Washington, Oct 24
Indian-American Democrat Amish Shah is up against a Republican who has been a friend and golf partner of President Donald Trump for decades, as Trump and his allies make a late push in the Arizona congressional race.
“President Donald Trump and his allies are mounting a last-minute mission to shore up his longtime personal friend in a battleground Arizona district,” Politico said on Friday in a report headlined “Meet Trump’s favorite House Republican candidate”.
The president has known former NFL kicker Jay Feely “for decades as a friend and golf partner, and he sees the former Arizona Cardinals kicker as a formidable candidate,” the report said, citing two Trump officials familiar with their relationship. It said GOP groups have spent more than $22 million to boost Feely, much of it in the final weeks.
Shah, an emergency room physician and former Arizona legislator, lost to Republican David Schweikert by 3.8 points in the district in 2024, Axios reported. The district includes Scottsdale, parts of northeast Phoenix, Fountain Hills and Cave Creek.
Feely, a longtime Gilbert resident, switched from the 5th district race to the 1st at Trump’s urging, according to Axios.
The two clashed over data centres at a recent Clean Elections debate, ABC15 reported.
“When I’m talking to the voters, what they have said to me clearly is they don’t want them in CD-1,” Shah said.
Feely argued that data centres help the economy. “They add about a billion dollars in revenue to the state of Arizona. That’s giving you the opportunity to increase teacher’s pay,” he said.
He accused Shah of changing his position. “I think it’s really hypocritical for you to stand up here and say to the voters that you’re now against data centers. When you were in office, you voted for the tax credits to bring those data centers here,” Feely said.
Shah said artificial intelligence was not on the radar when that vote was taken. “However, when the situation changes and suddenly you’ve got massive amounts of people applying as we have seen, and you see that you’re going to double the amount of wattage that these things are going to take. You’re going to have to think about the ratepayers,” he said.
Despite the district’s Republican registration advantage, the Cook Political Report rates the race “lean Democratic” and Inside Elections calls it “tilt Democratic”, Axios reported. Republicans make up 38 per cent of registered voters, against 35 per cent independent or other parties and over 26 per cent Democrats.
“If independents show up in big numbers, it favors Shah. If they don’t, it favors Feely,” pollster Marcus Dell’Artino told the Arizona Capitol Times, as quoted by Axios.
Federal filings show heavy outside spending on both sides, including $5.72 million by the MAGA Inc.-funded Safety & Affordability PAC against Shah and $4.41 million by House Majority PAC against Feely.
The last day for Arizona voters to request an early ballot was October 23. The general election is on November 3.
