The National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting three U.S. House districts in Arizona for a Republican takeover.
The committee is signaling out Arizona’s 2nd, 4th, and 6th districts.
Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District is currently represented by U.S. Representative Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-02) and the seat is currently rated Likely Republican by The Cook Political Report. There is a fierce GOP battle going on for the seat.
Republican challengers to O’Halleran include former Navy SEAL and Iraq War Veteran Eli Crane, State Representative Walt Blackman (R-Flagstaff), software engineer Ronald Watkins, business consultant Mark DeLuzio, and farmer Steven Krystofiak.
Redistricting affected a major change in the partisan makeup of AZ-4. Prior to redistricting, when it was known as the 9th district before the boundaries and numbers were changed, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight gave the district a partisan rating of D+15. The current district has a D+1 partisan rating with a 14-point partisan swing towards Republicans.
The Cook Political Report gives this race a Likely Democratic rating due to the incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Greg Stanton’s financial advantage.
Former United States Marine Kelly Cooper and former Phoenix Suns executive Tanya Contreras Wheeless are considered by many to be the major GOP candidates seeking the AZ-4 seat.
The Arizona Sun Times previously reported that Stanton is a rubber-stamp for the Biden agenda and has voted with the Biden administration 100 percent of the time. Those votes include legislation that would impose a federal government takeover of elections, an increase to the debt limit, create a position in the State Department that monitors Islamophobia around the world, approve a pro-abortion measure that would codify Roe v. Wade, and admit Washington, D.C. as a state.
Stanton also encouraged the Biden administration to withhold federal funding for Arizona schools if the state’s ban on school mask mandates were not eliminated.
The race for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District seat is an open one, made so by the retirement of Democrat U.S. Representative Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-02). The Cook Political Report rates the race for this seat as Lean Republican.
Prominent Republicans running for AZ-6 include former Juan Ciscomani, senior advisor to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, and State Senator Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction)
The Republican primaries in Arizona, which include elections for statewide office and legislative office in addition to the U.S. House elections, are scheduled to occur on August 2.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Walter Blackman” by Arizona State Legislature. Photo “Eli Crane” by NRCC. Photo “Mark DeLuzio” by Mark DeLuzio. Photo “Steven Krystofiak” by Steven Krystofiak. Background Photo “United States House of Representatives” by United States House of Representatives.
