JoAnna Mendoza wins Arizona House seat, flipping key district for Dems

Democrat JoAnna Mendoza is the projected winner of Arizona’s heavily contested 6th Congressional District, defeating incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R), according to Decision Desk HQ.

Ahead of Election Day, Ciscomani’s seat was considered one of Democrats’ most competitive races in their quest to flip control of the House. The party needs a net gain of three seats to retake the lower chamber.

DDHQ projected that Mendoza defeated Ciscomani by 18.5 percentage points with 70 percent of the race called at 10:13 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Ciscomani was first elected in 2022 and narrowly won reelection, but Democrats have carried the district in statewide races.

Mendoza is a 20-year veteran of the Navy and Marine Corps. Her campaign focused heavily on Ciscomani’s consistent support for GOP policies she argued made life more expensive for the district’s constituents — like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the GOP’s signature legislation that will cut close to $1 trillion from Medicaid and more than $180 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.