The Democratic primary in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District narrowed to a margin of just .01 percentage points, within the range of an automatic recount.
Former Phoenix City Council member Yassamin Ansari led former state lawmaker Raquel Terán by 67 votes as of Friday, with just a handful of votes left to count.
The seat is open due to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego’s run for U.S. Senate. The winner of the Democratic primary will be the favorite in the November election against Republican Jeff Zink to represent the district, which leans Democratic and covers central and southwest Phoenix.
In the Democratic primary, Ansari has touted herself as progressive candidate who will “stand up to MAGA extremism” and defend abortion rights.
Terán, a former state Senate minority leader, emphasizes her success as an organizer and a key player in ousting Joe Arpaio from the Maricopa County sheriff's post. Zink, who claimed Biden’s victory in 2020 was stolen, defeated Jesus David Mendoza to win the Republican nomination.
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Find everything you need to know about elections in Arizona and Maricopa County from KJZZ's politics team.
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Arizona Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs led an unsuccessful effort this week to cap the amount of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine, which he said would prevent future Democratic leaders from appointing more liberal justices.
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A longtime Arizona Department of Child Safety official backed up claims by the agency’s former director, who alleged a state group home operator and Democratic donor offered to help him keep his job in exchange for a rate increase that is at the center of pay-to-play allegations levied against Gov. Katie Hobbs’ administration.
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A whistleblower has raised concerns that the new rules developed by the U.S. Postal Service on mail-in voting are problematic, saying the process to come up with them was “secretive, rushed, chaotic and fundamentally flawed.”
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The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is now investigating three political candidates who face allegations their campaigns falsified records to obtain millions of dollars in public funding.