Arizona held its primary election, with voters weighing in on a closely watched race for governor as well as several key congressional contests. As the polls prepared to close in the evening, election workers were busy processing ballots, and much of the national attention centered on how the night would unfold in one of the country's most important battleground states.
The governor's race sits at the center of the contest. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs is the only Democrat appearing on the ballot, while on the Republican side four candidates are competing for the chance to take her on. The field includes Congressman Andy Biggs, businessmen Ken Maselli and Scott Neely, and Congressman David Schweikert.
Republicans see Hobbs as one of the most vulnerable Democratic governors in the country, and they are expected to push hard to try to flip the office. The stakes reflect Arizona's status as a true swing state, one that backed the Democratic candidate at the top of the ticket in 2020 before swinging to the Republican side in 2024.
Beyond the governor's race, one congressional district was described as a genuine toss up, with tight contests on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Those races are expected to carry national significance heading into the general election later in the year, adding to the importance of the results coming out of the state.
Much of the ballot counting runs through Maricopa County, the third largest voting jurisdiction in the United States. Officials there were testing new tools designed to speed up results, treating the primary as a dry run for the larger general election and aiming to deliver a clearer picture of the outcome faster than in past elections.
A recurring slowdown in Arizona has been the so-called late early voters, people who turn in their mail ballots in person on election day and whose signatures then need to be verified. Under a new state law, those voters can instead show their identification and cast the ballot on the spot, a change officials hoped would help move results along more quickly.
The Department of Justice also sent federal monitors to Maricopa County and two other Arizona counties. Officials said the monitors were there to promote transparency and ballot integrity and to protect the rights of eligible voters, in a state where the process of counting ballots and delivering results has been a contentious issue in recent years.