Republican incumbent Andy Biggs will return to Washington D.C. to represent Congressional District 5. in the U.S. House of Representatives after his opponent, Democrat Katrina Schaffner, conceded the race.
In the latest count released Wednesday night through the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, Biggs received 192,591 votes for 59.8% to Schaffner’s 129,331 votes for 40.2%.
All counts are unofficial until canvassed.
"Even though the results of this election are not the outcome we had hoped for, I have been encouraged, inspired and humbled by every person I have met on the campaign trail," Schaffner said in a statement released on X. "The work our team has out in is nothing short of heroic. We came to put democracy first and to put country over party."
Though beaten, Schaffner had a warning for Biggs.
"I believe in tomorrow," she said. "I am inspired by humanity, and this campaign has shown us that our movement will continue to grow. We will continue to hold Andy Biggs accountable and anyone else who tries to undermine our democracy."
While Biggs congratulated Donald Trump on winning the presidency, he made no mention of his own campaign on social media.
Congressional District 5 contains Gilbert, Queen Creek, southern and eastern Chandler, and eastern Mesa. It is within eastern Maricopa County and northern Pinal County,
Biggs previously worked as an attorney with a license to practice in Arizona, Washington and New Mexico.
Biggs served in the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 22 from 2003 to 2011. He then represented District 12 in the Senate from 2011 to 2017. He was Senate majority leader in 2011-12 and then Senate president from 2013 to 2017.
He was elected to Congress representing District 5 in 2016 by 27 votes. In September 2019, Biggs was selected to serve as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, which he did for two years. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Schaffner is a Ukranian-American who is a stay-at-home mom, an activist and a former salon stylist with a business background.
Her campaign emphasized economic relief for families and small business while criticizing Biggs for his alignment with wealthy interests and lack of effective governance. Biggs largely ignored Schaffner as an incumbent running in an area that has been solidly Republican.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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