Az CD6 Rep. Ciscomani Secures Reelection Against Democratic Opponent Engel

U.S. Representative Juan Ciscomani has significantly extended his lead over Democratic contender Kirsten Engel in Arizona’s Congressional District 6 race, now ahead by 6,867 votes after the latest ballot counts from Pima and Cochise counties. The freshman Republican previously led by under 2 percentage points, currently sitting at 49.7% to Engel’s 47.9%, with about 66,237 ballots still left to be counted across various counties.

This shift comes after Ciscomani, trailing by approximately 14,000 votes earlier, regained ground as results updated from several counties. Engel and Ciscomani frequently swapped leads, but Ciscomani has maintained his advantage since Friday. In a notable twist, Green Party candidate Athena Eastwood, despite a lackluster campaign, attracted a significant number of votes – totaling 9,438, including 7,175 in Pima County, which surpasses the margin between the leading candidates.

Vote counting is nearing completion, with Pima County officials estimating around 42,228 ballots remaining, though not all are directly tied to the CD6 race. Cochise County reports 21,801 outstanding ballots, and Pinal County has 4,023 still to be tallied. Notably, the vote count is finished in both Greenlee and Graham counties.

The current race echoes their 2022 matchup, where Ciscomani narrowly defeated Engel by a similar margin. Voter demographics in this Southern Arizona district lean Republican, with 36% of voters identifying as GOP members. Democrats account for 31%, while 33% are registered as independents or do not align with either major party. A substantial 74% of district voters reside in Pima County, followed by 12% in Cochise and 10% in Pinal.

Election officials across Pima, Cochise, and Pinal counties are in the process of finalizing vote counts this week, navigating technical issues and validating remaining vote-by-mail ballots through signature checks. A bomb threat at Cochise County’s main election center in Bisbee temporarily stalled operations, compounding existing technical difficulties that delayed tabulation. Despite threats on Election Day linked to Russian email addresses, Pima County officials continued their operations without interruption.