Incumbent Sen. Justine Wadsack for legislative District 17 lost her seat in Tuesday’s primary to former LD 17 Senator Vincent Leach in one of the closest legislative races on Tuesday, according to the AZ Secretary of State’s unofficial results.
LD 17 includes parts of Pinal and Pima Counties and spans from Marana to Tucson.
Wadsack won the senate race against Leach, who had held the position before, in 2022. Wadsack is a member of Arizona’s Freedom Caucus, which is composed of the most conservative members of the state Legislature. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Wadsack in July.
On Tuesday, Leach won 51.6% of the votes narrowly surpassing Wadsack’s 48.4% by 1,043 votes.
Democrats had their eye on the race, believing LD 17 has the chance of flipping blue, increasing the odds of a Democratic majority in the senate. Wadsack had advocated for numerous initiatives that invited controversy, including proposing legislation to make it a felony for kids to attend drag shows. The business-minded Leach is thought to be more difficult to beat in a general election.
Democrats had thought if Wadsack won the primary, she wouldn’t be able to get the independent and unaffiliated votes needed to be elected in November, giving the Democratic Candidate John McLean a better chance of winning.
McLean has worked developing national security technologies through his own business. This would be his first political campaign.
McLean’s priorities include increasing teacher pay, ensuring access to abortion, limiting the export of water and plans to scrutinize the taxpayer money being used.
“As a successful businessman, John has over forty years of experience balancing budgets while investing wisely for future growth,” reads McLean’s campaign website. “He knows spending must be scrutinized to ensure that it delivers the results and that wasteful spending should be cut. We should demand the same discipline from those who spend our taxpayer dollars.”
A veteran legislator, Leach plans on sticking to the same Republican values he previously championed including securing the southern border and reducing “burdensome and job-killing regulations that hurt our economy,” according to his campaign website.
Leach and McLean will be going head-to-head in November’s General election, where it will be determined if the senate majority flips from GOP to Democrat.
More information on the results from Tuesday’s primary election can be found on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website.
