Democrat Kirsten Engel conceded the race to Republican Juan Ciscomani on Nov. 13 via a statement on X. “The voters have made their decision and we must respect it – I will not be the next Representative for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, she wrote. “While we came up short, I couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve put in.” Although the Associated Press had not yet called the race when Engel conceded, Ciscomani was leading by 6,867 votes with about 90% of votes counted.
The closest congressional race in the nation as of Friday afternoon is between two candidates who represent Southern Arizona, where just a handful of votes will help decide which political party controls the U.S. House.
The race between Republican incumbent Juan Ciscomani and Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel in Congressional District 6 has been as close as 60 votes as ballots were counted this week in the five counties that make up the district. As of Sunday night, there were 19 congressional races across the U.S. too close to call, according to Associated Press results.
For several days the race between Ciscomani and Engel has fallen well within the margin requiring a mandatory recount under Arizona law.
A recount is required when the vote difference is less than or equal to one-half of one percent, or 0.5%, of the total votes cast on the measure, according to state law.
While Engel is leading Ciscomani in Pima County by a much wider margin, Mark Evans, a spokesperson for the Pima County recorder’s office, said the recount is based on statewide results.
“We would have to do the recount, but the decision for the recount would come from the secretary of state,” Evans told Arizona Luminaria.
He added that if the call is made, all five counties in District 6 will have to count their votes again.
JP Martinez, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, told Arizona Luminaria that the department is still weeks away from determining a recount.
“Following the election, we’ll know if a recount is needed after the statewide canvass, which is scheduled for November 25,” he wrote in an email Friday afternoon.
“It’s clear that we aren’t going to know who won this race tonight – and maybe not for several days,” Engel said in an election night post on X. “We must ensure that every lawful vote is counted and the will of the voters of Arizona’s Sixth is carried out, no matter how long it takes. Thank you for all of the support.”
In Ciscomani’s election night post on X, he lauded his supporters. “Thank you to the thousands who have and will cast their vote and support our campaign. Proud to have your support!” the campaign wrote on Nov. 5.
A factor in the very close results in this year’s race is a Green Party candidate. Athena Eastwood made it onto the ballot by winning 26 write-in votes from Green Party voters in the July 30 primary election. She had collected 8,688 votes as of Sunday evening. Eastwood did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment.
Public records show that Eastwood changed the name on her voter registration on Sept. 17. She changed her name before that, too, according to court records. She also changed her party affiliation on her voter registration on June 30, three days before early voting began. Before then, she was sometimes registered as an independent voter and sometimes as a Democrat.
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“I hope this is a great election that everybody feels happy with the results,” Eastwood posted on X on Nov. 5. She subsequently reposted a post from Elon Musk and a post in which J.D. Vance says the incoming administration will purge intelligence agents who helped censor information about previous elections.
Arizona Luminaria reached out Friday to Engel for comment on the vote tally or how Eastwood’s campaign may have affected the outcome, but she did not immediately respond. Ciscomani also did not respond by publication to a request for comment on the closeness of the election and the votes garnered by the third party candidate.
The Congressional District 6 race is the closest in the country of those left to be called by the Associated Press, according to an Arizona Luminaria analysis of the remaining 25 House races as of Friday afternoon.
Republican leaders projected confidence Thursday that they will keep control of the U.S. House as more races were decided in their favor, while Democrats insisted they still see a path toward the majority, the Associated Press reported.
Democrats would need to sweep the most contested races, including two in Arizona and several in California, to win power. But final results will take time as Arizona and California keep counting ballots.
District 6 is a political battleground sometimes described as a toss up. As of this month, the voter registration in this district is 36% Republican, 32% independent, 30% Democrat, and 2% other parties, according to Arizona Secretary of State data.
The district is in the southeast corner of Arizona and includes parts of Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties. Check which district you live in.
A history of close races
Ciscomani vs. Engel is a rematch from 2022, when Ciscomani won with 50.7% of the votes.
The area went through redistricting after the 2020 Census and had a history of close races before that, with Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Ron Barber.
And before that, this was the area represented by Gabby Giffords before she was shot in a mass shooting at a constituent event in Tucson and then stepped down in 2012.
Who are the candidates in the race
Ciscomani is a first-term, moderate Republican who holds an important position on the House Appropriations Committee, which is involved in federal budget and spending decisions. He was previously a senior advisor to former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
Ciscomani has made border security one of his priorities. He has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for rendering the U.S.-México border “completely broken.” His proposal is to hire more border patrol agents, construct more surveillance along the border, and finish the wall.
Engel, meanwhile, has frequently focused on reproductive rights in her campaign. The Democrat also lists as a priority tackling “the water and climate crisis that threatens Southern Arizona’s future.” Engel previously served in the state Senate and state House, has worked as an environmental lawyer and held a position with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ciscomani has raised $6.3 million and Engel has raised $7.7 million, according to campaign finance documents that cover fundraising and spending through Oct. 16. Additionally, independent expenditures have poured into the race, including spending by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to oppose Ciscomani and by the Congressional Leadership Fund to support him.
Eastwood wasn’t the only third-party candidate in the race for Congressional District 6. Independent Luis Pozzolo ran as a write-in candidate. He’s a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Uruguay. He was in banking and finance before he migrated to the United States, where he started working first as a dishwasher and now is a business owner, according to his statement on the secretary of state’s list of federal candidates.
“America saved us in every possible way,” Pozzolo writes, “and now it is time to give back and focus our efforts, experience and knowledge to help others to achieve their dreams.”
Eastwood was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1966, according to court documents. She has been registered to vote in the United States since at least 1997.
In her short candidate statement on the secretary of state’s website, Eastwood wrote, in part: “I seek to be a voice of unity, understanding, and to work for effective multi partisan solutions that serve the public’s needs and the Nation’s Interest.”
Neither Eastwood nor Pozzolo had traditional campaign websites for voters to learn about their stances on issues in Arizona. The secretary of state’s election results website did not display any votes for Pozzolo as of 4:30 p.m. Friday.
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