A special election for Arizona's 8th congressional district was held in 2018 subsequent to the resignation of Republican U.S. Representative

Trent Franks Harold Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. Du ...

. Governor

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey ( ; ; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 23rd List of governors of Arizona, governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023 and as State Treas ...

called a special primary election for Tuesday, February 27, 2018, and a special general election for the balance of Franks' eighth term for Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Republican nominee and former

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

president pro tem

Debbie Lesko Debra Kay Lesko ( ; née Lorenz; born November 14, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Arizona. Lesko, a member of the Arizona Republican Party, Republican Party, serves on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors representing the 4 ...

won a closer-than-expected race against Democratic challenger

Hiral Tipirneni Hiral Vyas Tipirneni ( ; born September 28, 1967) is an Indian-American politician and physician. She worked for a decade in Phoenix, Arizona, area emergency departments, is a cancer research advocate, and serves on the board of directors of the ...

Background

Incumbent representative Trent Franks announced on December 7, 2017, that he would resign effective January 31, 2018, after admitting allegations regarding the issue of

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

. However, after his wife was hospitalized, Franks resigned effective December 8, 2017. Candidates must file nomination forms and petitions within 30 days of the governor's proclamation. Candidates in special congressional elections in Arizona must collect a number of valid signatures equal to at least one-fourth of 1% of the number of qualified signers in the district. For the 2018 special election, a Democratic candidate requires 665 signatures, a Green candidate requires 392 signatures, a Libertarian candidate requires 401 signatures, a Republican candidate requires 860 signatures, and an independent candidate requires 4,680 signatures. It was initially thought that Arizona's resign-to-run law would have required sitting members of the

Arizona Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...

to resign their seats in order to run in the special election. Arizona's resign-to-run law does not require someone to resign if they file to run when they are in the final year of their term. However, the deadline to submit nominating petitions was January 10 and the end of the current term for members of the

was January 14, 2019. However, legal advice from the legislature's nonpartisan counsel stated that incumbent state legislators would not be required to resign in order to run in the special election.

Republican primary

Two of the major candidates in the Republican primary drew controversy late in the campaign. Former state senator Steve Montenegro faced calls to withdraw, including by former governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...

, after news articles revealing sexually suggestive text messages between Montenegro and a legislative staffer surfaced. Additionally, complaints were filed against former state senator Debbie Lesko over her campaign finance records.

Candidates

Declared

* Chad Allen, health care executive * Brenden Dilley, author, entrepreneur and host of ''Your Voice America'' * Stephen Dolgos, independent candidate for Arizona's 8th congressional district in 2012 and 2014 *

, former state senator * Phil Lovas, former state representative, Arizona State Chairman of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and Regional Advocate for the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

's Office of Advocacy * David Lien, teacher and former

Willmar, Minnesota Willmar ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 21,015 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division ...

council member * Richard Mack, teacher and former Graham County Sheriff * Steve Montenegro, former state senator *

Bob Stump Robert Lee Stump (April 4, 1927 – June 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from Arizona. He served as a member from the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1983 and then later a member of the Republican Party un ...

, former Arizona Corporation Commissioner * Christopher Sylvester, Navy veteran * Clair Van Steenwyk, radio host and candidate for the seat in 2016 * Mark Yates

Withdrew

* Kevin Cavanaugh, former deputy sheriff

Declined

* Clint Hickman, Maricopa County Supervisor *

Kimberly Yee Kimberly Yee (born February 23, 1974) is an American politician serving as the 45th Arizona State Treasurer, Arizona state treasurer. She is the first Asian-American woman elected to the Arizona State Legislature. A member of the Republican Par ...

, state senator and candidate for

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Endorsements

Debates

* Includes video of debate, January 24, 2018.

Polling

with Clint Hickman and Kimberly Yee

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

physician * Brianna Westbrook, political activist and LGBTQ community leader

Declined

* Robert Olsen * Robert Schuster,

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

student

Results

Green primary

Candidates

Declared

* Richard Grayson (write-in), candidate in Green Party presidential primary in Arizona in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Gary Swing (write-in), Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator in Arizona in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Each candidate received 13 write-in votes in the primary. Neither was placed on the special election ballot.

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

* Kelly Noble (write-in) The candidate received 22 write-in votes in the primary and was not placed on the special election ballot.

General election

Republican candidate Debbie Lesko received over $1 million in funding from Republican groups outside the state.

Candidates

( Republican), former state senator *

( Democratic),

physician

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Results

References

External links

Video of March 26, 2018 debate
Arizona PBS Official campaign websites
Debbie Lesko (R) for Congress

Hiral Tipirneni (D) for Congress
{{2018 United States elections 2018 16 Arizona 8 Arizona 2018 8 Arizona 2018 8 8th congressional district special election United States House of Representatives 2018 8

Background

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Debates

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Results

Green primary

Candidates

Declared

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

General election

Candidates

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links