Voters in the 8th congressional district of Arizona will elect a new representative in Congress on Tuesday. Republican candidate Debbie Lesko, a former state senator, will likely win against Democrat Hiral Tiperneni, a physician.
The candidates are seeking to take the seat vacated by former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned last year due to sexual harassment allegations. Arizona Republicans are cautiously optimistic that Lesko will defeat her opponent since the 8th congressional district is one of their strongholds.
In 2016, President Donald Trump won the district by 21 percentage points. Mitt Romney had advantage of 25 percentage points in the district in 2012. It is important to note that voters in Arizona’s 8th district have not elected a Democrat since the 1980s.
As of Friday, April 20, more than 154,000 voters (48.5% Republicans and 27.7% Democrats) already casted their ballots, according to Arizona of State early ballot return statistics. So far, Arizona Republicans have 21 percentage-point advantage, but the Democrats could close the gap today.
Arizona Special Election 8th Congressional District—Latest Polls
| Dates | Pollster | Lesko | Tiperneni |
| April 10 | OH Predictive Insights | 53% | 43% |
| April 12-15 | Emerson College | 45% | 46% |
| April 14-16 | Lake Research Partners | 44% | 44% |
| Average | 47% | 44% |
