Schweikert up by 17,000 votes in effort to hold onto CD1 seat

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

After a couple of days with a lead change and some close tallies, the Arizona Congressional District 1incumbent’s vote totals make it much more probable he’ll be reelected.

As of Saturday afternoon, Rep. David Schweikert saw he was up 17,000 votes over Democrat Amish Shah in what is his largest lead since polls closed on Tuesday.

Schweikert, the Republican who’s represented the northeastern part of the Valley in Congress since 2011, had about 199,000 votes, or 52.33%, Saturday morning, to Shah’s 181,000 (47.67%). The incumbent’s lead has continued to increase since he claimed the lead Wednesday during early reporting.

There are almost 527,000 registered voters in CD1. Saturday morning, Maricopa County Elections estimated there were still 337,000 uncounted ballots, 170,000 unprocessed early ballots and 21,000 provisional ballots.

Shah narrowly won the CD1 late-July Democratic primary. He’s a doctor whose career experience includes working as an attending physician with Mayo Clinic and as an airway management physician with the New York Jets.

Shah served in the Arizona House from 2019 until January of this year. He announced in April 2023 that he was going to pursue the Congressional District 1 seat.

Schweikert has served a northeast-valley district in Congress since he was first elected in 2010.

Schweikert served two terms in the Arizona House of Representatives in the early 1990s. He has been involved in several close races in hanging onto his Congressional seat, especially in recent years, in his district, which had its number changed after both the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census.

Schweikert beat Democratic challenger Javon Hodge in 2022 by fewer than 4,000 votes.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.