A Trump-aligned MAGA Republican has secured another term in Congress after surviving a remarkably close reelection battle in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.
The Associated Press called the race for Rep. Eli Crane on Sunday, nearly a week after Election Day, as the Republican held off Democratic challenger Jonathan Nez.
With approximately 95% of the expected vote counted, Crane had 50.2% compared with Nez’s 49.8%, according to AP results.
The margin stood at fewer than 2,000 votes when the race was called.
Crane declared victory shortly after the projection, thanking supporters who helped him survive an unexpectedly competitive contest.
“Thank you, Arizona,” Crane wrote on social media.
The result allows Republicans to retain a seat that had previously been considered reliably Republican but became highly competitive during a difficult national midterm environment for the GOP.
Crane’s district covers a vast portion of northern and eastern Arizona, including Prescott, Flagstaff and numerous rural communities.
President Donald Trump carried the district comfortably during the 2024 presidential election, making the closeness of the congressional contest particularly notable.
Crane entered the election seeking his third term after first winning the seat in 2022.
The former Navy SEAL has established himself as one of the House Republican Conference’s most conservative members and a reliable supporter of Trump’s agenda.
He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and has frequently challenged Republican leadership over federal spending and other issues.
Crane was also one of eight Republicans who joined Democrats in October 2023 to remove then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
His Democratic opponent was already familiar to voters across the district.
Nez, a former president of the Navajo Nation, previously challenged Crane in 2024.
Crane won that contest by approximately nine percentage points, making their 2026 rematch dramatically closer.
Nez again emphasized his experience leading the Navajo Nation while campaigning on healthcare, infrastructure, public lands and economic issues affecting rural Arizona.
The district includes much of the Navajo Nation and several other tribal communities.
Democrats viewed the race as a potential pickup opportunity as the national political environment shifted sharply against Republicans during the final months of the campaign.
Crane’s victory came as Democrats made significant gains elsewhere in Arizona and across the country.
Democrats captured control of the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday’s elections, ending the Republican congressional majority that had helped Trump advance his second-term agenda.
The GOP also lost several races in districts Trump carried during the 2024 presidential election.
Crane ultimately avoided joining that list, although the narrow result represented a major change from his comfortable victory two years earlier.
The Arizona contest remained uncalled for days because of the state’s lengthy ballot-counting process.
Arizona allows voters to return early ballots at polling locations through Election Day, leaving election workers with large numbers of signatures to verify and ballots to process after polls close.
The remaining ballots gradually reduced uncertainty surrounding the contest until the AP determined Crane’s advantage could no longer realistically be overcome.
The result gives Republicans another seat as both parties wait for the final handful of unresolved House contests to be decided.
Every seat could matter during the next Congress because Democrats are expected to begin their majority with a vocal left-wing faction that will be demanding significant changes from current party priorities. But that’ll be on Hakeem Jeffries to figure out.
