Phoenix congressional primary recount goes to former vice mayor

PHOENIX (CN) — After a four-day recount, Yassamin Ansari was named winner of the Democratic primary for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday.

The former Phoenix vice mayor finished the primary election, held on June 30, ahead of fellow Democrat Raquel Terán by 42 votes. Because the margin between the two made up less than 0.5% of the total votes, an automatic recount was called and conducted over the weekend.

Terán narrowed the margin to just a 39-vote difference after the recount, but Ansari remained ahead with 19,087 votes to 19,048. More than 44,000 ballots were cast in all.

“Following today’s recount results, I am deeply honored to be your Democratic nominee for Congress,” Ansari posted to X, formerly Twitter. “It’s time for us to come together and ensure we secure victories for Democrats up and down the ballot this November."

Maricopa County Judge Cindy Jorgensen announced the results from a downtown Phoenix courtroom Tuesday morning.

“You all must be exhausted,” she said to the various state and county attorneys as she tore open a yellow envelope as if to announce an Academy Award. “On behalf of Arizona citizens, thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Terán called Ansari to congratulate her, according to a post on X thanking her voters and donors. “I am so proud of the race we ran together,” Terán wrote.

Ansari will face Republican Jeff Zink in the November general election to take the seat previously held by Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego, who is running against Kari Lake for U.S. Senate. Zink lost the seat to Gallego in 2022.

“Our fight isn’t over,” Ansari wrote. “In less than 80 days, we’re not only going to win this seat, we’re going to elect@RubenGallego as our next Senator,@KamalaHarris as our next President and@Tim_Walz  as our next VP, and make access to an abortion a constitutional right in Arizona."

Zink was an early advocate for Arizona’s universal school choice voucher program, which has garnered criticism for siphoning funding from an already-struggling public school system. If elected, he says he will expand school choice to all Americans.

He also supports term limits for Congress, having vowed not to serve more than three terms as a U.S Representative.

Surrounded by supporters in the Sheet Metal Workers Union building in East Phoenix, Ansari preached unity to Independents and Democrats who would have preferred Terán.

“I have a record on issues that affect all of us,” she said. “Many of our labor unions have very split membership, Democrats and Republicans. But I know at the end of the day I’m going to increase jobs, increase wages, and increase benefits.”

She said watching the recount process only strengthened her faith in the election process, which has been under fire across the country, especially in Arizona, since 2020.

“We truly got to witness the meticulousness by which the county undergoes these processes,” she said. “I cannot imagine the pressure they were under, but they had very very clear sets of procedures. I’m 200% confident going into the November election.”

Ansari served as the vice mayor of Phoenix from 2021 to March 2024, when she stepped down to focus on her congressional campaign. She’s the youngest woman and first Iranian American to serve on Phoenix’s city council. In recent years, she has voted to protect mobile home owners from eviction; voted to establish a prevailing wage for government contractors; and advocated for a housing-first approach to homelessness.

Ansari, whose $1.9 million campaign included more than $171,000 in self-funding, was endorsed by Democratic U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, current and former state legislators and the Arizona Federation of Teachers.

The group Reproductive Freedom For All, which backed Terán, said the closeness of the race was a testament to their movement. “While we had hoped for a different outcome, we remain committed to fighting side by side with Arizonans to advance our fundamental rights and freedoms,” Mini Timmaraju, the group’s president and CEO, said in a press release.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for reelection in November. Republicans have a 220 to 213 majority with two vacancies. Dozens of members of the U.S. House have announced they are not running for reelection.

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