The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released a new installment of its “Inside the Majority” video series spotlighting Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06) on Wednesday. Ciscomani’s Southern Arizona district is rated a “Toss-Up” by the Cook Political Report ahead of the 2026 election.
The NRCC describes the series as highlighting Republican members viewed as critical to maintaining GOP control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The episode featuring Ciscomani is available on YouTube and on X:
WATCH: Arizona Republican @JuanCiscomani's incredible story epitomizes the American Dream
Now as a dad serving his community in Congress, Juan's fighting to give every Arizona family the opportunity to "pursue their own version of the American Dream"
Arizona’s 6th Congressional District is considered one of the most competitive House races in the country. The Cook Political Report currently rates the district as a “Toss-Up,” reflecting its narrow partisan split.
Ciscomani first won the seat in 2022 by approximately 1.5 percentage points after the district flipped from Democratic to Republican control. He was reelected in 2024 by roughly 2.5 percentage points, increasing his margin and adding more than 5,000 votes to his prior total.
An incredible day as my family joins me for my swearing-in ceremony to begin my second term in Congress!
I’m deeply honored and humbled by your trust in me and I’m ready to keep fighting for AZ06 and protect the American Dream. Ready to get to work! 🌵🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rUX8jOqcNB
— Congressman Juan Ciscomani (@RepCiscomani) January 3, 2025
Ciscomani is currently the only declared Republican candidate in the race and was endorsed by President Donald Trump in an April 2025 post to Truth Social. The President wrote, “Congressman Juan Ciscomani is a Tremendous Champion for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District! As a Member of the POWERFUL Appropriations Committee, Juan is fighting hard to Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Military/Vets, Support our Great Law Enforcement, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. Juan Ciscomani has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”
In the video, Ciscomani discusses his immigration background and legislative priorities.
“My name is Juan Ciscomani and I was born in Mexico,” Ciscomani says in the segment. “I immigrated with my family when I was 11 years old, and then, after a long process, became a U.S. citizen along with my family back in 2006. Sixteen years after becoming a U.S. citizen, I became a member of the United States Congress.”
Ciscomani references his first bill to pass the House, which focused on expediting veterans’ disability claims and expanding workforce opportunities for transitioning service members.
He also highlights the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which he says is intended to prevent scheduled tax increases and expand tax relief provisions.
“The Working Families Tax Cuts Act is having an immediate and enormous impact in the district,” Ciscomani says in the video. “Not only does it avoid the cliff of a lot of taxes going up by the thousands in my district, but it also introduces great ways to have people keep their hard earned money. These are all quick and immediate ways that people will be able to see the benefits of this act.”
According to NRCC materials, the legislation includes provisions related to the Child Tax Credit, the standard deduction, Social Security taxation, tipped wages, overtime pay, and savings accounts.
NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said Ciscomani’s district is central to the party’s majority strategy.
“Juan Ciscomani embodies what it means to be an effective representative—he shows up, listens and delivers results on the issues that matter most to Arizona families,” Petersen said. “From securing the border to ensuring water reliability and supporting our veterans, Juan has proven he’s a fighter for Arizona.”
Speaking to his motivations for serving in Congress, Ciscomani observed, “When I look at my kids in the future that I want for them, which is for them to find their path and have a shot at the American dream. What motivates me is my family and all those families out there that I want them to have a real opportunity in this country to go pursue their own version of the American dream. That’s what motivates me, so that we can do what we do here. To have families out there at home can go do what they were called to do.”
When first elected to Congress in 2022, Ciscomani became the first naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mexico elected to represent Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and has advocated for federal funding for infrastructure, border security, water projects, and veterans’ services within the district.
All is not well in the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) according to a video posted online by National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Spokesman Ben Petersen. The video appears to depict ADP Treasurer Greg Freeman excoriating State Party Chairman Robert Branscomb and calling for his ouster for “burning cash, botched fundraising & looming bankruptcy.”
Petersen described the video in a post to X as a “NEW EPISODE of @AZDemParty IN DISARRAY.” He added, “Dems’ treasurer torches party leadership for burning cash, botched fundraising & looming bankruptcy[.] ‘On pace for the worst fundraising year in the past decade[.]’ ‘The only possible outcome…is ineffectiveness or bankruptcy.’”
In a statement, Petersen called the discord shown in the video, a “stunning internal revolt,” writing, “Arizona Democrats’ stunning internal revolt exposed a party in free fall, burning cash while alienating voters. As Democrats elevate socialists as the face of their party, Republicans are passing middle class tax cuts and the biggest border security investments in generations that will directly benefit hardworking Arizonans.”
NEW EPISODE of @AZDemParty IN DISARRAY: Dems’ treasurer torches party leadership for burning cash, botched fundraising & looming bankruptcy
“On pace for the worst fundraising year in the past decade”
In the video, a man, appearing to be Freeman, can be heard saying, “Our fundraising has been historically poor in 2025, and we are on pace for the worst fundraising year in the past decade. As another comparison, we have raised less than 1/3 of what we raised at this point in 2021, and there is no sign of this trend changing.”
