Who can beat David Schweikert? How blue is Phoenix? Key Democrat primary questions

Registered Democrats in Arizona will head to the polls on July 30 to select who their party should nominate for the Nov. 5 general election.

In the state’s 1st Congressional District, Democratic voters will have plenty of options to choose from in the July 30 primary, as a field of candidates line up to challenge incumbent Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.

Voters in the neighboring bright-blue 3rd Congressional District, which covers much of western, southern, and downtown Phoenix, will weight in on a race shaping up to be a two-way matchup between two progressive candidates.

Here’s how the hottest contests are unfolding up and down the ballot.

Congressional District 1

Schweikert is seen as one of the GOP congressmen most vulnerable to an electoral challenge. He represents one of the few Republican-held congressional seats whose voters chose President Joe Biden in 2020. GOP-led abortion restrictions and Trump’s presence on the ballot are widely expected to be a liability for Republicans in the Scottsdale-area district, where Trump-aligned candidates have underperformed.

Six Democrats want to seize the opportunity. They are Andrei Cherny, a former Arizona Democratic Party chair; Marlene Galán-Woods, a former journalist and the widow of former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods; Amish Shah, a doctor and former state representative; Conor O'Callaghan, who works in finance; Andrew Horne, an orthodontist; and Kurt Kroemer, a former nonprofit executive.

Mirroring the mixed partisan character of the district, many of the candidates hail from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.

O’Callaghan, for example, has broken from most of his party in saying that he would consider renewing Trump-era tax cuts depending on how the economy is doing. Galán-Woods was a registered Republican until 2018 though she, like the rest of the field, is now vocal on Democratic priorities like abortion and protecting democracy. And while Shah voted consistently with Democrats during his time in the Legislature, he was considered to the right of many of his Democratic colleagues.

Cherny touts his experience working as a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton and helping to advance Clinton’s balanced-budget agenda.

Kroemer has staked out a more progressive stance on some issues. Drawing on his experience leading Arizona’s regional branch of the American Red Cross, he has criticized his rivals for agreeing with a Republican-led narrative of a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border and has contested the connection between undocumented immigration and crime.

Horne has made gun control a focus of his campaign. He often talks about a gun violence scare that affected his young daughter.

With an eye on Schweikert, the candidates have sparred over who is best equipped to win in a general election.

And they have mounted attacks on each others’ backgrounds and qualifications as the primary approaches.

The 1st Congressional District spans northeastern Maricopa County, including north-central Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

Analysts have rated the district’s November election a “tilt Republican” or toss-up race.

Congressional District 3

The Democratic primary in Arizona’s bright-blue 3rd Congressional District, which covers much of western, southern, and downtown Phoenix, is shaping up to be a two-way race between two progressive candidates.

One of the frontrunners is former Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari, a former U.N. policy staffer who in 2021 became the youngest woman ever elected to Phoenix City Council. Ansari beat out a crowded race for her seat with the backing of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, impressing Arizona’s political ecosystem in the process.

The other frontrunner is former state Sen. Raquel Terán, who once chaired the Arizona Democratic Party. Before her years in the state Legislature, Terán rose to prominence as a community organizer mobilizing against Senate Bill 1070, the hardline “show me your papers” immigration bill that drew national protests when the Legislature passed it in 2010.

The two candidates profess the same viewpoints on major campaign issues including supporting access to abortion, action to combat climate change, and Medicare for All.

The physician Duane Wooten, a lesser-known candidate, is also in the race though his fundraising totals pale in comparison to his rivals’. Wooten has made health care a focus of his campaign.

The race heated up in a televised debate in May, when Terán charged Ansari is a “millionaire landlord” who has received a substantial amount of campaign money from people who have also donated to Republicans, including former President Donald Trump. She argued Ansari is disconnected from the community she is running to represent.

Some see Terán as a continuation of the district’s decadeslong pattern of electing Latino candidates: previously Ed Pastor, and then-incumbent Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is vacating the seat to run for U.S. Senate.

Ansari contested the “millionaire” label even though she reported well above $1 million in assets on a recent financial disclosure. She called the attack on her donors “off-base” and "xenophobic,” saying the donors in question are fellow Iranian Americans excited about her candidacy.

She has countered that Terán is lobbing “personal attacks” because “she cannot attack my progressive record,” which includes accomplishments on the Phoenix City Council related to homelessness and housing, climate policies, education, and more.

The candidates have also bickered over their bona fides on the issue of abortion.

The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to breeze through the general election. Republicans Jeff Zink, who worked on the Arizona Senate’s discredited review of Maricopa County ballots in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and Jesús David Mendoza, a software engineer, are seeking the GOP nomination.

Reach the reporter at laura.gersony@arizonarepublic.com.

See all 2024 Arizona primary races

A recap of everything: When is Arizona's primary? Election day is July 30. Here is a voter guide to help you learn about all the candidates.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Democrat primaries set stage for November election