The battle for the Democratic nomination in Arizona's 1st Congressional District has narrowed down to two candidates: former television news anchor Marlene Galán-Woods and former state Rep. Amish Shah.
As of early Wednesday morning, neither candidate had secured enough votes to claim the nomination outright. The winner will face former NFL kicker Jay Feely in the general election, a rare opportunity to flip a seat in the Canyon State and potentially decide the balance of power in Washington, D.C.
The seat is crucial as it could determine whether Republicans hold on to a slim majority in the House of Representatives or whether Democrats break a Republican governing trifecta in the November midterms.
The district has favored Republicans since 2020, but incumbent Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., has only narrowly hung on to the seat in the past two cycles, beating out Shah in a 51.9% to 48.1% victory in 2024.
Shah and Galán-Woods are not strangers to each other, having clashed in the Democratic 2024 primary for the district. Shah narrowly defeated Galán-Woods before advancing to the 2024 general election, where he lost to Schweikert.
Galán-Woods is now making another bid for the nomination with support from several national Democratic organizations, which view Arizona's 1st District as one of the party's best pickup opportunities in 2026. The winner will go on to the general election on Nov. 3.
