Democrats need a brawler to take on Rep. David Schweikert. Here are 2

Chances are you didn’t see it, but one of Arizona’s most important congressional races was on display this week.

The six Democrats hoping for the chance to take on Rep. David Schweikert met in a televised debate on Wednesday evening.

Scintillating TV it was not. But then, all six pretty much have the same take on issues.

The question for Democratic primary voters is this: Which one has the best shot at knocking off Schweikert, who in recent years has been hanging on by his fingertips?

Conor O'Callaghan, Marlene Galán-Woods shined

During Wednesday’s debate, two candidates stood out: Conor O’Callaghan and Marlene Galán-Woods.

O’Callaghan is a business executive making his first run for public office. He grew up in Scottsdale, worked on Wall Street and now he’s back, an executive in the Scottsdale office of a global financial services firm.

Of the six, O’Callaghan seems the best placed to go head-to-head with Schweikert on tax policy and economic issues. His eyes likely won’t glaze over when Schweikert hauls out his charts and graphs.

He’s also not shy about going for the jugular, an essential trait when running against Schweikert.

Just last month, Schweikert’s campaign and campaign allies settled up with his 2022 Republican primary opponent over campaign materials insinuating that the guy was gay.

Galán-Woods held her own against O'Callaghan

On Wednesday, O’Callaghan was quick to go after Galán-Woods, who like her now-deceased husband, the late former Attorney General Grant Woods, was a longtime Republican who left the party.

“Ms. Woods been on the political scene here in Arizona for decades,” O’Callaghan said. “When Planned Parenthood was on under attack in the court system here in the ‘90s, where was Ms. Woods speaking out about that? She supported Jan Brewer this millennium. … She was a huge, loud champion for (2012 Republican presidential nominee) Mitt Romney.”

On that last point, so were the voters in most, if not all, of this congressional district.

Most of O'Callaghan's shade: Has no merit

Galán-Woods held her own during the debate, noting that she’s always supported abortion rights, that her support of Brewer amounted to a $140 campaign contribution 15 years ago and that she didn’t leave the Republican Party so much as the Republican Party left her.

“My values have never changed,” Galán-Woods said. “What changed was the Republican Party.”

She gets a leg up on big-name endorsements

That’s a message that would resonate in November in a district where moderate suburban women voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but by 2018 were having heartburn and sent then-Democrat Kyrsten Sinema to Congress.

A district that since then has helped usher Democrats into every key statewide office up for grabs.

As for her position on abortion, Galán-Woods has been endorsed by a who’s who of pro-choice Democrats, including Attorney General Kris Mayes, former Gov. Janet Napolitano and former Sen. Dennis DeConcini.

The other four candidates — former Democratic Party Chairman Andrei Cherny, former state Rep. Amish Shah, orthodontist Andrew Horne and former nonprofit executive Kurt Kroemer — held their own during the debate.

But I don’t see them lasting 10 rounds against Schweikert.

A strong chance at taking out David Schweikert

Actually, think more cage fight than boxing match.

Schweikert is one of 18 Republicans nationally who represent districts that supported Joe Biden for president in 2020. In 2022, Schweikert barely eked out a win, earning just 50.4% of the vote against a political neophyte who had no money.

This seat is ripe for the picking for Democrats.

For the right Democrat, anyway.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 2 Democrats who can brawl with David Schweikert and win