U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucosn, in May 2024. Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani has once again taken a narrow lead over former Democratic state legislator Kirsten Engel as the two have traded leads since Election Day in a race that is still too close to call.
The hotly contested battle to represent southern Arizona’s competitive Congressional District 6, which includes the eastern half of Tucson and stretches to the state’s southern and eastern borders, has been one of the major priorities this year for Democrats hoping to flip the seat blue.
Votes counted on Friday put Ciscomani narrowly ahead, with a 1,560-vote lead.
The race is a rematch of 2022, when Ciscomani defeated Engel by less than two percentage points. Throughout the week, as more ballots have been counted, the two have traded small leads — sometimes within hours.
The Tucson Sentinel reported that Engel focused her campaign on Ciscomani’s votes to restrict abortion access and his links to a conservative organization whose leaders support “restoring Biblical values in your neighborhood, state and nation” and oppose abortion and LGBTQ rights. Ciscomani has served on the board of directors of the nonprofit that oversees the Texas-based Patriot Academy.
Ciscomani, meanwhile, boasted that he was ranked one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives and he has brought federal dollars home to CD6, which includes precincts in Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties. He also described Engel as “out-of-touch and elite” and said she was weak on border security and didn’t support law enforcement.
Republicans are poised to take control of the House and Senate and the race in CD6 is just one in Arizona that could have future implications for either party.
Cochise, Pima and Greenlee county are the last areas of CD6 with outstanding ballots. While Pima has favored Engel, both Greenlee and Cochise have favored Ciscomani.
As of Friday evening, the race was still too close to call and regardless of the outcome will likely lead to an automatic recount per state law.
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