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Updated Aug 3, 2022, 8:31 am  Originally posted Aug 2, 2022, 9:49 am

Dylan Smith, Paul Ingram & Bennito L. Kelty TucsonSentinel.com

Democrat Kirsten Engel and Republican Juan Ciscomani took quick leads and won easily in their CD 6 congressional primaries Tuesday night, as vote counts trickled in. With a number of votes left to tally, especially in Maricopa County, many other races across the state could shift.

Engel's primary opponent, Daniel Hernandez, called and conceded the race, Engel said, calling him "very gracious."

Juan Ciscomani handily won the Republican primary in the same congressional district, setting up a face-off in a district that has long been a battleground, but is slightly more GOP-leaning after redistricting. CD 6 is an open seat, with U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick not seeking reelection.

Tuesday night, neither the Pima County Democrats nor Republicans put on the traditional party gatherings for election night. Some candidates were hosting small public events for supporters, while others put on smaller-scale private gatherings for invited supporters and family members.

In Pima County, about 26,000 ballots were cast at voting centers on Tuesday, and were not yet included in the count. Another 4,000 provisional ballots were cast, and must be verified before being tallied. In Maricopa County, about 125,000 "late early" ballots were dropped off on Tuesday, and have not yet been verified or counted.

Engel pulled nearly 60 percent of the vote from CD 6 Democrats, with Hernandez garnering 34 percent. A third candidate, political newcomer Avery Anderson, got 6 percent of the primary vote.

Ciscomani got 46 percent of the vote in the GOP primary in CD 6, with his closest opponents being Brandon Martin with 21 percent and Kathleen Winn with 18 percent.

Election results

The first results will include early ballots mailed back and handed in before Tuesday. Ballots cast in person on Tuesday will be tallied in the evening, while early ballots dropped off on Election Day, and any provisional ballots, will be verified this week before being counted.

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Here are the contested primaries that affect Southern Arizona — check back for updates:

Federal & State primaries

Arizona Legislature

Pima County

The primary will determine the Democratic and Republican candidates for Arizona governor, attorney general, secretary of state and other top offices, as well as pick candidates for the Legislature and the U.S. House and Senate.

While most Arizona voters are early voters, those who haven't yet cast primary election ballots could do so in person Tuesday — with 129 new vote centers available across Pima County. Some hiccups were reported, but elections workers told the Tucson Sentinel most sites were running smoothly. The polls and drop boxes closed at 7 p.m.

There were "some delays" early in the morning, but "everything is working efficiently," Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher told the members of the Board of Supervisors during a meeting Tuesday.

In Pima County, which is using a "vote center" model for the first time in this election, a few problems were reported Tuesday morning. Some sites opened before the special envelopes required for provisional ballots were delivered, but poll workers at several sites told the Sentinel that they were not seeing many difficulties.

Monday night, some poll workers told the Sentinel about confusion in the set up of the new vote centers, which allow any voter in the county to cast a ballot at any location. The old precinct model required each voter to cast a ballot at a specific site. Most Arizona counties have already moved to vote centers; Pima County is instituting them with this election.

A "confusing" training course and lack of directions in materials sent to sites led to disagreements about how to set up the system at some sites, election workers said. Those problems were compounded by no one being available at the county's Election Department headquarters to respond to questions Monday night as workers prepared for the 6 a.m. opening of the centers, workers said.

Tuesday morning, the county had to deliver envelopes for provisional ballots to sites, with some not receiving them until after the opening time. Officials said the delay was caused by "a late shipment" but did not provide details to the Sentinel about why the envelopes were not on time.

Lesher told the county supervisors that "two printers were replaced immediately" at vote centers Tuesday.

By midday, about 8,500 voters had cast ballots in person, with 800 provisional ballots used. Those ballots are used by voters when there is a question about whether they are eligible to cast one — such as when they were sent an early ballot that has not been returned. Provisional ballots must be verified after the election before being sent to be counted.

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Last week, as the Sentinel reported, a staffer for the Pima County Elections Department provided incorrect training to temporary election workers, telling them that voters can choose which ballot they vote during Tuesday's primary election.

Only voters who are not registered with a political party that has ballot access — so-called "independent" voters, as well as members of the Green Party — can pick whether they wish to cast a ballot in the Democratic or Republican party primaries. Those who are registered with the Democrats, Republicans or Libertarian Party cannot choose a different ballot.

The county emailed election workers with corrected information, sent a memo to each vote center, and was placing posters at each site about which ballots are available, County Administrator Lesher said.

Vote centers shifted

129 vote centers were open in Pima County for Tuesday's primary election. While about 80-90 percent of voters are expected to have returned early ballots, voters who had not could go in person to any site to cast their votes, or drop off an early ballot.

Six of those centers had to be shifted before the election, in addition to one that had already been changed back in May, just says after the Board of Supervisors approved the list of all 129 sites.

Reasons for the changes included property owners not returning a contract to the use of a site, a decision by an owner to not be a voting location, and construction work making a location unavailable, Lesher told the supervisors in a memo on Monday.

Those locations were replaced by alternate voter center sites nearby.

Pima County has an interactive map and list of vote center addresses posted online, along with an explainer on how the system works. Vote centers are new to the county, although they have been widely used across most of the rest of Arizona for previous elections.