The first round of election results has been tallied one longtime congressman serving Buckeye appears the likely winner — but his opponent is not ready to concede.
The Congressional District 9 race between incumbent Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Quacy Smith (D-Ariz.) is the test of two men who ran uncontested in the July 30 primary.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office shows Gosar leading with 130,612 votes, or 64%, to Smith’s 72,682 votes, 36%.
Gosar earned 69,083 votes in Maricopa County, 50,781 in Mohave and 10,748 in Yuma.
Smith outperformed the longtime Trump ally in the West Valley. He garnered 52,822 votes in Maricopa County but trailed elsewhere: 15,576 votes in Mohave and 4,284 votes in Yuma.
However, votes from La Paz County are outstanding.
“I think this is good,” Smith told InBuckeye despite being down in votes. “The results ... shows that there are more than 70,000 people at the 50% mark, even in the most conservative district in the state, that people want a choice.”
Smith said that means it is up to the Democratic Party to support candidates in the West Valley.
“This race has proven that there are Democrats and Independents and Republicans in the far West, and they want a choice,” Smith said. “And I think we should do everything that’s necessary to make sure that they have that choice.”
