2 Arizona Corporation Commissioners ran for reelection. Only 1 made it out of GOP primary

With nearly all votes counted across the state, it appears Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers has lost his reelection bid to state lawmaker Ralph Heap, who bested Myers in the GOP primary.

Myers ran on a slate with fellow Republican Commissioner Kevin Thompson for two open seats on the Corporation Commission, Arizona’s top utility regulatory body. They faced a challenge from Heap and former lawmaker David Marshall, which was backed by the Legislature’s far-right Freedom Caucus.

Marshall later dropped out of the race to become the Navajo County recorder, leaving Heap to run a single-shot campaign with support from conservative activist groups Turning Point Action and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club.

Thompson will advance to the general election after securing the most votes in the three-way race.

But, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, Myers trails Heap by about 15,000 votes with 100% of precincts reporting from Arizona’s 15 counties. Counties must still process a small amount of provisional ballots and early ballots with signature issues, which voters must cure, or validate, by Sunday.

Myers conceded the race in a post on social media.

“While last night’s results were not what we hoped, I look forward to working with my colleagues over the next 5 months to finish my term the same way it began — delivering conservative, consumer friendly results for ratepayers,” he wrote on Tuesday.

Thompson and Heap will face Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathan Hill in the November general election.