Yassamin Ansari (D), Raquel Terán (D), and Duane Wooten (D) are running in the Democratic primary in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District on July 30, 2024. Ansari and Terán lead in noteworthy endorsements, polling, and fundraising. Incumbent Ruben Gallego (D) is running for U.S. Senate, leaving the district open.

According to Vox, the open-district race presents candidates with “a rare opportunity: The district is Arizona’s most Democratic region, it is majority Latino and working-class, and it has been represented by Gallego since 2014.” Citing Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo (D), Axios said “Ansari’s biggest strength is her fundraising and Terán’s is her grassroots background. Fundraising matters less in CD3 than in other districts…The low turnout in the district means TV ads, the staple of high-dollar campaigns everywhere, have less impact.”

Ansari is a former Phoenix city council member who earlier worked at the United Nations as a climate policy advisor. Ansari is running on her record, saying she expanded funding for programs serving working families and homeless residents, directed the police department to deprioritize enforcement of abortion-related crimes, and helped pass Phoenix’s first climate action plan. Ansari says she is running “because right now, we’re at an inflection point…for far too many people, [the American Dream] is now out of reach.” As of May 21, 2024, Ansari had raised $1,408,821, including $45,362 in self-funding. Ansari’s endorsers include one former and four current state legislators and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Terán is a former state legislator, state party chairwoman, and community organizer. Terán is running on her organizing record, saying she was involved in the efforts to recall state Sen. Russell Pearce (R), to defeat the re-election campaigns of Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R) in 2016 and President Donald Trump (R) in 2020, and to elect Democrats to statewide offices in 2022. Terán says she will organize voters in the district to help Democrats win statewide races: “Joe Biden won by 10,000 votes. Governor Hobbs won by 15,000. Let’s think positive and increase our votes. Those narrow margins can increase if our district, if a district like Congressional District Three, overperforms.” As of May 21, 2024, Terán had raised $856,889. Terán’s endorsers include U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), 16 state legislators, and the Working Families Party.

As of May 21, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales each rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic. In 2022, Gallego defeated Jeffrey Zink (R) 77.0%–23.0%.

All 435 seats are up for election. Republicans have a 217 to 213 majority with five vacancies. As of May 2024, 44 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 74.5% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 23.9%.