PHOENIX (AP) —Control over the U.S. House of Representatives still hangs in the balance, teetering between a Republican or Democratic majority with less than 20 races left to be called.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported Republican David Schweikert won an eighth term in an affluent congressional district in the Phoenix area by fending off a challenge from a Democratic former state lawmaker.
Schweikert defeated Amish Shah, an emergency room doctor, Sunday in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District that includes north Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley.
While Republicans hold a voter registration advantage in the district, it started to trend toward the center after Donald Trump’s 2016 victory as some voters who historically backed Republicans reluctantly voted for Democrats or left their ballots blank.
Redistricting ahead of the 2022 midterms accelerated the trend, fueling hopes among Democrats that Schweikert could be defeated and the district flipped. Schweikert is known for railing against government debt.
The Associated Press left email messages Sunday for the campaigns of Schweikert and Shah seeking comment.
Schweikert has been in close races before. He won reelection in 2022 by just 3,200 votes against a relatively unknown Democrat who received minimal support from national Democrats.
Earlier Sunday, Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton won reelection against Republican Kelly Cooper in the 4th District, which includes the cities of Tempe, Mesa and Chandler outside of Phoenix. Stanton, a former Phoenix mayor, has served in Congress since 2019.
In the 6th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani remained locked in a tight race with Democrat Kirsten Engel, whom he narrowly beat two years ago. The district runs from Tucson east to the New Mexico state line and includes a stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border.
The U.S. Senate race between Republican Kari Lake, a well-known former television news anchor and staunch Trump ally, and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Iraq War veteran, also hasn’t been decided.