PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Republican nominee for Arizona’s First Congressional District is already celebrating but it’s too close to call on the Democratic side Tuesday night.
Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely easily won the Republican primary for CD1.
“This is about family. It’s about friends and family. And it’s about doing what’s best for this country. And, you know, that’s why I decided to get into this race,” Feely said around 9 p.m. “There are things that are so important that you have to stand up for and you have to be willing to fight. And you have to be willing to sacrifice. And that’s what politics is supposed to be about.”
He had 49.4% of the vote, compared to former state legislator Joseph Chaplik’s 35.2% and technology and telecommunications executive John Trobough’s 15.4%.
The race was called minutes after the first batch of results were released.
Feely briefly ran in the 5th Congressional District, but Trump endorsed another candidate and nudged Feely to run in another district or for a different office. Feely switched to the 1st District, and Trump endorsed him and former state party chair Gina Swoboda for the nomination. Swoboda later dropped out to run for secretary of state.
Feely has never been elected to public office.
Democratic primary
The two front-runners in the Democratic primary are Marlene Galan Woods, a former television journalist, and Amish Shah, a doctor and former state legislator. Shah is up by 5,000 votes, as of 8:20 p.m.
Political experts expect the race to be among the closest in the primary — a rematch from two years ago, when Shah won the primary but lost the general election.
The race has drawn negative attention, with attack ads and accusations from both sides. Democratic strategist Stacy Pearson said she was not surprised by the tone but expressed some disappointment.
“Arizona has a notoriously small window between its primary elections and its general elections,” Pearson said. “And so ballots go out in mailboxes for November in just over 80 days. And so these candidates have no time to dress wounds and to put on better bandages. They just got to get up and keep fighting.”
Shah received 48% of the vote against Schweikert in the general election. Publisher Rick McCartney and entrepreneur Jonathan Treble round out the Democratic field.
Arizona’s First Congressional District, covering Scottsdale, parts of north Phoenix and areas northeast of the Valley, has emerged as one of the most closely watched races of the 2026 election cycle, with both parties expected to prioritize the open seat in November.
The district has no incumbent on the ballot. Rep. David Schweikert, who currently holds the seat, lost his bid to become the Republican nominee for governor.
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