Republican Rep. David Schweikert’s swing district is a target in the 2024 election. Grant Woods’ widow is the latest entrant in the crowded Democratic primary.
PHOENIX – Once again, in 2024, Arizona voters will have a major say in who controls the nation’s Capitol: the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democratic candidates are lining up to run in one of two Republican-held districts in the state, where a swing would bring the party closer to winning the five seats it needs to take back the House.
With the party primaries still 15 months away, here are four things to know about the looming race for the first congressional district seat in seven terms. Republican David Schweikert.
Grant Woods’ widow in racing
Former television reporter Marlene Galan-Woods officially announced her campaign for Congress on Wednesday, becoming the fifth Democrat in the race.
“I’ve never run for office with my bingo card,” Galan-Woods, the widow of former Attorney General Grant Woods, said in an interview.
“After Grant died (two years ago), I was left with a very deep sense of responsibility. I couldn’t ignore what was happening.”
I spent 20 years as a journalist, exposing crooks and holding the powerful accountable.
Today, I’m proud to announce my campaign for Congress in AZ-01 to end the extremism taking place in Washington.
RT to join our campaign. Help us turn around #AZ01 from red to blue. pic.twitter.com/2h5jDuGbZ2
— Marlene Galán-Woods (@marleneforAZ) May 24, 2023
Galan-Woods, who is 59, said she changed her voter registration from Republican to Democrat when Donald Trump came to power about eight years ago.
Her policy positions mirror the mainstream Democratic Party: defending reproductive rights, passing “common sense” gun reform, and protecting Medicare and Social Security.
“I strongly believe that most of us live somewhere in the middle, a little to the left a little to the right,” he said.
Dem field full of people
Galan-Woods Joins Crowded Field in First District Primary: Former State and Congressional Candidate Andrei Cherny; two political newcomers, orthodontist Andrew Horne and former Red Cross executive Kurt Kroemer; and state representation. Amish Shah, an emergency physician.
The district covers northeastern Maricopa County, south to central Phoenix; moving north to Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, one of the wealthiest communities in the county; and then northeast to the Schweikert home, Fountain Hills.
The district has one of the highest average incomes and education levels in the state. The voting age population is 80 percent white.
Blue Trend District
Here’s why Democrats have high hopes for unseating Schweikert:
The first redrawn district was classified as competitive when Arizona went through redistricting in 2021.
Democrats connected to the mapping process warned that he might go Republican in 2022 but would likely flip to Democrat in 2024, a presidential year that would increase Democratic turnout.
This proposal will be tested.
Over the past decade, voters living in the district have gone from red to light blue.
Sam Almy at Uplift Campaigns provided data showing voter choices at the top of the ticket since 2012:
2012: Republican candidate Mitt Romney was his choice for president by 17 percentage points over Barack Obama.
2014: Republican Doug Ducey, in his first bid for governor, won by 15 points.
2016: GOP margin of victory drops to 4 points for Donald Trump.
2018: Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema won by 2 points.
2020: President Joe Biden won the district by 4 points over Trump; Biden won Maricopa County by 2 points.
2022: Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s margin of victory was 7 points.
The results of 2024 depend not only on the quality and funding of the Democratic candidate for Congress, but also on the person at the top of the ticket. If it’s Trump for the third time, that could backfire. The impact of a no vote on a potential three-way race for the U.S. Senate is also a wild card.
Schweikert squealed in ’22
He won re-election last year by less than a percentage point in the toughest campaign of his congressional career. This came after a brutal Republican primary, in which Trump endorsed Schweikert.
Now in his seventh term in Congress, Schweikert has been a Republican stalwart on economic issues, but has few significant legislative accomplishments.
Schweikert’s most enduring brand is a rare reprimand and a $50,000 fine by the House of Representatives for violating 11 ethical standards.
It is not clear if it will be primary again on the 24th.
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