The next Kyrsten Sinema is running for Congress
Amish Shah officially announced his bid for CD1 yesterday.
Dr. Amish Shah is a Democrat representing one of the bluest districts in Arizona –– LD5, which covers the majority of Central Phoenix (think the Biltmore area). He first ran in what was previously LD24 and defeated an incumbent in 2018, then became the top vote getter in 2020 and 2022, the latter where he overcame two other incumbents and more in a heated primary.
Shah just announced his intention to challenge Congressman David Schweikert, one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country, in CD1 next year.
Shah originally did not plan to run in deep blue LD5. In fact, he was planning to buy a home in Mesa so he could run in LD9, one of five competitive districts that would likely be more aligned with his views instead of the rather progressive leaning Central Phoenix area he still represents.
Instead, he chose to not resign from his LD24 seat just to move and run in a swing district and won anyway. Despite not being popular among progressives in Arizona, nor with his own caucus, he still did really well with the people who decide elections –– his constituents.
Shah, a doctor who works at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, has a proclivity to anger his fellow Democrats in the Arizona House either by sponsoring divisive legislation or cross the aisle to support Republican bills much to his caucus’ chagrin. It has earned him several comparisons to the ever unpopular now-registered independent Kyrsten Sinema.
Similarly to Sinema, Shah wasn’t always registered as a Democrat, but rather than starting his political life in the green party, Shah was registered as a Republican as recently as 2016 before switching parties and then moving so he could run in LD24 in 2018.
Shah did not respond to any questions for this story.
I obtained Shah’s voter file through a public records request which confirms he not only registered as a Republican in 2016, but it was his first time he voted –– at least in Maricopa County. He did not vote in the 2016 primary, though.
Shah changed his registration to a Democrat also in 2016, not long after registering in the county, but it’s unclear how long he was registered as a Republican before then. Or if he has a voting history prior to the 2016 general election. Shah was eligible to vote starting with the 1996 presidential election cycle. He did list being registered while he lived in New York prior to 2016, records show.
When Shah first registered as a Republican in 2016 he lived in Scottsdale’s LD23 (area is now in Dem-leaning LD8). He moved to LD24 in August 2016 as a Democrat and then ran for office two years later.
Given his voting record in the Arizona House it makes sense he may have some Republican-leaning beliefs.
Shah was also rumored to have been asked to not show up to caucus meetings in 2022 for not aligning with other members on Republican bills they were collectively voting no on.
Then this year when Democrats were protesting a last-minute Republican rule change by voting against all bills put onto the House floor, some Shah bills only received Republican support. He also did not show up to the floor to participate in the “protest” another sign of his efforts to not be aligned with his colleagues.
Additionally, in his first year as a legislator, Shah voted with Republicans calling porn a public health crisis. No other Democrats voted in favor of the legislation.
CD1 is by no means a progressive-leaning district, but one that would need a lot of Republicans tired of Schweikert’s antics to vote across the aisle. It’s possible Shah is that person, but he will have to win over enough Democrats in the primary where they just sent Jevin Hodge, a progressive, to challenge Schweikert.
Hodge lost by the slimmest margin Schweikert has ever faced (less than one percentage point), but Hodge is not running again, he announced last week.
Like Hodge, Shah also does not live in CD1 where he plans to run.
Shah lives in CD3, currently represented by Ruben Gallego, but will be a primary free-for-all next year to replace the longtime congressman hoping to take down Sinema for the U.S. Senate race.
Hodge lived in CD5 while running for CD1 last year.
It’s not required to live in the district you hope to represent for Congress, but it still becomes fodder for opponents.
If Shah were to make it to November he would be the third Democrat in a row to take on Schweikert without living in the district. Dr. Hiral Tipirneni is the third person who took on the Republican incumbent in 2020.
I’m holding out hope that Adam Metzendorf runs. I want a candidate that works towards solving the issues I care about, not themselves.