While the loud buzzing around the city focuses on the Scottsdale City Council primary, voters will have plenty more decisions to make for the July 21 primary.

Many of the state positions on the ballot feature names familiar to Scottsdale residents.

Some with strong Scottsdale ties are looking to step up to higher positions.

Others familiar to Scottsdale voters are looking to resurrect their careers after losses.

Scottsdale voters will help narrow down the candidates for the U.S. House Arizona District 1 seat.

District 1 starts in south Scottsdale, continuing north to the county line and east to Fountain Hills and beyond.

Republican David Schweikert, the incumbent, is bypassing a reelection run to make a bid for governor.

Primary voters will decide between Democrats Marlene Galán-Woods, Rick McCartney, Amish Shah and Jonathan Treble. 

The Republican field for District 1 features former state representative Joseph Chaplik, former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely and John Trobough.

Trobough and Chaplik both run Scottsdale businesses.

As a state representative last year, Chaplik loudly battled Axon’s lobbying at the state legislatures last year. He failed, as “the Axon bill” allowing the Taser-maker’s North Scottsdale development passed and was later signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Hobbs is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republican voters will decide between the aforementioned Schweikert, Andy Biggs, Ken Miceli and Scott Neely to square off against Hobbs in November.

Similarly, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is unopposed in the Democratic primary. Republican voters will decide between Rodney Glassman and Warren Petersen for Mayes’ November challenger.

In the secretary of state race, incumbent Adrian Fontes is the only name on Democratic ballots. Alexander Kolodin – another vocal opponent of Axon’s development when he was and LD3 representative – and Gina Swoboda are battling on the Republican ballot.

Voters also will chop down the field for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Incumbent Thomas C. Horne is being challenged by Kimberly Yee on the Republican side.

Democratic voters will choose between Teresa Leyba Ruiz and Brett Newby.

LD3

Arizona District 3 includes Anthem, Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale.

In the battle for two Arizona House of Representatives District 3 seats, Julie Gable and Richard Spargo are the only Democratic candidates for two positions. They will advance out of the primary and be on the November ballot.

Those two will face the top two from a field of four Republicans who will battle in the primary: Cody Reim, George Khalaf, Jay Schlum and Thomas Walsh.

Khalaf is a Scottsdale resident who runs First Day Public Relations. 

He is running on an unofficial ticket with Reim, who battled then-Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega over water for Reim’s Rio Verde Foothills. Reim was appointed when Chaplik resigned from LD3 to run for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.

In the race for Arizona State Senate District 3, incumbent John Kavanagh (R) is challenged in the Republican primary by Robert Wallace.

Whoever wins the D3 Republican primary will face the lone Democrat, Jeff Fortney.

Kavanagh and Wallace live in Fountain Hills. Fortney is a Cave Creek resident.

LD4

Arizona District 4 includes much of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

LD4’s senator since 2024 is Carine Werner (R) – who is also a member of the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board.

Werner is not running for reelection to the school board but is defending her state senator seat.

With no Republican primary opponent, she will be sailing to the November election against the lone Democrat candidate, Aaron Lieberman, a Paradise Valley entrepreneur.

Lieberman is a former state representative who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022.

Tammy Caputi, who failed in a Scottsdale City Council reelection bid in 2024, is running again – for the Arizona House of Representatives. 

She’s a lock to win the District 4 primary, as she and Karen Gresham will be the only Democrats on the July 21 ballot.

Those two will have a hill to climb to try to unseat Republican incumbents Pamela Carter and Matt Gress, who face a primary challenge from Sandra Christensen. District 4 includes much of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

Carter was trounced by Barry Graham in a Scottsdale City Council in 2022 before landing a state seat two years later.