Republican Juan Ciscomani faces off against Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District election
- Republican Juan Ciscomani is running against Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District.
- Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is retiring, and Republicans are looking to regain the majority in Arizona's US House delegation.
Republican Juan Ciscomani faces off against Democrat Kirsten Engel in Arizona's 6th Congressional District.
The seat opened up after Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, currently representing the former 2nd District, is retiring and is not running for reelection.
Arizona's 6th Congressional District candidates
Ciscomani is a senior advisor to incumbent GOP Gov. Doug Ducey and has 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 has raised $2.6 million, spent $2.2 million, and has $357,625 on hand, as of September 30. His opponent, Engel, has raised $2 million, spent $1.8 million, and has $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 have 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 is 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.