Democratic leaders’ pick trails in Arizona primary for a key battleground district

Democrat Amish Shah, a physician and former state lawmaker, has opened a lead in the primary for a key Arizona battleground district despite party leaders backing another candidate.

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NBC News has not yet projected a winner in the 1st District Democratic primary, but Shah’s 7-point edge with 84% of the expected vote counted comes despite an onslaught of late ads attacking him and boosting his opponent, Democrat Marlene Galán-Woods, a former journalist backed by Democratic leaders in Arizona and Washington, D.C. That includes the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which waded in for Galán-Woods.

Shah was the Democratic nominee in 2024 and narrowly lost that year to GOP Rep. David Schweikert, who ran for governor but lost the Republican primary Tuesday night.

This year, the 1st District Democratic nominee will face off against Republican Jay Feely, the former professional football kicker who won his primary in the district Tuesday thanks in part to the blessing of President Donald Trump. Trump carried the district by 3 points in 2024.

“This seat is such an important seat,” Feely said at an election night event. “You know how close the House is, and there’s three to five seats in the country that will determine who holds the House and who controls the House in November. This is one of those seats.”

Shah’s 2026 campaign leaned heavily on his legislative record, arguing he pushed back against Republicans and the Trump administration in Arizona and would do so again in Washington. He also emphasized his work as an emergency room doctor, campaigning on healthcare issues and abortion access.

Millions of dollars in outside money flooded into the Democratic primary for the Maricopa County-based seat in the final weeks, funding ads attacking Shah over his voting record in the state Legislature and saying he has aligned with conservatives on hot-button social issues.

The DCCC joined in too, a relatively uncommon move from the House Democratic campaign arm, which has only spent campaign cash in a handful of competitive Democratic primaries over the years. The group’s ads alongside Galán-Woods emphasized her endorsement from Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly .

Shah fought back against the outside group attack ads , lamenting how “dark money groups are attacking me, trying to scam [voters] with deliberate disinformation” about his voting record. He also pushed back vocally against national Democrats putting their thumb on the scale, attacking the “broken cabal” in an interview with The New York Times .

If Shah wins the nomination, it would be the third time this election cycle that a DCCC-backed candidate lost a primary, following battleground district primaries in Maine and California.

On the Republican side, Feely’s fame and support from Trump instantly made him the heavy favorite in his party’s primary. Feely initially launched a campaign for Arizona’s 5th District — a deep red seat left open by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs’ run for governor — but later decided to run here instead.

He’s leaned heavily on his endorsement from Trump, seeking to tie would-be Democratic opponents to the most liberal wing of their party and blaming inflation and the rise of housing on Democrats . Democrats are almost certain to do the reverse, tying Feely to Trump in the hopes of hurting his image with swing voters. Moderates in Arizona have broken against Trump-backed candidates in recent elections, though Trump carried the state in 2024.

There wasn’t any suspense in Arizona’s other major House battleground, the 6th District in the southeastern part of the state. There, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani is running against Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, a Marine veteran who later worked as a congressional and political aide.

There was a similar lack of suspense in the 2nd District, a red district Trump won by 15 points in 2024. There, Democrats nominated former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez to take on Republican Rep. Eli Crane, a rematch after Crane beat Nez by 9 points two years ago.

Another Trump-endorsed candidate won his primary for Biggs’ open seat Tuesday. Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb will be the heavy favorite to win this suburban Phoenix seat Trump won by 20 points in 2024.

Despite Trump’s backing, Lamb faced criticism after an Arizona Republican investigation found that his church investigated allegations of sexual impropriety against him. Lamb denies the allegations, and the Pinal County attorney’s office closed an investigation , finding “no abuse of power or criminal violation.”