Yassamin Ansari wins Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary, recount confirms

PHOENIX – A mandatory recount of the Democratic primary for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District confirmed Yassamin Ansari as the winner, a judge announced Tuesday.

Ansari entered the recount leading Raquel Terán by a mere 42 votes, a difference of about 0.1%. The recount narrowed the margin to 39 votes, according to the results revealed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

State law mandates an automatic recount in races where the margin between the votes cast for the top finishers is under 0.5%.

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

Ansari began her career as a policy advisor advocating for climate change reform at the United Nations. She was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2021 and served as vice mayor before leaving office at the end of March to focus on the congressional race.

A daughter of Iranian immigrants, Ansari campaigned on a platform of progressive policies, promising to protect democracy and reproductive rights from what she called “MAGA extremists.”

Terán, meanwhile, is a former Arizona Democratic Party chair and state lawmaker. She most recently served in the Arizona Senate before leaving office last year to concentrate on her CD3 run.

She put out a statement that said, in part, that she called Ansari to congratulate her.

“I’m committed to ensuring that we as Democrats work together to elect Kamala Harris, Democrats up and down the ballot, and protect our reproductive rights. I will continue to fight to build a brighter future for everyone in our communities,” the statement says.

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— Raquel Terán #BlackLivesMatter (@RaquelTeran) August 20, 2024

Duane Wooten also ran for the CD3 seat, finishing a distant third in the Democratic primary with 11% of the vote.

What comes next for winner of 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary?

Ansari will be the heavy favorite to defeat Republican Jeff Zink for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who has represented the district since 2015.

CD3 — which spans most of south, west and downtown Phoenix along with a section of Glendale — leans more Democratic than any other congressional district in the state.

Gallego is moving on from the U.S. House to seek a seat in the Senate. He is running against Republican nominee Kari Lake for the position currently held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who did not seek reelection.

What was the process of Democratic primary recount?

The recount process kept Maricopa County Elections Department workers busy before they could fully focus on the Nov. 5 general election. They finished the initial ballot count from the July 30 primary on Aug. 5.

County officials certified the results on Aug. 12 and submitted them to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office, which was responsible for petitioning the court to authorize recounts as required under state law.

The county elections department conducted logic and accuracy testing of the tabulation equipment last Tuesday and started recounting approximately 44,000 paper ballots from the primary race on Thursday. The Democratic primary recount was completed by Sunday.

The results had to be kept secret until the judge unsealed them Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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