Juan Ciscomani closes in on winning reelection over Kirsten Engel
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson, in February 2024. Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep Juan Ciscomani is drawing closer to securing his reelection in a southern Arizona congressional district, as counting on Monday saw his lead more than double over former state lawmaker Kirsten Engel.
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 Monday put Ciscomani narrowly ahead, with a nearly 4,900-vote lead.
Before the day's tally, Ciscomani led by about 1,200 votes.
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.
While the Associated Press has not called the race in Ciscomani's favor, others are already projecting he will win, including Decision Desk HQ.
About half of Pima County is in CD6, and there are nearly 63,000 ballots left to be counted in the county, though it's impossible to know how many are from CD6 and how many are from neighboring Congressional District 7. And another almost 22,000 ballots have yet to be counted in Cochise County, nearly all of which is in CD6.
