Arizona congressional candidates debate healthcare, ICE

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

Voters will head to the polls Tuesday in Arizona’s 4th and 5th congressional district races with healthcare affordability and immigration enforcement on their minds.

District 4

Arizona’s 4th Congressional District includes large portions in the western part of the state. The district contains portions of Phoenix, where incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona, previously served as mayor.

Stanton has focused his campaign on advocating for environmental issues, including the access to water. He called for rolling back President Donald Trump’s tariffs, increasing the minimum wage and restarting the Affordable Connectivity Program, a federal program that provided low-income families a discount of $30 per month on internet bills.

Funding for the program ran out in July 2024. Stanton was a key lawmaker who advocated for the program.

“Affordability is a core component of the government’s promise to the American people: If you work hard in this country, you should be able to provide a safe and comfortable life for yourself and your family,” Stanton’s website reads.

He did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for an interview to elaborate on his policies.

Stanton is facing a Democratic primary challenge from progressive candidate Kai Newkirk, a community organizer. Newkirk has focused his campaign on Medicare For All, banning corporate spending on political campaigns and abolishing ICE.

“We must reject authoritarian mass deportation and build a new system of immigration law and enforcement that honors the immigrants who contribute so much to our nation and upholds the values memorialized on our Statue of Liberty,” Newkirk said, answering The Center Square’s questions by email.

Newkirk has also pushed for universal childcare, a national rent stabilization program and a moratorium for artificial intelligence data centers.

“I am in this fight because I know that we’re all connected, a part of something greater, and I am determined to live true to the ethic of loving our neighbors as ourselves,” Newkirk said.

Either Newkirk or Stanton will face off in the Nov. 3 general election against Zudhi Jasser, a doctor and the sole Republican running in the party’s primary. Jasser has focused his campaign on balancing the federal budget, providing appropriations for immigration enforcement and supporting the Trump administration’s affordable healthcare push.

“I support a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Jasser’s website reads. “In Congress, I’ll fight to get our spending under control. For too long, both parties have spent without regard for whether we can afford it.”

Stanton leads the pack in fundraising with more than $2.1 million in contributions, according to most recent filings from the Federal Elections Commission. He received a $500 donation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; $2,500 from the National Air Traffic Controllers Political Action Committee and $2,500 from the UnitedHealth Group PAC.

Jasser trails with more than $564,000 in contributions, according to the FEC. Newkirk has more than $151,000 in contributions. Jasser received contributions of $1,000 from David Alexander, president of The Jet Companies Inc., and Leanne Wilhardt, general counsel for 21st Century Healthcare.

Stanton and Jasser did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for an interview.

District 5

The 5th Congressional District is seeing tense competition as incumbent Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, is running for governor. Daniel Keenan, a business owner, and former sheriff Mark Lamb are competing for the open seat in the Republican primary.

President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, as well as U.S. Reps. Eli Crane and Paul Gosar, both R-Arizona, endorsed Lamb in the pivotal race. Lamb has focused his campaign on supporting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

“[H]e witnessed firsthand the consequences of illegal immigration, cartel activity, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and violent crime,” Lamb’s website reads. “While politicians debated the issues, Mark and his deputies faced them every day on the front lines.”

Keenan has also called for supporting Trump’s immigration enforcement. He has pushed to end birthright citizenship and mandate e-verify employment verification.

Lamb and Keenan did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for an interview.

“We cannot allow squatters from all over the world sneaking into our country having anchor babies,” Keenan wrote in a post to social media.

Nurse practitioner Brian Hualde, nonprofit director Chris James and advocacy organizer Elizabeth Lee are all running as Democrats in the 5th District primary.

Hualde told The Center Square he supports ICE and Border Patrol but called for serious reforms in the agencies’ tactics.

“We need to address the fact that we have stopped targeting the criminals, and now we’re just targeting people who have come here for a better life,” Hualde said. “We need to fund our immigration courts and work on our processes for making these people have legitimate visas to be here.”

James and Lee have focused their campaigns on lowering healthcare costs. James said he would support legislation to increase federal funding for small businesses in the district.

“Working directly with entrepreneurs, lenders, and local leaders to move capital where it was actually needed. Helping someone open their first storefront. Helping a manufacturer expand and hire. Helping communities rebuild,” James said, answering The Center Square’s questions by email. “That’s real work.”

Lee said her experience with a chronic illness has informed her policy to advocate for increased support of a wide array of medical treatments.

“I have stood with families navigating impossible choices between treatment and survival,” Lee told The Center Square, responding to questions via email. “In Washington I will fight to guarantee that no one is left behind, no child denied care and no family bankrupted for the right to live.”

Hualde criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, legislation he said made improper cuts to Medicaid. He called for more subsidies on prescription drugs and identifying preventative care methods to address the nation’s healthcare crisis.

“The ability to subsidize the drugs needed for management of chronic illness will greatly reduce the strain on some of our other healthcare systems because people will go seek the basic care they need to continue to live healthy functional lives,” Hualde told The Center Square.

Keenan led fundraising efforts across both parties with more than $1.8 million, followed by Lamb with more than $1.18 million. Keenan received multiple donations totaling to $6,000 donation from U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Missouri, and Lamb received $5,000 from the Air Line Association PAC.

Lee led fundraising efforts among Democratic candidates with more than $147,000 in donations, followed by James with more than $116,000 and Hualde with $13,000.

Polls for the Arizona primary will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. MST on July 21. For early results that evening, see thecentersquare.com/arizona.

For more information, visit the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office website, azsos.gov/elections.