These Arizona Senate candidates raised the most money and lost their primary


General elections for all 30 seats in the Arizona State Senate will take place on Nov. 8, 2022. State senatorial primary elections were held on Aug. 2, 2022. Republicans hold a 16-14 majority heading into the election.

This article details the five candidates in each party who raised the most money and lost their primary election. In the 2022 election cycle, 14 of 25 Republican primaries and eight of 26 Democratic primaries were contested. The losing candidates are shown along with the percentage of the vote they received compared to the primary winner. In cases where the race was pushed to a runoff, vote percentages for both advancing candidates are included.

Top fundraisers with unsuccessful primary campaigns this cycle

This information comes from candidate reports to the Arizona Secretary of State covering the period of Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2022.

The Democratic candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary were:

  • Morgan Abraham – $246,697 – District 18 (Lost primary 45% – 55%)
  • Al Jones – $133,893 – District 5 (Lost primary 10% – 58%)
  • Cesar Chavez – $39,889 – District 24 (Lost primary 44% – 56%)
  • Richard Andrade – $31,099 – District 22 (Lost primary 47% – 53%)
  • Janelle Wood – $25,845 – District 11 (Lost primary 25% – 49%)

The Republican candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary were:

  • Russell Bowers – $323,386 – District 10 (Lost primary 36% – 64%)
  • Steve Zipperman – $273,141 – District 1 (Lost primary 50% – 50%)
  • Jan Dubauskas – $227,382 – District 3 (Lost primary 49% – 51%)
  • Vince Leach – $154,294 – District 17 (Lost primary 36% – 41%)
  • Joanne Osborne – $115,841 – District 29 (Lost primary 32% – 52%)

Top fundraisers with unsuccessful primary campaigns last cycle

This information comes from candidate reports to the Arizona Secretary of State covering the period of Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2020.

The Democratic candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary in 2020 were:

  • Jana Granillo – $45,016 – District 26 (Lost primary 36% – 64%)
  • Ryan Starzyk – $33,132 – District 24 (Lost primary 36% – 64%)
  • Linda Patterson – $25,694 – District 11 (Lost primary 43% – 57%)
  • Brandon Donnelly – $0 – District 23 (Lost primary 0% – 100%)
  • David Moore – $0 – District 10 (Lost primary 0% – 100%)

The Republican candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary in 2020 were:

  • Heather Carter – $400,696 – District 15 (Lost primary 47% – 53%)
  • Alexander Kolodin – $148,899 – District 23 (Lost primary 40% – 60%)
  • Sylvia Allen – $136,597 – District 6 (Lost primary 41% – 59%)
  • Hop Nguyen – $3,577 – District 22 (Lost primary 20% – 68%)
  • Van DiCarlo – $637 – District 22 (Lost primary 12% – 68%)

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.