Democrats swarmed congressional race to challenge Rep. Debbie Lesko. Now she's not running

Rep. Debbie Lesko ran unopposed for reelection in 2022, leaving some constituents angered. It inspired them to announce their own candidacies in the now-crowded 2024 race for her U.S. House seat.

A firefighter, long-haul trucker and analyst for a credit union each wanted to challenge Lesko, R-Ariz. During her last election, Lesko secured 96.5% of the votes in her heavily Republican district. Her only nominal opposition came from two write-in candidates.

One of those candidates, firefighter and then-Democrat Jeremy Spreitzer, called Lesko’s uncontested run a “catalyst” for his decision to run in 2022 as “we only had one choice,” he recalled.

He secured 2.5% of the vote in the 8th Congressional District, or just more than 5,000 votes. He is running again this year, but this time as an independent, with his initial intention to ensure that Lesko wouldn’t run unopposed again.

But this time Lesko won’t be running.

On Oct. 17, Lesko announced that she wouldn’t be seeking reelection for the seat she’s held in Congress since 2018.

Despite Lesko’s previous uncontested run motivating many Democratic candidates to get into the race, they still hope to win the seat.

The 8th Congressional District, which covers north Glendale, Peoria, Sun City West and New River, is solidly Republican. The area has not elected a Democrat to Congress since Rep. Bob Stump in 1980. Stump, a conservative Democrat, ended up switching parties to Republican after his reelection that cycle.

Time in office: Rep. Debbie Lesko exiting Congress with little to show for her 5 years in the House

All six Democratic candidates, including those motivated by the previous uncontested election, filed statements of interest to run before Lesko announced she wasn’t seeking reelection.

One of these candidates is Bernadette Green Placentia, a long-haul trucker in the district, who called Lesko’s previous uncontested run “disgusting” and “a failure of the Democratic Party.”

Angered by Lesko’s inaction in office, close ties with former President Donald Trump, statements on the House floor, election denialism and lack of legislation actions related to Arizona’s 8th district, many constituents didn’t want Lesko to be their only option again.

Democrat Jim Holmes, a truck driver, said Lesko’s record was a “very big” reason he decided to run in the district because “they really needed help,” he said.

Steven Sawdy, another Democrat in the race, is one of the Lesko constituents who “was committed to making sure that she wouldn't run unopposed again,” he said.

This motivation was so strong that the race drew many non-career politicians, such as Spreitzer, Sawdy, Holmes and Greene Placentia.

“Nobody knows me; I may not have much of a chance,” Greene Placentia said. “But there is no way in hell I’m letting her run unopposed this time.”

More: 'Needed to jump in': 13 candidates running for retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko's House seat

Despite Lesko’s position in Congress acting as a motivating factor for these candidates' campaigns, few said they were surprised by Lesko’s announcement that she wouldn’t be running again.

“She doesn’t need to pretend to serve the residents of the 8th district anymore,” Sawdy said. “She never really represented me.”

Since Lesko’s retirement announcement, the candidate pool has grown into a large and diverse one, with a total of 14 candidates filing statements of interest or announcing their candidacy on social media.

In addition to the six Democrats and one independent running for the open position, several Republicans have either filed statements of interest or announced on social media that they are running for the position.

Notably, two big names from the 2022 elections will be battling it out in the Republican primary: Abe Hamadeh and Blake Masters. In 2022, Hamadeh lost the Arizona Attorney General Race while Masters lost the U.S. Senate race to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.

Other Republicans in the race include former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.; state House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria; and state Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale.

Lesko already has endorsed Toma as her preferred successor.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dems swarm CD8 race after Debbie Lesko ran unopposed in 2022