Abraham Hamadeh, a former prosecutor in Maricopa County who previously ran for attorney general in Arizona in 2022, secured a victory in the Republican primary for the state’s Eighth Congressional District. This district covers suburbs located to the north and west of Phoenix. His opponent, Blake Masters, also a Republican, had supported former President Donald J. Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
The primary race took an unexpected turn when Mr. Trump endorsed both candidates just before the primary election, indicating that he had no preference for either contender. Despite a contentious primary campaign marked by personal attacks between Mr. Hamadeh and Mr. Masters, Mr. Hamadeh emerged victorious. Other notable candidates in the primary race included Ben Toma, Arizona’s speaker of the House, and Trent Franks, a former U.S. representative.
In the 2022 elections, both Mr. Hamadeh and Mr. Masters had aligned themselves with the former president in their respective campaigns. Although they each received Mr. Trump’s endorsement in their primaries, they were both defeated by their Democratic opponents in the general election. Mr. Masters lost to Senator Mark Kelly, while Mr. Hamadeh narrowly missed winning the attorney general race by a margin of just 280 votes out of approximately 2.5 million votes cast.
Looking ahead to the general election in the fall, Mr. Hamadeh is expected to have an advantage over his Democratic opponent, Gregory Whitten, who did not face a challenger in the primary. The Eighth Congressional District has historically leaned Republican, and the seat has been occupied by Representative Debbie Lesko since 2018, who opted not to run for re-election.
Despite his past as an election denier and his previous unsuccessful bid for attorney general, Mr. Hamadeh’s victory in the Republican primary sets the stage for a competitive race in the general election. With the support of former President Trump and the backing of the Republican Party, Mr. Hamadeh will now face off against Gregory Whitten as they vie for the congressional seat in Arizona’s Eighth District.