For more than a decade, Democrats have tried and failed to win a House seat in the swing district around Scottsdale, Ariz. Now, in a midterm election when gerrymandering has dramatically narrowed the playing field, the evenly drawn open seat is a must-win.
But the run-up to the Democratic primary on Tuesday has been marred by infighting, about $3 million in spending from outside groups and bitter charges of meddling by the national party in Washington. Whoever emerges victorious this week is likely to be broke and battered.
“It is accelerating from mess to circus,” said Stacy Pearson, a longtime Democratic consultant who lives in the district.
For the Democratic quest to take the House, the stakes are high. Arizona’s First Congressional District is one of about a dozen pure tossup seats held by Republicans. The national party is backing Marlene Galán-Woods, a Republican-turned-Democrat with a deep political pedigree, against a scrappy door-knocking doctor, Amish Shah, who was the Democrats’ nominee in 2024.
The divisions are more biographical than ideological. Ms. Galán-Woods is a former broadcast journalist and widow of an Arizona attorney general, Grant Woods, who famously turned on his party over President Trump. Groups that love her story have funneled millions into attack ads and mailers against Dr. Shah, an emergency physician and former state legislator who Democrats in Washington point out got fewer votes in the district than Kamala Harris did in 2024.
In the district’s Republican primary, Jay Feely, a former N.F.L. kicker with Mr. Trump’s endorsement, is the clear front-runner, but he will have to survive a challenge from a former state lawmaker, Joseph Chaplik, running to his right.
Ms. Pearson, the Democratic consultant, said the “bloody” Democratic primary race had been one of the most negative that she could recall.
Democratic voters have been here before. Two years ago, Dr. Shah and Ms. Galán-Woods also met in the House primary; Ms. Galán-Woods finished third. This time, the House Democrats’ official campaign arm has intervened to boost Ms. Galán-Woods after rallying behind Dr. Shah in the 2024 general election.
In recent weeks, multiple political action committees have bolstered Galán-Woods, pouring more than $2.5 million into digital and television ads and mailers attacking Dr. Shah. Another PAC backing a more progressive candidate in the race, Jonathan Treble, has also spent nearly $300,000 against Dr. Shah.
One anti-Shah mailer included a black-and-white image of Dr. Shah posing with his black cat, Hillary, named after Hillary Clinton. “Donald Trump and MAGA are Amish Shah’s top cats,” reads the flier, which Dr. Shah said scrubbed “Democrat” from the scarf Hillary had on her neck.
“It’s like beyond the pale,” Dr. Shah said.
Dr. Shah has responded by distancing himself from the party establishment, calling its approach a “detriment.” He said he was not sure what his relationship with national Democrats would be if he won. “I think we’re in uncharted territory,” he said.
Some voters are recoiling at the negative tone.
“I want to know who’s doing those so I can vote against them,” said Brian Nicholson, a Scottsdale resident, about the negative ads, adding that he voted three times for Mr. Trump but is now an independent.
Leo Croft, a Democratic voter from Arcadia, Ariz., said he and his wife have made a game of spotting negative signs they pass on the street.
“They’re all just ridiculous,” he said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has said that it will back whoever advances to the general election.
“Amish Shah has proven he could lose,” said Ms. Galán-Woods, who in the past has questioned her opponent’s trustworthiness on Democratic core issues. “And we can’t afford another loss.”
Ms. Galán-Woods, who has cast herself as more of a moderate, signed a pledge rebuking the party’s left wing.
The former Republican’s critics have questioned her Democratic credentials, however, and outside groups have spent nearly $300,000 against her campaign.
The Republican primary has seen its share of barbs traded between Mr. Feely and Mr. Chaplik, a former member of the state legislature’s hard-right Freedom Caucus who represented a district that overlaps the congressional seat.
The two have sent cease-and-desist letters and created dueling attack websites. Mr. Chaplik filed a defamation lawsuit against a conservative PAC that has spent $60,000 against him.
Mr. Feely has labeled Mr. Chaplik “No Show Joe,” accusing him of poor attendance in the legislature. Mr. Chaplik pushed back against it and called Mr. Feely a Democrat and a carpetbagger who originally ran in a different Arizona House district before Mr. Trump tapped him to shift to the Scottsdale seat.
“We are winning this race despite my out-of-district opponent’s defamatory lies and desperate attempts to buy votes,” Mr. Chaplik said.
Mr. Feely has also said Mr. Chaplik made a racist comment on social media when he attacked two Haitian immigrants whom the former kicker brought into his family.
“I think, you know, he’s somebody who knows that he’s not winning,” Mr. Feely said.
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