Tucson-area congressional races include competitive CD6 primaries | local news

There are two competitive primaries in a congressional district that covers a swath of Tucson. The new CD6 stretches from midtown Tucson through Graham and Greenlee counties and most of Cochise County and up into Casa Grande.

US Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, currently holds the seat in what used to be CD2 before this year’s redistricting. She is not running for reelection. CD2 was long known as a competitive district, being held by a Republican or a Democrat in recent years.

The Aug. 2 primaries include five Republicans on the ballot and three Democrats.



Candidates for Congressional District 6 in 2022: Top, from left, Avery Anderson, Kirsten Engel, Daniel Hernandez, Brandon Martin. Bottom, from left, Kathleen Winn, Lucretia Free, Young Mayberry, Juan Ciscomani.


Candidates, file

Democrats

Among the candidates are two well-known Democrats who have represented Tucson for years in the state Legislature, Daniel Hernandez and Kirsten Engel.

Engel most recently represented Legislative District 10 in the Arizona Senate. She held that position from January 2021 to September when she left to focus on her congressional campaign. Before that she served two terms as a District 10 state representative. As well, Engel is an environmental attorney.

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Her top issues include access to quality affordable health care, protecting the environment and natural resources, investing in both physical and social infrastructure development, reproductive choice and strengthening Social Security and Medicare.

Find more about angels at engelforarizona.com.

Hernandez has represented Arizona’s Legislative District 2 since 2017 and is a co-founder of the House LGBTQ caucus. He was previously a governing board member for Sunnyside Unified School District.

Hernandez became well known when he was a staffer for former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords during the 2011 Tucson shooting that left six dead and 13 injured, including the congresswoman, who was shot in the head. Hernandez was the first to administer first aid to Giffords before the EMTs arrived and was later honored by President Barack Obama.

His top issues include pandemic preparedness, reproductive rights, voting rights, fighting inflation, the environment, gun-violence prevention, education and health care.

Find more about Hernandez at danielhernandezforcongress.com.

Avery Anderson, an engineer at Raytheon and a political newcomer, is the other Democrat in the primary race.

Anderson’s top issues include inspiring younger voters and younger representation, data-driven decision making, sustainable energy, increasing educational attainment, access to affordable health-care options and restoring a sense of normalcy, transparency and communication in government.

Find more about Anderson at averyforcongress.com.

Republicans

There are five Republicans on the ballot and one write-in battling to be their party’s nominee in the general election.

Brandon Martin, a self-proclaimed constitutional conservative, was the Republican candidate against Kirkpatrick in 2020. He ran for the seat once before that, in 2018, losing the primary to former president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber Lea Marquez Peterson.

Martin’s top issues include having an “America first” agenda, securing the southern border, Second Amendment rights, being anti-abortion, national defense, balancing the budget, shrinking spending and the federal government, and giving more power to states.

Find out more about Martin at brandonforarizona.com.

Kathleen Winn spent 27 years in banking, lending and real estate. Prior to that she was a local television reporter in Tucson followed by working in marketing and advertising. She is a member of the Maricopa County Community College District governing board. She previously served as a community outreach and education director in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, where she focused on veterans’ issues. In 2016 she lost a bid for the Mesa City Council.

Winn’s top issues include securing the border, public safety, education and election integrity.

Find out more about Winn at winnforcongress.com.

Lucretia Free is an entrepreneur and the founder and publisher of The Vail Voice, a community newspaper covering Vail and the surrounding areas for more than 20 years. She also founded the South East Regional Council, a nonpartisan group of residents, businesses and nonprofits in southeast Pima County that works with elected officials at all levels to address issues important to the community.

Her top issues include the economy, the border, a well-resourced military and support for community colleges and trade schools.

Find out more about Free at free4congress.com.

Young Mayberry is a retired lieutenant colonel who served 28 years in the Air Force, part of which was at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. During his military career he spent significant time in Latin America and taught counter-insurgency courses to Latin American officers at Fort Benning in Georgia. He’s also been assistant professor of Spanish at the Air Force Academy and a high school sports coach and agricultural sciences teacher.

His top issues include personal property ownership, a secure border, strong national defense, limited government, constitutional government, Second Amendment rights, free enterprise and being anti-abortion.

Find out more about Mayberry at youngmayberryforushouse.com.

Juan Ciscomani is a senior advisor to Gov. Doug Ducey on regional and international affairs. He previously served as a senior program development specialist at the University of Arizona and was vice president of outreach for the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Ciscomani’s top issues include border security, the economy, election integrity, Second Amendment rights, supporting first responders and veterans, energy independence, being anti-abortion, the economy and inflation, First Amendment rights.

Find out more about Ciscomani at juanciscomani.com.

Republican candidate Jordan Flayer is a write-in.

Other races

Other congressional races include:

The new Congressional District 2, formally CD 1, which now includes a northern slice of Tucson and stretches into the northeast part of the state, including Prescott and Flagstaff. The seat is currently held by US Rep. Tom O’Halleran, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The CD2 Republican primary candidates include: State Rep. Walt Blackman, small-business owner Eli Crane, Williams mayor John Moore, suspected architect of the QAnon conspiracy theory Ron Watkins, small-business owner Steven Krystofiak, businessman Mark DeLuzio and small-business owner Andy Yates.

Congressional District 7, formally CD3, is the seat held by longtime US Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who is running unopposed. CD7 includes the west half of Tucson, runs all the way west to Yuma, north into Phoenix’s western suburbs and south to Nogales.

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