PHOENIX — The race for the Democratic nomination in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District narrowed even further on Monday, making it very close and warranting an automatic recount.
The district is in Maricopa County, which finished counting votes on Monday. Former Phoenix City Council member Yassamin Ansari led former state representative Raquel Terán by 42 votes, with 42,819 votes counted – a margin of 0.1 percentage points.
The Associated Press has determined the race is too close.
Under Arizona law, a recount is triggered when the margin is 0.5 percentage points or less. The recount begins with a request from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to Maricopa County Superior Court once the investigation is complete early next week.
The court would then set a deadline for the count to be completed and the results announced.
The 3rd District seat, which covers parts of Phoenix, was left open by Rep. Ruben Gallego’s decision to run for U.S. Senate. The district leans Democratic, giving whoever wins the primary a favorable chance of winning the November race against Republican Jeff Zink.
Ansari, the daughter of Iranian immigrants, previously served as vice mayor of Phoenix. She resigned from the board in March to focus on the congressional district race.
Terán, who previously chaired the Arizona Democratic Party, was in her first term in the Arizona Senate after being elected in November 2022. She resigned in April 2023 to focus on her run for Congress.
Races in the swing state of Arizona have been close before.
In November 2022, a recount was demanded in the race for Arizona attorney general after the campaign showed Democrat Kris Mayes just 511 votes ahead of Republican Abraham Hamadeh.
The results triggered an automatic recount and a subsequent count confirmed that she had won, but with just 280 votes. The victory certified by the Maricopa County Superior Court was one of numerous Democratic victories in midterm races in what was once a predictably Republican state.
Hamadeh challenged the results in court, citing problems with election printers and incorrect handling of ballots. A judge said he failed to prove his arguments.
Hamadeh, one of two Republicans endorsed by Trump last month, he won the Republican Party’s nomination for the November race in a conservative-leaning congressional district northwest of Phoenix.
There were also recounts in two other 2022 midterm races in Arizona, with Republican Tom Horne prevailing in the race for state superintendent of public instruction and Republican Liz Harris winning a state legislative seat in the Phoenix suburbs.
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Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report to America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover undercovered issues.
