Tucson, Arizona: JoAnna Mendoza Beats Rep. Juan Ciscomani in the 6th District

Tucson voters have a new member of Congress. Decision Desk HQ projected on Tuesday night that Democrat JoAnna Mendoza defeated Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Arizona's 6th Congressional District, flipping a Tucson area seat that Republicans held through two terms of Ciscomani.

The Associated Press had not called the race in its latest results feed, which showed Mendoza with 157,269 votes to 133,502 for Ciscomani, with 79.44 percent of precincts reporting and an estimated 79.53 percent of the vote counted. Decision Desk HQ called the race at 10:12 p.m. ET on Tuesday. An earlier Decision Desk HQ snapshot, at 12:45 a.m. CT on Wednesday with 78 percent reporting, showed Mendoza at 54.93 percent, 144,164 votes to 113,071.

A district built around Tucson

The 6th District covers most of Pima County, including most of Tucson, and Cochise County, the Arizona Republic reported. The competitive Tucson area district was a nationwide center for political advertising, door knocking and campaigning this year as Democrats worked to take the seat from Ciscomani, a two term incumbent.

Mendoza declared victory at around 9:30 p.m. on Election Day, the Republic reported, though several major media outlets had not yet called the race at that point and it remained undecided in their counts. The final call in this story rests on the Decision Desk HQ projection and the size of the lead in the Associated Press count, which stood at 23,767 votes in the latest feed.

Giffords campaigned at home

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who represented a similar Tucson district from 2007 to 2012, campaigned for Mendoza in the final days and congratulated her on the win. "I am thrilled that Arizonans have made their voices heard and will be sending my friend and a true gun safety champion, JoAnna Mendoza, to Washington," Giffords said in a statement published by the Gila Herald on Wednesday. "JoAnna will put the safety of Arizona families first, and I can't wait to work with her to save lives in our hometown of Tucson and across the country."

GIFFORDS PAC, the organization Giffords founded, endorsed Mendoza in August 2025 and appeared with her on the campaign trail through the cycle. The Gila Herald reported that Mendoza was part of a near total Democratic sweep of Arizona's congressional delegation this cycle.

What changes in January

Mendoza, a Democratic military veteran, takes the seat when the new Congress is seated in January. Ciscomani leaves after two terms in a district he first won in the 2022 cycle, when the seat's margin was Republican by 1.5 points in the Secretary of State canvass cited in the results coverage.

Results remain unofficial until Arizona certifies them, and the Associated Press count will keep moving as the remaining ballots are tallied. The margin, not the pace of the count, is what drove the Decision Desk HQ call on Tuesday night.