Tue. Nov 26th, 2024

L to R: Rep. Rachel Jones, Rep. Cory McGarr, Kevin Volk. Photos via Gage Skidmore (Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0), Kevin Volk (Facebook)

Democrats hold sizeable leads in flipping two legislative seats in a southern Arizona legislative district, victories that would be key for the party’s quest to flip control of the legislature away from Republicans. 

In the race for Legislative District 17’s state Senate seat, political newcomer John McLean is leading GOP nominee Vince Leach, who represented the region in the legislature from 2015 until 2022, by more than 6,000 votes as of 1 a.m. Wednesday. 

And in the contest for the district’s two seats in the House of Representatives, Democrat Kevin Volk held a roughly 10,000-vote lead over the Republican incumbent Cory McGarr, who trailed his seatmate, Rachel Jones, by 2,000 votes.

While registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in the district, it’s the unaffiliated voters that make up a sizable portion of voters in the region that both parties aimed to win over. For Democrats, victory is only possible if they capture the lion’s share of independent voters — and convince some right-of-center Republicans to cross party lines.

Early results indicate they may have done just that.

And the stakes couldn’t be higher. The outcome of the Tucson-area races will be pivotal in determining if Republicans keep their slim hold on control at the legislature, or if one chamber — or both — flips to Democratic control for the first time in more than 60 years. 

Legislative District 17 spans a portion of Pima and Pinal counties, running from Marana in the west and wrapping around the northern part of Tucson — capturing Oro Valley and Saddlebrooke along the way — before swinging south to take in eastern Tucson and Tanque Verde. It has been seen as a safe haven for the Republican Party and the area has elected some of the most far-right lawmakers in the state. 

Volk told the Arizona Mirror last month that his was “the most important district to flip” in the state this year. 

While Volk, a former teacher, focused much of his campaign on boosting funding for Arizona schools, McLean, a former Republican, sought to appeal to GOP voters who felt Donald Trump was too extreme.

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