Former state Rep. Amish Shah has won the Democratic nomination in Arizona’s Scottsdale-area 1st Congressional District, setting him up for a high-stakes November contest against incumbent Rep. David Schweikert.
The Associated Press called the race for Shah at 6:41 p.m. on Thursday.
Unofficial results showed Shah, an emergency room physician, leading the crowded field of six candidates by several percentage points. Three other candidates — Andrei Cherny, a former Arizona Democratic Party chair, former journalist Marlene Galán-Woods, and Wall Street executive Conor O’Callaghan — were clustered closely behind him.
Voters picked Shah from a crowded field of candidates, most of whom tended towards the centrist wing of the Democratic party.
Shah kept a lower profile throughout the race, as infighting among the candidates dominated headlines. He eschewed larger events in favor of his career campaign playbook of diligent door-knocking and one-on-one interactions with voters.
On the issues, Shah downplayed his commitment to any political ideology and instead ran on his pragmatism in the Arizona legislature. He was more effective than many of his Democratic colleagues at getting his bills passed in a Republican-held statehouse, and made a point of working across the aisle with Republicans, to the frustration of some of his fellow partisans.
Shah beat out candidates who boasted higher-profile endorsements: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego backed Cherny, and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threw her support behind Galán-Woods.
His primary victory sets him up to run against Schweikert, R-Ariz., the long-serving incumbent who is thought to be one of the most vulnerable sitting Republican members of Congress.
The race will garner national attention: It’s one of a handful of competitive contests in the November general election that could determine which party controls the upper chamber in the 119th Congress.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Amish Shah wins Dem primary, will face David Schweikert in November
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