Elizabeth Lee opened a decisive advantage in the first round of returns in Arizona’s Democratic primary for Congressional District 5, according to the initial report from the Secretary of State after polls closed. In the first roughly 35,000 ballots tallied, Lee received 22,377 votes, translating to about 65% of those early ballots in the three-candidate, winner-take-all contest. That margin translated into a roughly 40-point gap between her and the field in these early returns, a lead that has prompted public reaction from campaigns as the counting proceeded.
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Her nearest rival in the early count, Chris James, recorded 7,692 votes in the initial batch, about 22% of the early total. Brian Hualde was shown with 4,609 votes in that same reporting segment, or roughly 13%. In the hours after those first returns were released, James’ campaign sent an email dated July 22 that acknowledged the practical implications of the early numbers. The email began with the line, "We didn't get the results we wanted," language that the campaign circulated as it appeared to recognize Elizabeth Lee’s lead.
The Secretary of State’s first reporting came immediately after polls closed July 21 and represented the earliest publicly available snapshot of voter preferences in the Democratic side of the contest to replace U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs. Those early returns were drawn from the first batch of roughly 35,000 ballots processed and reported by state election officials. Official ballot and pen atop an American flag, illustrating mail-in and early voting in the Arizona CD5 Democratic primary.
The distribution of the initial totals left Lee far ahead of her opponents in a race that will determine who the Democratic Party nominates to challenge the Republican incumbent in November. Lee’s tally of 22,377 votes accounted for about two-thirds of the early sample, while James and Hualde together comprised the remainder. Those figures reflect only the early tranche of ballots reported by the Secretary of State and do not constitute a final, certified result.
A substantial portion of early reporting in Arizona elections often includes mail-in and early-voting returns, elements that can dominate initial tallies depending on how counties forward their counts to state election officials. Images from the primary period showed voters participating in those early-vote mechanisms, including residents depositing mail ballots at Maricopa County drop boxes, a visible sign of the role of mailed and early ballots in the state’s election cycles. A voter deposits a mail ballot into a Maricopa County drop box during early reporting in the Arizona CD5 Democratic primary.
While the initial reporting and the campaign email gave the appearance that the contest’s outcome was becoming clear, state officials and election administrators must still complete additional processing and follow certification procedures before any winner is formally declared. The email from the James campaign, sent July 22 and quoted above, framed the early numbers as falling short of what the campaign had hoped for, effectively acknowledging that Lee’s lead in the first batch of returns would likely carry her forward as the Democratic nominee.
Nothing in the early reporting formally ends the nomination process; officials will continue to process and report additional returns as they are completed. The candidate who emerges from the Democratic primary will be positioned to compete in the Nov. 3 general election for the Congressional District 5 seat currently held by Rep. Andy Biggs. For now, the Secretary of State’s first batch of results placed Elizabeth Lee substantially ahead of her two opponents in the initial publicly posted totals.
The Associated Press has since projected Elizabeth Lee as the winner of the Democratic primary. She will face Republican Mark Lamb, who won his primary, in the November 3 general election. ABC15 Arizona and other outlets reported the AP call shortly after the initial returns and James campaign email.
Elizabeth Lee is a registered nurse and health-care advocate who campaigned on expanding access to care, including support for Medicare‑for‑all–style reforms; Federal Election Commission filings show her campaign had raised roughly $150,000–$155,000 in the 2026 cycle as of early July.
The Republican nominee, former Pinal County sheriff Mark Lamb, won his GOP primary despite facing public allegations of sexual misconduct and other controversies during the spring and summer; Lamb has denied those allegations but remained the Trump‑aligned favorite in the race.
Political analysts note Arizona’s 5th Congressional District is strongly Republican (commonly described around R+10), and the district voted roughly 60%–40% for Donald Trump in 2024, underlining the difficult partisan terrain Democrats will face in the November general election.