Ciscomani Surges Ahead with 417 Votes Over Engel in Arizona’s CD6 Showdown

U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani has gained a slight advantage in his reelection battle against former state lawmaker Kirsten Engel. As of Wednesday evening, Ciscomani leads by a narrow margin of 417 votes, boasting 142,925 votes against Engel’s 142,508.

This shift comes after he was trailing by approximately 14,000 votes according to results released on Tuesday night. Election officials are still processing an undisclosed number of early ballots which were either mailed in or dropped off at polling locations by Election Day. Pima County officials indicated that about 160,000 ballots remain to be verified for potential counting, though not all of these pertain to Congressional District 6, as the district does not encompass the entire county.

Additionally, there are 9,570 untallied ballots in Cochise County, with some likely from Douglas, which lies outside of CD 6. Smaller, unspecified quantities of ballots from Pinal, Graham, and Greenlee counties also remain uncounted. Both candidates acknowledged on Election Night that numerous votes were still outstanding in this competitive race, making any declaration of victory premature.

This election marks a rematch from the 2022 contest, in which Ciscomani narrowly defeated Engel by under 2 percentage points. Southern Arizona’s Congressional District 6 is predominantly situated in Pima County, home to 74% of the district’s voters. Cochise County accounts for about 12%, and Pinal County comprises around 10%. The remaining 4% of voters are dispersed across Graham and Greenlee counties.

The district has a Republican lean, with 36% of voters identifying as GOP members, 31% as Democrats, and 33% as independents or affiliated with non-major parties.

Election officials are working diligently to validate the remaining vote-by-mail ballots, a process that involves signature verification. Completing the final count may take several days, with a complete tally expected next week. Voters have until Sunday to address any irregularities with their ballots.

Cochise County’s vote counting faced challenges due to an emailed bomb threat that necessitated the evacuation of the main election center in Bisbee. Although Pima County officials also received threats linked to Russian-associated email addresses, they were able to continue their operations without interruption on Tuesday.