Yassamin Ansari in 2023. Photo by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Yassamin Ansari will represent the Democratic ticket for a West Valley congressional district in November, after a recount found that she beat out her primary opponent by less than 40 votes.
Initial results showed Ansari, a former vice-mayor of Phoenix, leading former state lawmaker Raquel Terán by just 42 votes to represent congressional district 3, a solidly Democratic district that spans South and West Phoenix. That lead was narrowed even further by an official recount announced on Tuesday morning, with Ansari winning by just 36 votes: 19,084 to Terán’s 19,048.
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The seat is currently held by outgoing U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is angling to replace U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
In a post on social media site X , formerly Twitter, Ansari celebrated her victory and called on Arizonans to support Democratic candidates.
“Following today’s recount results, I am deeply honored to be your Democratic nominee for Congress,” she wrote. “It’s time for us to come together and ensure we secure victories for Democrats up and down the ballot this November.”
Ansari also highlighted the state’s abortion rights initiative, urging voters to enshrine the procedure in the Arizona Constitution and vowing to mobilize her campaign to promote both the initiative and other Democrats.
“Our fight isn’t over. In less than 80 days, we’re not only going to win this seat, we’re going to elect @RubenGallego as our next Senator, @KamalaHarris as our next President and @Tim_Walz as our next VP, and make access to an abortion a constitutional right in Arizona,” she wrote. “Today, I pledge to put my entire campaign apparatus behind these efforts to increase Democratic turnout in our district to ensure victory in November.”
Democrats across the country have turned to reproductive rights to mobilize voters ahead of the election, and party members in Arizona are counting on the ballot measure to deliver wins for pro-choice candidates. Ansari herself staked out a progressive platform that revolved partly around her defense of reproductive rights on the Phoenix City Council. During her tenure, she helped spearhead a citywide resolution that deprioritized abortion arrests while Arizona grappled with hostile laws that threatened prison time for providers.
Ansari will face off against Republican nominee Jeff Zink in November, though with Democratic voters in the district outnumbering GOP voters thre- to-one , Ansari is expected to win. If she succeeds, Ansari will be the first Democratic Iranian-American elected to Congress.
Ansari, Terán call for unity ahead of November
In a news conference held just hours after the results of the recount were revealed, Ansari reiterated her commitment to bolstering Democratic candidates and causes in November. She called her primary election “contentious” and “ugly” and said it was time for the party to unify behind electoral success.
“It’s time to put behind us the ugliness of this race,” she said. “I don’t think Democratic primaries should ever get this ugly, anywhere in the country. Right now our focus is on November.”
Far right politicians, Ansari added, are aiming to eliminate many hard-won freedoms. The solution, she said, is supporting Democrats, both to defend against attacks on those freedoms and push for more progressive wins.
“Republicans are constantly preaching a warped, dangerous, authoritarian vision for our future and we must stand strong against it to protect abortion rights, defend our democracy and save our climate,” she said. “And we’ve said loud and clear throughout this entire campaign, it’s not just about taking on Republican extremists and it’s not just about standing against something, but we want to change the status quo, we want to fight for more.”
In a statement posted to X, Terán lamented her loss and echoed Ansari’s call for unity.
“I’m committed to ensuring that we as Democrats work together to elect Kamala Harris, Democrats up and down the ballot, and protect our reproductive rights,” she wrote. “I will continue to fight to build a brighter future for everyone in our communities.”
Ansari also addressed criticism her campaign fielded after a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC with Trump-aligned donors spent $1.4 million supporting her in the runup to the election.
Protect Progress, which donates to Democratic candidates friendly to cryptocurrency, injected the funding into television ads just two weeks before the primary election took place. Two of the super PAC’s biggest funders, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, have also donated to former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Ansari’s critics quickly seized on that funding to question her commitment to progressive goals. Living United for Change in Arizona, a Latino advocacy group that backed Terán, said in an emailed statement after the recount that Ansari’s win was proof of the “corrupting influence of millions of dark money dollars spent by crypto bros and MAGA cronies.”
But Ansari pointed out that the super PAC regularly spends to boost Democratic candidates across the country — most recently buying $3 million of TV ads to bolster Gallego’s U.S. Senate bid. And, she said, she would work to end the influence of Citizens United v. FEC , a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.
In the meantime, she said, her campaign will work to remain transparent about funding sources and will advocate on behalf of the district’s constituents, not donors.
“I would have much preferred this race with no outside money and campaigns raising funds on their own,” Ansari said. “We’ll continue to be accountable and transparent and focusing on the issues that matter to this district — from improving our housing affordability to tackling extreme heat and making sure we’re representing everybody.”
While election denialism has become a central tenet of the GOP platform nationally and locally, and Arizona in particular has been at the forefront of conspiracy theories and criticism, Ansari dismissed any concern over the election processes in Maricopa County in light of the recount. Three votes were added to Terán’s tally, but the final result was the same.
And, Ansari said, some of the additional votes were the result of voter errors, like crossing out choices or filling in extra bubbles, that required increased scrutiny from election workers. In the end, she said, the system worked.
“The rest of the country should be assured that Maricopa County runs a phenomenal election and they are diligent, they are tireless, they are meticulous,” she said. “And I am profoundly confident in their ability to make sure that our November 2024 election goes smoothly and that it’s secure and fair and whoever wins in November, I trust that elections were run perfectly.”
***UPDATED: This story was updated with additional comments and reporting.
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