He warned, “At the current rate of spending and fundraising we will be unable to pay our staff or our mortgage or both very soon. The only possible outcome for the Arizona Democratic Party, if the chair stays in place, is ineffectiveness or bankruptcy.”
Freeman then called for the removal of Chairman Branscomb saying, “I do believe that this situation can be righted and that the relationships with our elected officials and financial partners can be mended. But those damaged relationships cannot be repaired by the same person that presided over their decline. Removing the chair is the only way.”
According to reporting posted to X by Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic, the executive board of the Arizona Democratic Party issued a censure against Chair Branscomb as well as Executive Director Michael Ruff “based on Branscomb’s refusal to explain to the board why his staff accessed and spread the email of a board member to a ‘known political ally’ outside of official party channels.”
The censure is based on Branscomb’s refusal to explain to the board why his staff accessed and spread the email of a board member to a “known political ally“ outside of official party channels.
The email purportedly “outlined a pitch to talk to party members and persuade them that Branscomb must vacate the chairs seat” and according to the board, promoted a “false narrative.”
NEW Chairman of Arizona Democratic Party censured by executive board over "continuing pattern of disregard for accountability, transparency and unity." Chair's rocky tenure could come to a head at a State Committee meeting 7/16. pic.twitter.com/5IIiCySyMY
Brahm Resnick of 12News obtained a copy of the censure letter and posted it to X suggesting that the “Chair’s rocky tenure could come to a head at a State Committee meeting 7/16.”
The board wrote in part, “The Chair’s repeated failures to comply with direct instructions from the Executive Board coupled with his prior breach of responsibility in circulating internal communications for personal political gain demonstrate a continuing pattern of disregard for accountability, transparency, and unity. It also undermines the Board’s good-faith efforts to support the Chair’s leadership since the beginning of his term.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, the Arizona Democratic Party has been beset by infighting with party leadership and top elected Democrats at odds as far back as April 2025 when Branscomb accused his predecessor of undermining him and both sitting U.S. Senators for Arizona of threatening him over disagreements with his decisions. As recently as June 1st, Branscomb told Pitzl in a meeting days before that the party’s state of spending and low fundraising has led to diminished funds after the ADP’s executive committee rejected a budget proposal from him.
The @azdemparty ‘s executive committee rejected the budget presented by new chairman Robert Branscomb. This came after the party’s treasurer reported that, given the current state of spending and low fundraising, the party will run out of money by the end of the year.
Shortly before the reveal of the fiscal cliff, Branscomb suspended his vice chair, Kim Khoury, and accused her of working against him. He claimed she had engaged “in political activity directed against party leadership while holding an executive officer role.”
At the time, one Democratic donor anonymously voiced their concerns to the media saying anonymously, “Why would I write a check when we’re losing everything? We’re losing the airwaves. We’re losing the tech battle. We’re losing the ground game. They have yet to prove that they have learned any real lessons yet. So either people start to wake up or we lose again.”
Since the June 1st report, the situation within the ADP leadership appears to have worsened significantly.
The passage of the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act (H.R. 35) in the U.S. House of Representatives last week was met with drastically opposite reactions from Republicans and Democrats. While Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ6), who introduced the bill, hailed it as a safeguard for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and law enforcement officers, Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-OR5) decried the bill as “fear-mongering dressed up as officer safety.” She also compared it to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
In a press release, Ciscomani’s office explained that the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act was so named for an agent of the Border Patrol who was tragically killed during a high-speed pursuit of an illegal immigrant. The bill was drafted in response, making failure to yield a federal offense, and intensifying if the illegal immigrant’s flight from authorities leads to a fatality. Should a person be killed during pursuit, the assailant could serve life in prison.
At the bill’s introduction, Ciscomani said, “Every day, communities across my district experience high-speed car chases that endanger the lives of residents and frontline law enforcement officers and agents. Far too often, these chases end in tragedy, as it did for Agent Raul Gonzalez and countless others. My legislation, fittingly named after Agent Gonzalez, would impose federal penalties on human smugglers and other bad actors that are involved in high-speech chases with federal and local law enforcement. We must send a clear message to anyone seeking to harm our communities that they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Specifically, the bill establishes that a person fleeing from Border Patrol in a vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border would be “imprisoned for a term of not more than 2 years,” and adds that in the event that an officer suffers bodily injury or death resulting from the flight of an assailant from immigration enforcement, the penalties escalate. A bodily injury increases the sentence from five to twenty years. The death of an officer could result in life in prison.
The bill passed the House in a largely bipartisan vote of 264 – 155.
Despite the votes of her fellow Democrats, Congresswoman Bynum held a distinctly different and ahistorical view, comparing the bill to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Essentailly, she compared illegal immigrants living and working in the United States by choice, to Africans subjected to the horrors of chattel slavery in the 19th century.
