Arizona Morning Briefing, 11-6-26: Shah, Mendoza Win, Statewide Dem Sweep Widens, Mendoza Unloads on Turning Point

•SHAH, MENDOZA WIN–The blue wave widened in Arizona on Thursday as it became official that Amish Shah had defeated Jay Feely in CD1, with more than 53 percent of the vote. In CD6, Democrat JoAnna Mendoza defeated two-term Republican incumbent Juan Ciscomani. The AP called the race at 12:38 p.m., with Mendoza leading approximately 53%–45%. If the three remaining Republican leads hold, Arizona’s U.S. House delegation will shift from 6 Republicans–3 Democrats to 5 Democrats–4 Republicans.

•STATEWIDE DEM SWEEP WIDENS–Completing the state Democratic sweep, Teresa Leyba Ruiz officially won the race for the State Superintendent of Instruction on Thursday, defeating Republican Kimberly Yee. Governor Katie Hobbs is pushing voucher changes and Leyba Ruiz has independently advocated greater ESA oversight. The AP also called the race for Nick Mansour at 2:50 p.m. Thursday. Mansour becomes the first Democrat elected state treasurer since the 1960s. Republican-sponsored Prop 144, which would have imposed new identification requirements for mail voting, among other election administration changes, also failed, the AP announced Thursday

•SWOBODA UNLOADS ON TURNING POINT–Former Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda gave KJZZ a candid interview Thursday, expanding her criticism of Turning Point Action’s role in Republican defeats. Swoboda alleged that Turning Point took control of the party’s 2026 get-out-the-vote operation and spent money opposing Republican candidates outside its preferred political circle. She contrasted that with 2024, when she said she deliberately excluded Turning Point from party operations. Swoboda singled out Turning Point Action’s Tyler Bowyer for insulting women on social media rather than concentrating on voter turnout. “When they’re involved and they pick the candidates, we lose,” she said.

On the other hand, Turning Point endorsed all three candidates in the race for Phoenix City Council District 2. Matt Evans, Julie Read and Danny Mazza are competing for two spots, heading for a March 9 runoff. So TPA will get at least one win this cycle.