Democrat JoAnna Mendoza defeated Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race Thursday, Nov. 5, at 2:38 p.m. Eastern, flipping the seat after Ciscomani’s two terms.
“Tonight, the voters of this district have given me the opportunity to serve again. I don’t take that responsibility lightly,” Mendoza said in a statement after declaring victory on election night, according to KJZZ.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund identifies Mendoza as bisexual and says she will become the first openly LGBTQ+ person to represent AZ-06 in Congress. The group included her in its battleground House campaign before Election Day.
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, congratulated Mendoza on Wednesday. “Jo is a patriot who’s dedicated her life to serving her country,” DelBene said.
Mendoza began Election Day in her hometown of Eloy before campaigning around Tucson with Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Luminaria reported. Asked about the experience, she said, “The closest I would say is deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.”
From Eloy’s Cotton Fields to Marine Corps Drill Instructor
“Growing up poor, you feel a sense of despair and helplessness,” Mendoza told The New York Times this year. She was born in Eloy and spent summers in the cotton fields with her parents, the Arizona Republic reported in 2025, and she has said her family depended on food stamps to get by.
She also recalled the shame she felt using food stamps as a child. That experience became part of her case for protecting food assistance.
Her official campaign biography says she enlisted in the Navy at 17, then joined the Marine Corps. Across 20 years of service, she deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and worked as a drill instructor. The Times reported that she also trained other drill instructors.
“I had such a horrible transition from military to civilian life,” she told the Republic.
Back home, she handled veterans’ cases in then-Rep. Tom O’Halleran’s constituent services office, the Republic reported. She credited that work with showing her what responsive government could do for families.
She later led the Arizona Center for Economic Progress and worked for a Phoenix political consulting firm, according to the Republic.
Is JoAnna Mendoza Arizona’s First LGBTQ+ Member of Congress?
Mendoza’s win marks a first for the 6th District, according to Victory Fund. Arizona has elected openly LGBTQ+ lawmakers to Congress before.
Kyrsten Sinema won Arizona’s 9th District in 2012, becoming Congress’s first openly bisexual member, ABC News reported.
“I’m hoping that other people will see themselves in me,” Mendoza told the Times.
Ciscomani’s ‘Toxic’ Ad Revived Her 2020 Answer on Trans Athletes
Ciscomani’s campaign launched a TV ad called “Toxic” on June 29, according to its campaign release. It featured Mendoza describing legislation restricting transgender participation in sports as “harmful” and “toxic.”
She’d said it at a 2020 forum for state Senate candidates, American Journal News reported. In the ad, a Tucson mother says Mendoza “even called parents like me toxic,” though the outlet found that Mendoza had aimed the word at the legislation, not at parents.
Daniel Scarpinato, a general consultant to Ciscomani’s campaign, said in the release that Mendoza “continues to embrace positions that are far outside the mainstream.” He said Ciscomani “believes girls deserve a fair playing field.”
Mendoza answered in a statement to American Journal News, saying parents, coaches and sports associations, not politicians, should set the rules that keep youth sports fair and safe.
Juan Ciscomani Voted Twice for the Title IX Sports Bill
House Clerk records show that Ciscomani voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Jan. 14, 2025. H.R. 28 passed the House 218-206. He had also backed an earlier version, H.R. 734, which passed the House in April 2023.
The House-passed 2025 text would define sex for Title IX athletics compliance using reproductive biology and genetics at birth. It sought to exclude transgender girls and women from women’s school sports at federally funded institutions. These were House votes; passage by one chamber alone does not make a bill law.
Ciscomani cast his Election Day ballot in Marana after visiting polling places around the district, Arizona Luminaria reported. He argued that voters should judge elected officials by their results.
‘Spineless’ Ads and SNAP Fights From Tucson to Cochise County
The district includes all of Greenlee County and parts of Pima, Pinal, Cochise and Graham counties, including much of eastern Tucson, according to Arizona Luminaria.
Her campaign’s August TV ad told viewers, “To represent Arizona, you need a spine.” The ad went on, “But Congressman Juan Ciscomani doesn’t have one.”
At their Sept. 10 Clean Elections debate, Mendoza tied families’ struggles to his vote for H.R. 1, Trump’s spending law. “We reinstate programs like SNAP, programs that I used as a young child growing up,” she said, KGUN reported.
Ciscomani defended the law’s tax provisions and argued that they would help families and small businesses. At the debate, he opposed the larger government role and higher taxes he associated with Mendoza’s proposals, KGUN reported.
He leaned on his police endorsements, too. “Every law enforcement organization endorsed me and endorsed against my opponent. Why? Because they trust me,” he said, KOLD reported.
The Times reported that Republican trackers followed Mendoza during the campaign. In September, the National Republican Congressional Committee highlighted her remark: “I swear, if I start telling you that I am the most bipartisan member, please slap me.”
NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen used the remark to argue that she was too partisan for the district. Earlier in the race, Mendoza had resisted ideological labels in her Republic interview. “I really don’t like to be labeled,” she said.
When Mendoza Takes Office in Arizona’s 6th District
Mendoza’s House term begins Jan. 3, 2027. Under the 20th Amendment, outgoing representatives’ terms end at noon that day, when their successors’ terms begin.
Follow Gayety’s 2026 LGBTQ+ election results for other races and ballot measures. Our Election Day guide explains the contests and stakes.
