Even with a global pandemic rattling the world, democracy doesn't stop. The winners of Tuesday's primary election races will face off in the November general election for Congressional seats, the offices of Maricopa County Sheriff and Attorney, and a slew of seats in the State Legislature. Here's the latest on where some of the more important and contested races stand:
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
This is one of the highest profile races in Maricopa County this year. The current sheriff, Democrat Paul Penzone, ran unopposed in the 2020 primary after handily beating Joe Arpaio, the former longtime sheriff who generated national controversy for his hard-line punitive practices, back in 2016. In what many view as a quixotic bid to get his old job back, Arpaio has squared off against several other candidates for the Republican nomination — including a former deputy of his — during the 2020 primary.Initial results
Jerry Sheridan: 136,960
Joe Arpaio: 136,419
Mike Crawford: 97,250
Lehland Burton: 891
Still too close to call on Wednesday night.
Maricopa County Attorney's Office
The Republican incumbent county prosecutor Allister Adel is being attacked only from the left in her 2020 reelection bid. No other Republicans challenged her in the primary. Three Democratic candidates battled it out to wear the 'progressive prosecutor' mantle and be the candidate that will take on Adel and her prosecutorial track record — which critics argue is overly punitive — in the fall. Adel's challengers included Julie Gunnigle, a former county prosecutor, and Will Knight, who used to work as a public defender in Maricopa County.Initial results
Julie Gunnigle: 191,885
Will Knight: 69,226
Bob McWhirter: 58,492
Likely winner: Gunnigle
Maricopa County Recorder
This race might not be as sexy as the contests for sheriff or county prosecutor, but the Maricopa County Recorder, is important nonetheless. The office oversees elections — such as this one — and its run by incumbent Adrian Fontes, one of the few democrats elected to a countywide office. This year, two Republicans fought each other to try to oust him.Initial results
Stephen Richer: 181,912
Clair Van Steenwyk: 134,803
Likely winner: Richer
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
Even though all five positions on the county board of supervisors are up for grabs in the November general election, only one seat was contested in the primary. Steve Chucri, a Republican incumbent who represents District 2, covering cities including Mesa and Scottsdale, faced down a challenge from the right.
Initial results
Steve Chucri (Republican): 84,428
Kyle Cloud (Republican): 66
Winner: Chucri
Maricopa County Assessor
Incumbent Eddie Cook, a Republican, had to first survive a challenge from within his own party before he could take on the Democratic candidate, Aaron Connor, in the fall. So far, he's pulled ahead of Rodney Glassman.Initial results
Eddie Cook (Republican): 172,619
Rodney Glassman (Republican): 157,135
Likely winner: Cook
U.S. Senate
Fighter-jet pilot Martha McSally may be in for the dogfight of her life against astronaut Mark Kelly in November, but first she had to vanquish Daniel McCarthy in today's primary. Results show it was a turkey shoot.Martha McSally (Republican): 465,951
Daniel McCarthy (Republican): 145,591
Winner: McSally
Congressional District 6
David Schweikert is trying to hold on to the seat in the U.S. Capitol he's held since 2011, a goal he made harder on himself by unethical activity that got him sanctioned last week by the Office of Congressional Ethics. He has to pay a $50,000 fine for pressuring staff to conduct campaign activity, failing to follow Federal Elections Commission rules, and other violations. He's the only Republican running, but four Democrats competed against each other for a chance to replace him.It seemed for a while that two of the Democrats, Hiral Tipirneni and Anita Malik, would go toe-to-toe. But Tipirneni, who lost to Republican Debbie Lesko in CD-8 two years ago, raised $2.5 million for her campaign — 10 times as much as Malik, who lost to Schweikert 45-55 in 2018. A poll released on election day by OH Predictive Insights showed Tipirneni already had it in the bag versus Malik. Early voting tallies show the poll called it right. Schweikert can only hope that the district's Republican-majority voters believe his story about "clerical errors."
Initial Results
Hiral Tipirneni (Democrat): 38,576
Anita Malik (Democrat): 26,010
Karl Gentles (Democrat): N/A
Stephanie Rimmer (Democrat): N/A
Winner: Tipirneni
State Legislature
Arizona's State Legislature is controlled by Republicans — but not by a sweeping majority. Currently, Republicans control the State Senate with a 17 to 13 majority, and are barely holding on to the House by a two-seat margin. Primary elections can set the stage for general election match-ups or change the composition of a party caucus in the legislature as moderates battle it out with more extreme members of their own party. Here are results from several races that politicos eyed this year:Legislative District 27 (South Phoenix)
Initial Results - House Race
Reginald Bolding (incumbent Democrat): 12,277
Diego Rodriguez (incumbent Democrat): 10,580
Catherine Miranda (Democrat): 6,913
Likely winners: Bolding, Rodriguez
Legislative District 26 (Tempe)
Initial Results - House Race
Athena Salman (Democrat): 9,292
Debbie Manuel-Nez (Democrat): 7,089
Melody Hernandez (Democrat): 6,674
Patrick Morales (Democrat): N/A
Winner: Salman
Initial Results - Senate Race
Juan Mendez (incumbent Democrat): 9,645
Janna Lynn Granillo (Democrat): 5,551
Winner: Mendez
Legislative District 15 (Scottsdale)
Initial Results - Senate
Heather Carter (incumbent Republican): 13,933
Nancy Barto (Republican): 14,868
Too close to call as of Wednesday morning.
Legislative District 29 (Glendale)
Initial Results - House Race
Billy Bragg (Republican): 3,204
Helen Fokszanskyj-Conti (Republican): 2,367
Alysia McMillan (Republican): 1,905
Cesar Chavez (incumbent Democrat): 7,499
Richard Andrade (incumbent Democrat): 5,053
Teddy Castro (Democrat): 3,991
Bragg and Fokszanskyj-Conti likely GOP winners.
Chavez and Andrade like Dem winners.
Legislative District 6 (Flagstaff)
Initial Results - Senate Race
Wendy Rogers (Republican): 14,985
Sylvia Allen (incumbent Republican): 10,231
Winner: Rogers
