Amish Shah flips Arizona’s 1st Congressional District blue

Democrat Amish Shah defeated Republican Jay Feely in the race to replace Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) in Arizona’s competitive 1st Congressional District.Shah, a physician and former state representative, won 52.5% of the vote compared to Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker, who garnered 45.5% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 12:02 p.m. Thursday.Shah will flip the crucial House seat blue in his second bid to represent the district, after he previously unsuccessfully challenged Schweikert in 2024. The win marks the 37th pickup for Democrats, who have retaken the House of Representatives, in a district rated as Leans Democrat by the Cook Political Report, despite the GOP incumbency. The district, known historically as one of the most competitive in the country with a high percentage of independent voters, attracted national attention throughout the 2026 cycle after Schweikert decided to run for governor, though unsuccessfully.The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put the race on its “red to blue” target list, while Feely earned endorsements from President Donald Trump and donations from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.Feely campaigned on his support for Trump’s “America First” agenda, prioritizing issues such as securing the southern border, keeping biological males who identify as women from competing in women’s sports, combating antisemitism, and bringing down the cost of living through policies such as tax cuts.Shah largely steered clear of prioritizing more social issues, platforming his affordability policies, opposition to Trump’s tariffs, support for Social Security and Medicare, support for universal healthcare as a physician, and support for funding law enforcement and efforts to stop drug trafficking across the southern border.When it came to the war in Iran, Shah blasted the conflict as a cause of rising prices in the United States. On the other hand, Feely said he supports ending the war “as quickly as possible” without sending in ground troops, while maintaining that Iran should not be able to have a nuclear weapon.Feely and Shah once served as colleagues in the NFL, when Feely was a kicker for the New York Jets, and Shah was the team’s physician at the same time.Trump, who backed Feely, won the district in 2024 by 3 percentage points.