U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) announced on Sept. 30, 2025, that he will run for governor of Arizona in 2026 rather than for another term in the House of Representatives.

As of Sept. 30, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the seat as a toss-up.

In announcing his campaign, Schweikert said, “I’ve spent my career fighting for conservative pro-growth policies that strengthen the economy, promote job growth, and protect taxpayers, and that’s exactly what I intend to do as Arizona’s next governor.”

In 1994, Schweikert first ran for the U.S. House in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, losing to J.D. Hayworth (R) in the five-candidate Republican primary 45% to 22%. Schweikert ran again in 2008 for Arizona’s 5th Congressional District and lost to incumbent Rep. Harry Mitchell (D) in the general election 53% to 44%. In the 2010 rematch for the district, Schweikert defeated Mitchell 52% to 43%.

During Schweikert’s tenure in the U.S. House, he has represented two other iterations of the district due to redistricting:

• Arizona’s 6th Congressional District (represented from 2013–2023): Schweikert won by a median of 24 percentage points in his five re-election bids in the district. His widest margin of victory (MOV) in the district was in 2014, when he won by 30 percentage points. His narrowest MOV in the district was in 2020 when he won by four percentage points.
• Arizona’s 1st Congressional District (represented since 2023): Schweikert won the district by one percentage point in 2022 and four percentage points in 2024.

As of Sept. 30, The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have rated the 2026 general election for the 1st District as a toss-up. Inside Elections rated it as tilt Republican.

As of Sept. 30, Schweikert is one of 37 members of the U.S. Congress—eight U.S. Senate members and 29 U.S. House members—who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the 29 representatives not seeking re-election:

• Eight — five Democrats and three Republicans — are retiring from public office.
• Ten — five Democrats and five Republicans — are running for the U.S. Senate.
• Ten — all Republicans — are running for governor.
• One Republican is running for state attorney general.

So far this cycle, there have been more announcements from U.S. House members not seeking re-election than at the same point in each of the last four election cycles — there were 15 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 19 in 2022, and 21 in 2020 and 2018.

Between January 2011 and September 2025, Ballotpedia followed 327 announcements from U.S. House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 57. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.