Primary Outlook: Women Candidates in Arizona

From March to December 2018, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) partnered to offer Gender Watch 2018, which tracked, analyzed, and illuminated gender dynamics in the 2018 midterm elections. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Gender Watch 2018 furthered public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns. The blog below was written for Gender Watch 2018, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role U.S. elections.

Ahead of the Arizona primary election on August 28, 2018, we outline the numbers and proportions of women who have filed as candidates for congressional and statewide office. The data below also provide points of historical comparison to give context to today’s presence and potential success of women candidates.

All data are provided from the Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. For a full list of the women candidates in Arizona primary races for congressional and statewide offices, see CAWP’s Election Watch page.

CONGRESS

Current: 3 (1D, 2R) of 11 members of the Arizona congressional delegation (27.3%)
Filed: 20 (11D, 9R)
Percent of all Filed Congressional Candidates (D/R): 46.5% (20 of 43)

SENATE

Current: 0 of 2 senators

• No woman has ever served in the U.S. Senate from Arizona. 

Filed: 4 (2D, 2R)

• In the open seat contest for the U.S. Senate, 2 Democratic women and 2 Republican women are competing for their party nominations.
• The Democratic nomination contest is all-female.
• Two of Arizona’s three women members of the U.S. House – incumbents Martha McSally (R) and Kyrsten Sinema (D) – are running for the U.S. Senate, leaving their House seats open.

Percent of all Filed Senate Candidates (D/R): 80% (4 of 5)
Percent of all Filed Democratic Senate Candidates:  100% (2 of 2)
Percent of all Filed Republican Senate Candidates: 66.7% (2 of 3)

HOUSE

Current: 3 of 9 representatives (33.3%)

• Current Representative Debbie Lesko (R), who was sworn in after winning a special election in 2018, is running for her first full term this year.
• Incumbent Representatives Martha McSally (R) and Kyrsten Sinema (D) are not running for re-election to the U.S. House; both women are competing for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat. 

Filed:  16 (9D, 7R)

• Incumbent Representative Debbie Lesko (R) is running for re-election this year. She is being challenged in the primary by another Republican woman candidate.
• 5 (3D, 2R) women are running in open seat contests, including 4 (3D, 1R) women candidates in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district.
• 10 (6D, 4R) women are running as challengers, including 2 (1D, 1R) women candidates who are challenging incumbent members of their own party in the primary and 8 (5D, 3R) women candidates who are seeking to challenge incumbents of the opposing party this fall.

* Of the 16 women candidates for the U.S. House in Arizona, 7 (4D, 3R) are women of color. 4 (2D, 2R) women candidates identify as Latina; 2 (2D) women candidates identify as Asian/Pacific Islander; and 1 (1R) woman candidate identifies as multi-racial. No woman of color has ever served in Congress from Arizona.

Districts with Women Candidates:  9 of 9
Percent of all Filed House Candidates (D/R):  42.1% (16 of 38)
Percent of all Filed Democratic House Candidates:  45% (9 of 20)
Percent of all Filed Republican House Candidates: 38.9% (7 of 18)