Here are three races to watch
By German Lopez | Vox
When it comes to Arizona, much of the nation’s political attention this year has been focused on whether former Vice President Joe Biden can flip a state President Donald Trump won in 2016. But exactly how either Trump or Biden governs could be decided not by the presidential election but by races lower on the ticket — including one for Arizona’s Senate seat.
Today voters pick their favored candidate in that primary and several others across the state.
For the Senate, sole Democratic candidate Mark Kelly will coast to victory unchallenged. But a challenge against incumbent Sen. Martha McSally in the Republican primary could show just how much enthusiasm there is for her — and, perhaps, for whether Democrats can take her Senate seat to help them build a majority in both houses in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Democratic primary in the Sixth Congressional District, which is potentially up for grabs in November, is shaping up to be a battleground over how the party moves forward, whether that means embracing a more progressive strategy (that’s perhaps politically riskier) or a potentially safer, more moderate approach.
There’s also an interesting local race for sheriff: Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio — who was convicted of criminal contempt of court in 2017 for continuing his racist immigration enforcement in defiance of a judge’s order, though he later received a presidential pardon from Trump — is running to get his old job back.