Bynum told the House, “I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 35. Let’s call this bill what it is: fear mongering dressed up as officer safety. This bill echoes one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.”
She claimed, “Just like that shameful law, H.R. 35 forces authorities and encourages the deputizing of ‘randos’ to do the federal government’s work, punishing them if they refuse. Back then it was hunting down people who dared to seek freedom. Today, it’s forcing local police to become federal enforcers.”
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen rejected Bynum’s statement, telling reporters that the Oregon Democrat is “hellbent on pursuing a dangerous anti-police officer crusade in Congress,” according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Petersen continued, “Bynum’s extremist vote siding with cartel terrorists over Border Patrol puts Oregonians in danger.”
Rep. Mary Peltola continues to have support among left-leaning American politicos, after emerging victorious in Alaska’s messy open-primary, ranked-choice general voting system in 2022.
Conservative Alaska voters, faced with a contentious field last year, awarded Peltola enough second-place votes to lock in her win.
As a candidate with low name recognition, Peltola committed to bipartisanship, saying she drew inspiration from the late Congressman Don Young. However, her voting record since November has revealed a different story.
Peltola’s support for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as House speaker, casting 15 votes in his favor, was the first big item that raised eyebrows around the 49th state.
She voted against the Strategic Production Response Act and justified her absence during the final vote by claiming she was unaware voting was about to occur.
Peltola voted against the censure of Rep. Adam Schiff, who was the unethical impeachment manager for Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the now-discredited “Russia collusion” attack on former President Donald Trump.
Recently, she joined most Democrats in opposing the National Defense Authorization Act. The rationale behind her “no” vote lies in her desire for culture-war earmarks to fund military transgender treatments and surgeries, as well as paying military women a month of leave for late-term abortions. Peltola has also supported transgender males’ participation in female athletic competitions.
She voted against H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, and has been advocating for a national railroad strike, urging Starbucks baristas to unionize, and encouraging pizza workers in Alaska to do the same.
Peltola’s consistent absence is notable: She has missed 16 times more votes than the median Democrat House member. In a House with 435 members, she is number 12 for most missed votes.
While she participated in the women’s Congressional Softball game against journalists, she failed to show up for work the next day when almost all amendments to the National Defense Appropriations Act were voted on. Her inability to get out of bed deprives Alaskans of a voice in the House.
When she does vote, Peltola votes in line with Rep. Nancy Pelosi 84% of the time, Rep. Ilhan Omar 77%, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 78%. Keep in mind that 53 percent of Alaskans voted for Trump.
Nick Begich, a lifelong Republican who ran for Congress in 2022, has seen enough. He decided to run again after witnessing Peltola repeatedly vote against Alaska’s values.
Although he faces the challenge of overcoming his relatives, who include well-known Democrats, Begich enjoys the continued support of his followers.
But Alaska’s unique method of selecting representatives, introduced with Ballot Measure 2 in 2020, deviates from the rest of the nation. It’s a tangled mess.
The open primary format eliminated the Republican Party of Alaska’s ability to independently choose its candidate for the general election.
Instead, all candidates, whether clowns or statesmen, participate in the same primary ballot. In 2022, this resulted in a massive ballot with 48 candidates.
The top four vote getters from the primary advance to the general election, where voters are then asked to rank the candidates in order of preference. If a voter’s preferred candidate loses, their vote is transferred to their next choice, granting them an opportunity to vote again. In this scheme, some voters get to vote more than once, while others’ votes are counted just one time.
Given the array of choices Alaskan voters had in November, which included three conservatives and one liberal candidate selected in the primary, it remains perplexing how a radical like Peltola emerged victorious.
Supporters of ranked-choice voting had promised that the system would eliminate extremists, but this is not how it worked in real life. Alaskans ended up with a de facto member of The Squad.
Will it happen again?
Begich begins his campaign with a solid base of one quarter of the likely vote this time around. However, with less than a year remaining until the primary ballot is set in Alaska, a lot can happen with campaign hijinks, as we saw in 2022.
Last year, Begich garnered support from major conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works for America, as well as the endorsement of the Alaska Republican Party.
And yet, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is not structured to work well with the ranked-choice voting system, which in a state like Alaska all but guarantees the presence of multiple Republicans on a general election ballot.
This time around, the NRCC can and should focus on highlighting Peltola’s extreme positions to ensure that Alaskans can make a more informed decision in the upcoming 2024 primary and general elections.
For now, Alaskans are represented by a bait-and-switcher who holds some of the most mind-boggling positions in the history of the U.S. Congress. Alaska has the distinction of being the most conservative district in the country to be represented by a Democrat. We can do better.
National organizations like the NRCC, Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, and Club for Growth will be crucial in helping prevent a recurrence of 2022’s series of unfortunate events.
