Jay Feely trails Amish Shah early in closely watched Arizona CD1

Democrat Amish Shah had the early lead over Republican Jay Feely in the race for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.

Shah had 54.8% of the counted votes compared to Feely’s 43.2% as of late Tuesday.

The open seat north of Phoenix was one of House Democrats’ top targets this year. Trump carried the district by 3 points in 2024. Republican Rep. David Schweikert left the seat to run for governor.

Republican Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker and broadcaster, had Trump’s endorsement.

He first ran in the neighboring 5th District and switched races after Trump endorsed Mark Lamb there. Democrat Amish Shah, an emergency room physician and former state lawmaker, won his primary over Marlene Galán-Woods, who had been endorsed by the Democrats’ House campaign arm. The committee later backed Shah.

Feely cast Shah as a socialist aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shah called Feely a loyalist to Trump. In their only debate, the two agreed that Arizona shouldn’t take most of the Colorado River cuts but was split over data centers.

Outside groups spent more than $25 million after the primary, far more than either campaign had in the bank. About $16 million went to helping Feely, mostly through ads attacking Shah, while about $9 million went to helping Shah.

As of Oct. 14, Shah reported about $206,000 in cash, and Feely reported about $183,000 along with $330,000 in debt from loans to his own campaign.

Click here to see results come in from all the races in Arizona.

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