Republicans have landed another midterm win, and it took nearly a week to become official. The Associated Press on Monday, November 9th projected Arizona Rep. Eli Crane the winner of the state’s 2nd Congressional District, six days after voters went to the polls on November 3rd. The call settles the last unresolved congressional race in Arizona and sends the Trump-endorsed former Navy SEAL back to Washington for a third term, even as his party absorbed heavy losses elsewhere on the ballot. Nationally, it was among the final House races still awaiting a call.
Crane’s opponent was Jonathan Nez, the former president of the Navajo Nation, in a rematch of their 2024 race, which Crane won by nine points. President Donald Trump endorsed Crane this cycle as an “America First Patriot,” and the Arizona Republican has held the seat since first winning it in 2022. The 2nd District covers about 60 percent of the state, stretching from south of Phoenix to the New Mexico and Utah borders and taking in Prescott, Flagstaff, and much of the Navajo Nation.
The six-day wait came courtesy of Arizona’s ballot process, which keeps counties working through early ballots dropped off on Election Day, provisional ballots, and signature verification well after the polls close. Crane and Nez ran nearly even through most of the count, and the lead changed hands along the way. At one point, the gap between the two men sat inside recount territory. The AP issued its projection on Monday as the incumbent finally pulled away.
FOX 10 Phoenix broke the call on X, posting: “JUST IN: AP projects Republican incumbent Eli Crane has won the U.S. House Arizona District 2 matchup defeating Democrat Jonathan Nez, and Libertarian Curtis Goodwin.” KTAR reported that the contest was the last of Arizona’s nine congressional districts to be decided, with Crane ahead by 3,834 votes, roughly 1.1 percentage points, at the time of the projection. The station noted the margin was already beyond what would have triggered an automatic recount under state law.
The race drew outsized outside attention for a district that has long leaned Republican. KTAR found that outside groups poured about $7.6 million into the contest after the July primary, roughly $5.3 million of it backing Crane and $2.4 million backing Nez. No Going Back PAC was the biggest spender at about $3.4 million to support Crane and oppose Nez, while the Democratic House Majority PAC spent nearly $1 million against the incumbent. Campaign finance reports showed Crane raising more than $11.9 million for his reelection bid to Nez’s $5.8 million, the Arizona Mirror reported.
Crane responded with a post thanking rural Arizonans and his campaign staff, and, as KNAU reported, commended Nez “on throwing his hat in the ring again.” “I’m going to keep fighting against the status quo in Congress,” Crane wrote. “Both parties have been driving this country into the ground for decades, and the American people are sick of it.” Fox News reported that he also pledged to stand in the way of anyone “trying to move this country in the wrong direction.”
Watch the report favoring Crane here:
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The win locks in a fourth Republican seat in Arizona’s nine-member congressional delegation, down from six going into the election, as the Western Journal reported. Democrats flipped two House seats, with Amish Shah beating Jay Feely in the 1st District and JoAnna Mendoza unseating Juan Ciscomani in the 6th, and took control of both chambers of the state legislature, giving the party its first trifecta since 1966. Besides Crane’s race, several other reliably red districts were held only narrowly, with Mark Lamb winning the 5th District and Abe Hamadeh holding the 8th.
The posted totals remain unofficial while counties complete their canvasses, which run through November 19th ahead of a statewide canvass scheduled for November 23rd, WLT Report noted. Nez’s most recent public post, from November 5th, said only that counting every ballot “takes time” in a district that spans most of the state, Fox News reported. Turning Point Action celebrated the outcome, writing, “Congratulations to @EliCraneAZ on his victory! Arizona’s 2nd District is keeping a fighter in Congress who puts America First.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.