These big races in Arizona still don't have a winner after Election Day

Although the presidential election has been called for former President Donald J. Trump, vote counting continues across the state in Arizona. While about 70% of votes had been counted as of Wednesday evening, election officials said efforts would continue for several days after the election.

State law gives county election officials about two weeks to complete the work.

Meanwhile, several other big-ticket races in Arizona are still too close to call. Election results in Arizona are unofficial until local and state officials count all ballots and certify the results. However, media organizations call races when it becomes mathematically unlikely that the trailing candidate will be able to catch up. Official election results are not confirmed until the end of the month, although media organizations and campaigns often predict the results earlier.

Full, unofficial election results are expected to take days. The more early ballots cast at polling stations and other locations, the longer it will take to count votes and determine close races. Officials in populous Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, currently estimate it will take 10 to 13 days to complete the count.

As Arizonans continue to wait for results, these are the races that are still too close to call:

Election to the US Senate

One of the few remaining races to determine the makeup of the U.S. Senate, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. has maintained a lead over his Republican opponent, former TV news anchor and staunch Trump supporter Kari Lake.

Although Gallego, whose victory would make him Arizona's first Latino senator, held a large lead over Lake on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, the gaps have narrowed as more votes are counted. At a Democratic Party rally on Election Day, Gallego didn't claim victory, but spoke about the historic nature of his campaign and the hopefulness of the election.

With thousands more votes still to be counted, things remained unusually quiet for the two candidates on Wednesday as the numbers slowly trended in Lake's direction.

Gallego ran on a platform of protecting abortion access, promoting housing affordability and securing Arizona's water supply. Lake ran on a platform of preventing access to abortion and securing the border.

Whoever wins will succeed outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, who dropped out of the race in March.

The uncertainty in Arizona comes after Republicans won control of the Senate on Election Day, flipping seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.

US presidential election

The result is meaningless for the national presidential election, but Arizona's 11 Electoral College votes are still up for debate for either Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris. The gap between the candidates remains among the narrowest in the swing states, even though Trump has a lead of around five percentage points over Harris.

Trump and Harris campaigned aggressively in Arizona throughout the election season, with both candidates visiting the state multiple times. The narrow margin between the candidates reflects the influence of independent voters in the Grand Canyon State, although the final decision of Arizona voters will have no impact on the national outcome.

Arizona's 1st Congressional District

The lead in the race has changed hands and U.S. Rep. David Schweikert now has an advantage over his Democratic opponent Amish Shah in the 1st Congressional District in Arizona's Scottsdale region, but the race remains close.

Schweikert, the embattled lawmaker who has represented Arizona in D.C. since 2011, is widely considered one of the most vulnerable sitting members of Congress. In 2022, he beat a relatively unknown Democratic challenger by less than a percentage point.

The results of the election may not be known for days or weeks as ballots are counted in Arizona.

Of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, this race is one of the few seen as viable by both parties this year. This means it will help decide which party will control the lower house of the federal government from 2025 and by what margin.

Schweikert has kept a relatively low profile; His messages focused on the economy and the need to reduce the size of the federal deficit.

Shah, a doctor and former state representative, beat a crowded field of Democrats for the nomination. His campaign focused on the issues of immigration, abortion and funding for public education.

Arizona's 2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Rep. Eli Crane maintains a lead over his Democratic challenger, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, in the 2nd Congressional District, but a winner in the race has not yet been determined.

According to Election Day results, Crane took an early lead, even though the race is closer than expected, an outcome predicted by several prominent political analysts.

The district includes Apache, Coconino, Graham, Greenlee and Navajo counties, as well as portions of Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal and Yavapai counties.

Crane, a self-described “outsider” and former military sniper, has endorsed Trump. Nez's campaign marks the first time a Native American candidate from Arizona advanced beyond the primary in a congressional race.

Arizona's 4th Congressional District

Incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., has a significant lead over Republican candidate Kelly Cooper but is not yet the declared winner. Stanton ran unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination, while Cooper defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary.

Since 2019, Stanton has represented Arizona's 4th Congressional District, which includes major cities in Maricopa County such as Tempe and large parts of Mesa and Chandler. He also served as mayor of Phoenix from 2012 to 2018.

Cooper attacked Stanton in a televised debate last month, saying he had little to show for his six years in office.

Arizona's 6th Congressional District

In a 2022 rematch, incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., faced Democratic former state lawmaker Kirsten Engel, an environmental lawyer whom he defeated by less than two percentage points two years ago. The two were neck and neck until the end of Wednesday, and the race was still too close to decide.

Ciscomani is a free-market Republican and served as an adviser to former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, also a Republican. The race is classified as a toss-up. Arizona's congressional delegation has a six-to-three advantage over Republicans, so a flip in both seats could result in the delegation switching to Democrats.

While Engel had a clear lead in the Tucson district, the race remains a mystery. The district covers Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties.

Mesa Mayor

Mesa mayoral candidate Mark Freeman had a slim lead over Scott Smith as of Wednesday evening, but the race remains close. The two candidates vying to lead the state's third-largest city prevailed in a crowded primary.

Since there are no major differences between the two established candidates, the election depends on the nuances of their background, their vision for the city and their ideology. The race was largely civil and without controversy.

Throughout the campaign, Smith, a former mayor, criticized the city for not being business-friendly enough. Freeman, a firefighter for the Mesa Fire and Medical Department for more than three decades, responded by defending his eight years on the City Council.

Mayor of Scottsdale

Incumbent Mayor David Ortega continued to trail former City Council member Lisa Borowsky on Wednesday night, but the race isn't over yet.

If Borowsky, a local attorney and former elected community leader, prevails, it would be one of the major election upsets in a Valley city. While Ortega defeated Borowsky in the 2020 mayoral race, Borowsky's strong showing in early voting has cast serious doubt on expectations that the incumbent would sail to victory.

Ortega, an architect who first took office in 2020, was seeking his second term as Scottsdale mayor. He was the top vote-getter in the July primary election, where former City Council member Linda Milhaven was eliminated.

The two candidates criticized each other's leadership in a heated race that featured back-and-forth arguments.

Ortego appeared to concede the race to Borowsky on Wednesday morning, but retracted the concession after acknowledging that there were still many votes to be counted.

This story will be updated as election results are announced.

Hannah Dreyfus is an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic. Reach them at [email protected]. Follow her on X @Hannah_Dreyfus or threads @hannahdreyfus.