WASHINGTON, D.C. — With just three weeks until the race is decided, Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel holds a monetary advantage over Republican incumbent Juan Ciscomani in the race for Congress in the district serving Graham and Greenlee counties.
According to filings released Tuesday by the Federal Election Commission, as of Sept. 30, Engel reports having $2.5 million available to spend up to Election Day, while Ciscomani has $1.8 million in his campaign coffers.
The funds do not include spending on the race by political action committees not affiliated with either campaign or candidate.
Engel’s filing shows she’s taken in $7.2 million in donations to her campaign this cycle, and spent $4.7 million through Sept. 30. Meanwhile, Ciscomani has received $5.3 million in campaign donations, spending $4.2 million through Sept. 30.
Ciscomani faced a challenge in the primary, from Kathleen Witt, forcing him to spend in that race, while Engel ran unopposed.
538 Interactive shows just two polls in the race, both conducted months ago and showing wildly differing outcomes.
In the Public Opinion Strategies poll in May, funded by Republicans, Ciscomani had an 11-point lead over Engel, 50 percent to 39 percent. However, in the Change Research poll in July, funded by Democrats, Engel had a 1-point advantage, 44 percent to 43 percent.
In 2022, Ciscomani defeated Engel by just 5,232 votes, a 1.5-percent margin of victory, to win the open seat.
The district includes all of Greenlee County; the non-Tribal portion of Graham County; most of Cochise County except Democratic strongholds Bisbee and Douglas; Vail, Green Valley and the eastern portion of Tucson in Pima County; and the southeastern portion of Pinal County, including Eloy and Casa Grande.
The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia considers the race in Arizona’s sixth Congressional District one of two toss-up Congressional races in Arizona. The other race features incumbent Republican David Schweikert in District 1, who is being challenged by Democrat Amish Shah.
