Results in the five most expensive Democratic Arizona House primaries


Democratic primary elections for all 30 districts in the Arizona House of Representatives took place on Aug. 2, 2022. Of the 30 districts up for election in 2022, 16 had a Democratic primary election with more than one candidate. The Arizona House has two seats per district.

Across all contested Democratic primary elections, candidates raised $2.1 million. Incumbents raised an average of $60,007 per candidate and challengers raised an average of $33,139 per candidate.

Five primary elections with the most fundraising

The table below details the five Democratic primary elections with the most fundraising in the House of Representatives. Winning candidates’ names are in bold.

District Money Raised Officeholder Candidates
District 5 $481,184 Regina Cobb (R), Leo Biasiucci (R) Amish Shah, Jennifer Longdon, Sarah Liguori, Brianna Westbrook, and Aaron Marquez
District 12 $231,094 Jake Hoffman (R), Travis Grantham (R) Patricia Contreras, Anastasia Travers, Paul Weich, Ajlan Kurdoglu, and Sam Huang
District 22 $198,403 Ben Toma (R), Frank Carroll (R) Lupe Contreras, Leezah Sun, Lorenzo Sierra, and Natacha Chavez
District 9 $188,953 Christopher Mathis (D), Pamela Powers Hannley (D) Lorena Austin and Seth Blattman
District 11 $182,003 Mark Finchem (R), Teresa Martinez (R) Oscar De Los Santos, Marcelino Quiñonez, Naketa Ross, Michael Butts, Wesley Leasy, Shams Abdussamad, and Shawn Pearson

The officeholders above are listed for the current districts they hold. However, this is a redistricting year, so candidates have been identified below as incumbents even if they are running in a different district than they currently hold.

#1 District 5 – $481,184

Incumbent Sarah Liguori raised $72,275, Incumbent Jennifer Longdon raised $114,758, Incumbent Amish Shah raised $158,790, Brianna Westbrook raised $73,402, and Aaron Marquez raised $61,959.

Amish Shah advanced to a runoff election with 32 percent of the vote, Jennifer Longdon advanced to a runoff election with 24 percent of the vote, Sarah Liguori received 19 percent of the vote, Brianna Westbrook received 15 percent of the vote, and Aaron Marquez received 11 percent of the vote.

#2 District 12 – $231,094

Ajlan Kurdoglu raised $129,085, Paul Weich raised $56,530, Patricia Contreras raised $36,188, Sam Huang raised $9,290, and Anastasia Travers raised $0.

Patricia Contreras advanced to a runoff election with 28 percent of the vote, Anastasia Travers advanced to a runoff election with 27 percent of the vote, Paul Weich received 21 percent of the vote, Ajlan Kurdoglu received 15 percent of the vote, and Sam Huang received 9 percent of the vote.

#3 District 22 – $198,403

Incumbent Lorenzo Sierra raised $75,525, Lupe Contreras raised $58,400, Leezah Sun raised $47,404, and Natacha Chavez raised $17,073.

Lupe Contreras advanced to a runoff election with 29 percent of the vote, Leezah Sun advanced to a runoff election with 27 percent of the vote, Lorenzo Sierra received 24 percent of the vote, and Natacha Chavez received 20 percent of the vote.

#4 District 9 – $188,953

Lorena Austin raised $107,907 and Seth Blattman raised $81,046.

Lorena Austin advanced to a runoff election with 58 percent of the vote and Seth Blattman advanced to a runoff election with 42 percent of the vote.

#5 District 11 – $182,003

Incumbent Marcelino Quiñonez raised $53,485, Oscar De Los Santos raised $32,070, Shams Abdussamad raised $31,963, Naketa Ross raised $24,847, Wesley Leasy raised $17,994, Michael Butts raised $16,294, and Shawn Pearson raised $5,350.

Oscar De Los Santos advanced to a runoff election with 27 percent of the vote, Marcelino Quiñonez advanced to a runoff election with 22 percent of the vote, Naketa Ross received 19 percent of the vote, Michael Butts received 12 percent of the vote, Wesley Leasy received 11 percent of the vote, Shams Abdussamad received 9 percent of the vote, and Shawn Pearson withdrew.

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Arizona PACs submitted to the Arizona Secretary of State. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report Name Report Due Date
2021 1/15/2022
2022 Q1 4/15/2022
2022 Q2 7/15/2022
2022 Pre-Primary 7/23/2022
2022 Post-Primary and Q3 10/15/2022
2022 Pre-General 10/29/2022
2022 Post-General and Q4 1/17/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.