Arizona’s 6th Congressional District is believed to be a prime target for a GOP pickup, according to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight political blog, which rates the newly-redrawn district as “Competitive R.” Seven-term incumbent Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, announced in early 2021 she would not seek re-election; and the area’s voting history suggests the new boundary lines favor Republicans.
The new district map switched the lines and district numbers around, changing AZ-2 to AZ-6. The old district was rated a D+2 by the website fivethirtyeight. It is now rated a R+7 district. Meanwhile, The Cook Political Report rates the district as “Lean Republican” with a Partisan Voting Index (PVI) of R+2.
As The Arizona Sun Times previously reported, the Copper State has an Independent Redistricting Commission charged with the decennial task of redistricting.
The open seat has attracted several Republican and Democrat candidates to date.
On the Republican side, FEC records show that the candidate who has raised the most money is Former Senior Advisor to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Juan Ciscomani (pictured above). He has raised over $900,000 as of the last report. His campaign has almost $750,000 on hand. Ciscomani also has the endorsement of U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Ciscomani’s website says, “I am a grateful beneficiary of the American Dream and I am determined to fight to preserve it for my kids and future generations of Arizonans. There is work to be done, and with your help, I know we can get our country headed back in the right direction.”
Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) (pictured above) is also running but, since filing her FEC candidacy paperwork in January 2022, her campaign does not have any available fundraising data. The Arizona Sun Times previously reported that Townsend has been praised by President Donald Trump several times. Townsend says that “she is the only candidate with a voting record that demonstrates the ideology and backbone needed to stand up to the establishment in Washington D.C., and put the people of Arizona first.”
In the Democrat primary, FEC records show that State Representative Daniel Hernandez (D-Tucson) has raised $741,794.50 and his campaign has $404,013.97 on hand. Former State Senator Kirsten Engel (D-Tucson) is leading the Democrat field with $824,034.80 raised and $549,211.16 on hand.
Arizona’s new 6th district contains parts of Pinal, Pima, Cochise, and Graham counties, as well as all of Greenlee county.
The primaries for both the Republicans and the Democrats will take place on August 2, 2022.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at the Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Juan Ciscomani” by Juan Ciscomani. Photo “Kelly Townsend” by ArizonaSage. CC BY-SA 4.0. Background Photo “Arizona State Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
