by Garrett FriskThe primary purpose of Diamond Eye Candidate Report is to bring attention to candidates who haven't otherwise received any news coverage, especially congressional candidates. But ironically, the people whose declarations of candidacy most often go unreported are the incumbent members of Congress themselves. Some incumbents send out a press release confirming their re-election plans, but most quietly file their paperwork without making an announcement; in many cases, nobody knows for sure that a member of Congress is seeking re-election until the final candidate list is released. That's why Diamond Eye Candidate Report emailed the office of every member of Congress who has yet to publicly announce whether they'll seek another term in 2024 to determine who has and hasn't made up their mind. This article will be continuously updated as more offices get back to us. As of now, these are the responses we have gotten: Running for re-election
Still deciding
by Garrett FriskArizona has been called "ground zero for election deniers," and no area of the state has been targeted quite like Maricopa County. The state's most populous county, it has been beset by a string of election fraud conspiracy theories since 2020. These accusations have caused Maricopa County's election workers and elected officials to receive a great deal of harassment, and it's taking a toll. One member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, district 3 Republican Bill Gates, has had enough. Gates, who suffers from PTSD as a result of the harassment, announced earlier this month he would not run for re-election in 2024. Gates's retirement is sure to set off a heated race; he was re-elected with just 50.7% of the vote in 2020 as Joe Biden was carrying the 3rd district with 53.8% of the vote. Currently, the only candidate who has filed to run is attorney Tabatha Lavoie, though two other Republicans have expressed interest in a campaign: former Phoenix city councilor Sal DiCiccio and gym chain owner and former congressional candidate Josh Barnett. Barnett's candidacy would likely help Democrats flip the district, due to his far-right beliefs and support of the QAnon conspiracy theory. When Barnett tweeted his interest in running for the 3rd district, 5th district supervisor Steve Gallardo—the only Democrat on the Board—responded: "I’m looking forward to becoming the Chairman for the BOS after 2024." by Garrett FriskOne of the closest races in 2022 was found in Arizona's 6th congressional district, which pitted Republican Juan Ciscomani against Democrat Kirsten Engel. With Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick retiring and the district redrawn to be more conservative, Republicans saw the district as an easy flip. National Democrats, anticipating a red wave, assumed the district was unwinnable and cut off Engel. But that turned out to be a mistake, as Ciscomani defeated Engel by just 1.5% of the vote. Now, both House Democrats and House Republicans alike see Arizona's 6th district as one of their highest-priority districts for the 2024 election--and two Democrats are already in the running to take back the seat for their party. One of those Democrats is Kirsten Engel, who is back to give it another go. After 4 years of service in the Arizona House of Representatives, Engel was elected to the Arizona Senate in 2020--but she ended up resigning just a few months into her term after deciding to run for Congress. Now she's back, and hoping to finish what she started in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Engel raised $1,763, spent $735, and ended with $2,333 on hand. Her campaign website can be found here. However, Engel will have to face opposition in the Democratic primary from cybersecurity professional Vieri Tenuta, who has also declared his campaign. Tenuta previously served as a member of the Tanque Verde Unified School District board. His website can be found here. by Garrett FriskCurrently, Republicans hold 6 of the 9 congressional districts in Arizona, while Democrats hold the other three. But after Arizona Republican suffered a series of stinging losses in 2020 and 2022, that 6-3 majority might shrink in 2024. For four of Arizona's six House Republicans, the 2024 campaign has already started; each is already facing an opponent who has filed with the FEC and launched a campaign website. 1st congressional district incumbent David Schweikert had one of the toughest fights for re-election of any House Republican in the midterms. After winning the Republican primary with a 43.6% plurality against two challengers, Schweikert narrowly limped through the general election, winning by a slim 0.8% margin against Democrat Jevin Hodge. He'll be in for another tough fight in 2024; both Hodge and former TV news anchor Marlene Galan Woods have expressed interest in challenging Schweikert. However, one other Democrat isn't waiting for them to make up their mind. Andrew Horne, an orthodontist, has already launched a campaign against Scheikert. His campaign website can be found here. In the 8th congressional district, Democrat Jeremy Spreitzer has announced that he will run against incumbent Debbie Lesko. A firefighter and retired teacher, Spreitzer previously ran a write-in campaign for this district in 2022 after no Democrat qualified for the general election ballot. He received 2.5% of the vote, an unusually large total for a write-in candidate. His website can be found here. Meanwhile, incumbent Andy Biggs is facing an independent candidate in the 5th district, sales director Evan Olson. Although Olson is a critic of the two-party system, supporting open primaries and ranked-choice voting, his platform contains mostly liberal policy proposals, including automatic voter registration and gun control. His website can be found here. And in the 9th district, incumbent Paul Gosar is facing beverage company district manager Nick Blair, whose website can be found here. Additionally, one of the Democratic incumbents is already facing a pair of Republican challengers; restaurant owner Kelly Cooper and engineer Dave Giles are both running against 4th district incumbent Greg Stanton. Cooper and Giles both ran for this district in 2022, with Cooper winning the Republican primary with 28.4% of the vote while Giles placed third with 18.7%. Cooper went on to lose the general election with 43.7% of the vote to 56.1% for Stanton. Giles also ran for this district in 2016, 2018, and 2020, winning the primary in 2016 and 2020. Cooper's website can be found here, while Giles's website can be found here. Stanton has yet to announce whether or not he will run for re-election, though he has confirmed that he will not run for U.S. Senate against incumbent independent Kyrsten Sinema. Meanwhile, strength conditioning specialist Jeff Zink is again running for the 3rd district, where incumbent Democrat Ruben Gallego is retiring to run for Senate; Zink was the Republican nominee for this district in 2022, receiving 23.9% of the vote. His website can be found here. This story was updated to include Jeff Zink's candidacy.
|
Categories
All
|
Copyright © 2023