The congressional seat is likely one of the previous few within the nation to be referred to as, as some in California are amongst the final within the nation for the outcomes to grow to be clear. The projection comes as chatter looms over Republicans in each chambers about who will lead subsequent, together with whether or not Speaker Mike Johnson will proceed to serve in his function.