Results: Republican Juan Ciscomani defeats Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District election
Juan Ciscomani's campaign; Kirsten Engel's campaign; Insider
- Republican Juan Ciscomani defeated Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District.
- After Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick announced her retirement, Republicans looked to regain the majority in Arizona's US House delegation.
- Democrats weren't dealt favors in redistricting.
Republican Juan Ciscomani defeated Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District, flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican control.
The seat opened up after Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, currently representing the former 2nd District, announced she is retiring and not running for reelection.
Polls closed in the state at 7 p.m. local time, or 9 p.m. EST.
Arizona's 6th Congressional District candidates
Ciscomani is a senior advisor to incumbent GOP Gov. Doug Ducey and campaigned on a close working relationship with border patrol, border sheriffs, ranchers, and residents. The Arizona native also serves as vice chair of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Prior to running for Congress, Ciscomani served as a senior program development specialist at the University of Arizona and was vice president of outreach for the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Engel, Ciscomani's opponent, previously represented Tucson in the state legislature and most recently represented District 10 in the Arizona State Senate. She resigned in September 2021 to focus on her congressional campaign. Engel handily defeated her Democratic primary opponents, bringing in more than half of the vote.
Voting history for Arizona's 6th Congressional District
Arizona's 6th Congressional District stretches from the northern and eastern ends of Tucson across much of Cochise County.
Joe Biden had an 11 percentage point margin of victory over then-President Donald Trump under the district's previous boundaries in 2020. The district was redrawn by reconfiguring its previous boundaries in the former 2nd District in redistricting following the 2020 Census, extending its arms to Republican-leaning suburbs like Marana, and excluding Democratic strongholds like Bisbee, giving Republicans an edge.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Ciscomani raised $2.6 million, spent $2.2 million, and had $357,625 on hand, as of September 30. His opponent, Engel, raised $2 million, spent $1.8 million, and had $202,241 cash on hand, as of September 30.
As of late October, several dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups together spent about $5 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase.
What experts say
The race between Ciscomani and Engel was rated as "tilt Republican" by Inside Elections, "lean Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.