TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — By 10 on election night, the election watch party for Juan Ciscomani was over, and workers were taking down banners and platforms.
Early in the night, numbers started coming in strong for challenger Joanna Mendoza.
Juan Ciscomani and his supporters met and mingled, waiting for vote totals to come in. Before the first round of results, he spoke with reporters and spoke of his record with nearly four years in office.
“We have done all that we need to do to represent our district in the best way possible. It's a district that is 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Democrat, and 1/3 independent. So you're never going to make everybody happy with anything that you do. But our record stands on its own.”
Early results gave an early lead to Ciscomani challenger JoAnna Mendoza—especially from Pima County—the urban portion of a sprawling district that has a split personality of urban, suburban and rural. That mix often leads to very tight margins. Ciscomani won in 2024 by about 1.5 percent.
Votes tend to come in more slowly from the rural areas–and that gives this Congressional district a reputation for elections that can not be decided for days after election night.
