Rep. Greg Stanton/Gage Skidmore
ByTara Kavaler | Arizona Republic
Republican primary voters will choose Tuesday which of six candidates will by the GOP nominee for the U.S. House in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District.
The field consists of Tanya Contreras Wheeless, Kelly Cooper, Jerone Davison, Dave Giles, Rene Lopez and Alex Stovall.
None of the candidates have held public office before, with the exception of Lopez, who has served on the Chandler City Council.
Border Security and the economy have dominated much of the policy debate for the Republican primary.
In a Maricopa County area that includes pockets of Mesa, Tempe and Chandler, the district has been redrawn in a manner where the district leans Democratic but not by much, so incumbent Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton faces a re-election battle in the Nov. 8 general election.
4th district leans slightly Democratic
Analysis done by fivethirtyeight shows the 4th Congressional District with a partisan lean of plus-one Democrat, which it defines as “the average margin difference between how a state or district votes and how the country votes overall.” This means that the 4th district favors Democrats by one percentage point more than the entire country.
With inflation up and low approval ratings for President Joe Biden and the Democratically controlled Congress, many pundits are predicting a “red wave” in the November midterm elections with a large number of Republican wins.
Veteran political consultant Doug Cole of HighGround Public Affairs in Phoenix told The Arizona Republic that while Stanton has the advantage of incumbency and name recognition over the GOP candidates, it’s expected to be a Republican year.
“This is one of the toughest races of Stanton’s career,” he said.
