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Arizona voters showed their disdain for the political status quo Tuesday, sending a number of incumbents packing in early primary results.
Secretary of State Michele Reagan went down early in the Republican primary, trailing political newcomer Steve Gaynor by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
Repeated election-related gaffes dogged her from the 2016 presidential preference election to her failure to fully deliver on a website that would allow voters to track political contributions.
In the GOP race for the school superintendent nomination, incumbent Diane Douglas appeared to be on her way out in a year dominated by #RedForEd and school-funding issues that drew a crowded GOP field.
READ MORE: Diane Douglas behind in early results
On the Democratic side, longtime politician David Schapira was trailing teacher and newcomer Kathy Hoffman in an unexpectedly tight race for that party’s nod to oversee Arizona’s schools.
Scandals at the Arizona Corporation Commission caught up with Commissioner Tom Forese as he sought a second term at the agency that, most notably, regulates utilities. He was running fourth out of five GOP candidates in a race that will send the top-two finishers to the November general election.
READ MORE: AZ will elect first woman to U.S. Senate
And in the Democratic race for the commission, Bill Mundell was trailing newcomer Kiana Maria Sears. Although technically not an incumbent, Mundell had served before on the commission and was making a comeback bid.
Check back with azcentral.com for the latest updates.
Here are the apparent matchups for the statewide Nov. 6 general election, based on unofficial results:
Governor: The expected front-runners won their party’s nominations, setting up a showdown between incumbent Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Democrat David Garcia.
Secretary of state: Gaynor will face Democrat Katie Hobbs, who ran unopposed.
Attorney general: Both current AG Mark Brnovich and attorney January Contreras were unopposed in their Republican and Democratic primaries.
Treasurer: State Sen. Kimberly Yee beat Jo Ann Sabbagh in the GOP race for the nomination. The winner will face Democrat Mark Manoil.
School superintendent: Douglas is out, but the field is not clear. Republicans Bob Branch and Frank Riggs were leading the five-candidate field. The Schapira-Hoffman race was too close to call.
READ MORE: Governor’s race: Ducey, Garcia win primaries
In the Arizona Legislature, anti-incumbent fervor ran hot and cold in early returns.
Don Shooter was trailing in his bid to return to the state Capitol seven months after his House colleagues expelled him over sexual-harassment complaints. The Yuma Republican had set his sights on a state Senate seat in southwestern Arizona’s Legislative District 13, but was last in a three-person field in early primary results.
The lawmaker who leveled the first harassment charge against Shooter, Rep. Michelle Ugenti, R-Scottsdale, was holding a lead in early results against challenger Tim Jeffries for the GOP nomination for state senator from the northeast Valley’s LD23.
READ MORE: AZ primary winners declared in election
Rep. Paul Mosley’s fondness to press the pedal to the metal might bring his legislative career to an end. He was trailing incumbent Rep. Gina Cobb and newcomer Leo Biasiccui in a four-person GOP field for two seats in western Arizona’s LD5.
Mosley drew widespread condemnation after reports surfaced this summer of his high-speed drives between the Capitol and his Lake Havasu City home, bragging to highway patrol that he had driven as fast as 140 mph.
Rep. Darrin Mitchell, a three-term lawmaker with aspirations to be House speaker in 2019, was trailing Timothy Dunn and Joanne Osborne in the GOP race for two House seats. Dunn, technically an incumbent, had only served a few months after being appointed to the House earlier this year to fill a vacancy.
READ MORE: Who is to blame for election day problems?
On the Democratic side, voters in central Phoenix’s LD24 were favoring two newcomers over Rep. Ken Clark in the Democratic primary for two House seats. Clark had run on a platform touting the importance of experience, but he was trailing Amish Shah and Jennifer Longdon in a seven-candidate field.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.
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