Congressman David Schweikert speaks at a panel at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2013 Manufacturer of the Year summit. Photo by Gage Skidmore || FLICKR
By Jakob Thorington || Arizona Capitol Times
The Associated Press called a victory for incumbent Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., who furthered the gap between him and Democrat Jevin Hodge in Congressional District 1’s House of Representatives race after trailing for most of the vote count prior to Sunday.
Hodge led since the initial ballot count on election night but was overtaken after Maricopa County posted 98,618 votes on Sunday, when Schweikert gained a lead by approximately a quarter of a percent. As of Monday evening, Schweikert received 50.4% of the vote and Hodge received 49.6% with Schweikert receiving most votes in CD1 during Maricopa County announcing 71,000 ballots added to voting results.
Schweikert won his last election in then District 6, defeating Democrat Hiral Tipirneni 52.2% to Tipirneni’s 47.8% in 2020. Hodge ran for a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors seat that same year, and narrowly lost to Republican Jack Sellers who received 50% of votes to Hodge’s 49.9%.
In 2020, CD1 residents voted 48.7% for Democratic candidates and 51.3% for Republican candidates. The district has one of the closest vote spreads among the state’s newly drawn Congressional districts, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.
