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Trump-backed legislative candidates are beating incumbent Republicans in the primary

By Andrew Oxford/Arizona Public Media

Published: Wednesday, August 3, 2022 - 4:40pm

AZ Senate Republicans

Tyler Pace is a Republican state senator representing Legislative District 25.

Arizona House Republican Caucus

Joanne Osborne represents District 13 in the Arizona House.

A slate of Republican candidates for the Legislature endorsed by former President Donald Trump could be headed to the state Capitol.

Most notably, House Speaker Rusty Bowers was behind about 30 points on Wednesday in his primary race for a state Senate seat.

Bowers pushed back on Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and Trump endorsed his opponent, former legislator David Farnsworth.

State Sens. Joanne Osborne from Goodyear and Tyler Pace from Mesa — both of whom have clashed at times with the right flank of their caucus in the Legislature — also faced Trump-backed opponents.

Results as of Wednesday show the incumbents losing.

Osborne is trailing Janae Shamp, a nurse from Surprise. Pace is behind Robert Scantlebury, a retired police officer from Mesa.