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Arizona’s 15 counties began releasing 2022 Primary Election results to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office around 8 p.m. Tuesday. By 10 p.m., less than 35 percent of the ballots cast had been reported.
Arizonans will get a better idea by Wednesday night of the matchups for November’s general election. But here is a look at some key races:
GOVERNOR
Republican: Front-runners Karrin Taylor Robson and Kari Lake are reportedly within 10 points of each other as the Republican primary results continue to be reported. Election observers note that two candidates, Scott Neely and Paola Tulliani-Zen, received thousands of votes in the primary. One question is whether those votes and several thousand cast for former candidate Matt Salmon could have swung the race between Taylor Robson and Lake.
Democrat: As expected, current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has a commanding lead over former Nogales mayor Marco Lopez. Of note, several thousand Arizonans cast their vote for former Rep. Aaron Lieberman, whose name appeared on the Democratic ballots even though he withdrew from the race in late May.
SECRETARY OF STATE
Republican: A field of four primary candidates (businessman Beau Lane, State Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, and State Rep. Mark Finchem) could end with the Republican nominee not even receiving 40 percent of the total votes cast. Finchem and Lane have been the top polling of the Republicans.
Democrat: State House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding is in a tight primary race against former one-term Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, who came under fire for several of his decisions during the 2020 General Election.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Republican: Abraham Hamadeh is seen as the favorite of the six candidates seeking the Republican primary nod. Hamadeh is Trump-endorsed.
Democrat: Former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes did not have a primary challenger.
U.S. SENATE
Republican: Polls have shown Trump-endorsed Blake Masters and businessman Jim Lamon as the two front-runners for several weeks. Masters has been considered the favorite of the five candidates which also include current Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, USAF Major General (ret.) Michael “Mick” McGuire, and Arizona Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson.
Democrat: Current U.S. Senator Mark Kelly was unopposed in the primary.
Libertarian: Attorney Marc J. Victor received his party’s nomination.
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Republican: Former Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is hoping to serve once again as head of the Arizona Department of Education.
Democrat: Incumbent Kathy Hoffman
STATE TREASURER
Republican: Incumbent Kimberly Yee is expected to earn her party’s nomination over primary challengers State Rep. Jeff Weninger and businessman Robert Lettieri.
Democrat: Senate Minority Whip Martin Quezada was unopposed in his party’s primary.
In addition, some Congressional races became a bit clearer after the polls closed Tuesday.
CD1: Rep. David Schweikert is expected to beat out two challengers for the Republican nomination. Election observers note that Schweikert’s opponents will likely receive more combined votes than he does, leading to the question of whether Schweikert could have pulled off a primary victory in a two-candidate race.
CD2: A seven-candidate Republican primary will likely be too close to call until late Wednesday to see who goes up against current Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran. It is possible that the winning Republican will move on from the primary with less than 20 percent of the total votes cast.
CD3: Republican Jeff Nelson Zink will take on current U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, in the Nov. 8 General Election.
CD4: Another multi-candidate Republican primary pits five contenders against each other for the opportunity to try to oust current Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton
CD5: U.S. Representative Andy Biggs will take on attorney and Democratic newcomer Javier Garcia Ramos.
CD6: Another Republican primary with multiple (5) candidates, with Juan Ciscomani polling highest the last several weeks. The winner will take on either former State Senator Kirsten Engel or current Rep. Daniel Hernandez from the Democratic primary.
CD7: Luis Pozzolo has bested Nina Becker, who a judge allowed on the primary ballot despite questions about several of her nominating petitions and the fact she is currently being prosecuted in connection with a previous election. Pozzolo will be on the General Election ballot against Rep. Raul Grijalva (Dem.) who has served in Congress nearly 20 years.
CD8: Barring a major problem, Republican Debbie Lesko will keep a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives given that no Democrat ran in that party’s primary.
CD9: Democrats also failed to run a candidate for CD9, which means current U.S. Representative Paul Gosar will remain in Congress as he is tallying at the top of a four-candidate Republican primary.
A number of Arizona’s legislative races are also being closely watched, including several Republican primaries, such as the one between former Arizona Secretary of State / former State Senate President Ken Bennett and attorney Steven Zipperman in LD1.
Another high profile legislative contest pits current House Speaker Rusty Bowers against former State Senator David Farnsworth for the new LD10. And the race between Sen. Kelly Townsend and Sen. Wendy Rogers for LD7 has even garnered national attention.
Meanwhile, current State House Rep. Jake Hoffman (R) had the State Senate seat for LD15 handed to him by Democrats who did not bother to run a candidate. The same is true in LD16 where current State Senator Thomas “T.J.” Shope will win reelection unopposed by any Democrat, as will current State Senator Sine Kerr for LD25.
Arizona Daily Independent will have more detailed election results once at least 50 percent of the state’s precincts are reported.
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