Rivals face off in Arizona House district seen as one Democrats could flip

Democrat Amish Shah labeled Republican Thomas "Jay'' Feely as a supporter of all things Trump, ranging from the war in Iran to the changes in Medicaid funding and permanent tax breaks for businesses in the president's signature "One Big Beautiful Bill.''

Feely responded by calling his Shah a hypocrite for a vote on data centers. He also sought to link him to the Biden Administration and what the Republican called his policies on open borders, increasing inflation, unrestricted immigration and problems with the Medicaid system. 

Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker and a business owner, said there is a need for data centers. He cited their economic benefits.

"We are going to need data centers,'' acknowledged Shah, a former state lawmaker.

"I just don't want them in CD 1,'' Shah said, saying that simply reflects the views of residents. "They belong in areas where people feel that they would want those in their communities or perhaps in extremely rural or sparse areas that have electricity and water available where the noise isn't a concern.''

Feely said data centers could bring economic benefits such as jobs and teacher bonuses, citing reports that locating one large one in Louisiana resulted in a $50,000 bonus for teachers. And he said they could provide wage growth and create pathways to success for young Americans.

He said it would depend on local control, though.

"We have to find positive ways to do it that protects the locals and make sure that hey, if you don't want it in your community, you have local control and you can say no, we don't want it,'' Feely said. "Local communities should get to decide if they want them there or not.''

He called Shah a hypocrite for his vote as a legislator to provide state tax incentives for data centers. Shah acknowledged the point but said that occurred before the explosion of "artificial intelligence,'' which drove the growth of the industry.

Arizona's Congressional District 1 is a battleground district that will affect the party balance in the U.S. House. It spans northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Cave Creek and is the state's wealthiest district. The district has slowly gained more Democratic votes. In presidential races, Joe Biden won the district in 2020 but Donald Trump won it in 2024.

The latest voter registration figures show there are 60,000 more Republicans in the district than Democrats.

What also makes it competitive is that long-time incumbent Republican David Schweikert chose not to seek reelection, instead making an ill-fated bid to become the GOP nominee for governor.

Shah pointed to his time in the Legislature and his career as an emergency room physician. He said he isn't beholden to any political party and painted himself as independent of party lines.

"I believe in being my own man,'' he said. "The more we can be responsive to the voters out there and their concerns, we're doing our actual jobs."

Feely said Congress needs people who will be "sacrificial'' and not in politics just to make money. He said he would find better ways to utilize taxpayer dollars and eliminate waste and fraud.

"How do we create more opportunities, lower costs, making sure that we're creating those pathways to success?" he said. 

Both candidates said they would accept or respect the results of the Nov. 3 election.

Medicare, Medicaid, and healthcare overall became a contentious point when Shah and Feely discussed how they would address rising costs.

Shah said the U.S. pays twice as much as other countries and people are still "left out in the cold.'' Then more people end up going to emergency rooms, increasing wait times and costs.

With changes coming from HR 1 or the "Big, Beautiful Bill,'' Shah said he doesn't agree with the work requirements for Medicaid because two Republican states already tried it and spent more money checking the requirements than actually helping people.

Another point he made: "When you pass something called the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that cuts all these people off Medicaid, the hospital's absorbing the cost. You may have hospital closures in the state of Arizona, but we'll also have crowded waiting rooms where all of you, if you have a heart attack or you have a stroke, you may need to wait longer.''

Shah previously supported a single-payer system to replace all private insurance. But in Wednesday's debate he walked it back and said people should have a "public option'' to enroll in such a system because "Americans love choice."

Feely, seeking to paint Shah as a socialist, accused him of being disingenuous and campaigning with Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Medicare for all. Shah said he hasn't met and hasn't campaigned with Sanders. He said he also does not support illegal immigrants on Medicaid, the program that provides care based on need.

Feely said he supports price transparency by the healthcare industry so people know the cost for procedures before they go in. Another option he proposed was to create a system where more competition is available, with the federal government providing money and allowing people to have their own Health Savings Accounts to choose where to go.

"We want to make sure that we continue to drive down costs, but do that by creating a system where you're able to go out and you're able to use competition,'' Feely said. "Right now, there's no competition.''

Water is probably one of the few topics where most Arizona candidates can find common ground.

Feely took a hard line, saying he disagrees with the decisions made by Trump's Bureau of Reclamation on how to divide cuts to Colorado River water, decisions he said have shortchanged Arizona.

"We do the most conservation,'' he said. He said that means any reduction in allocations should be shared equally between the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada and the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.

"I agree with him, actually, in that the Upper Basin states can't have the upper hand on this,'' Shah said. He said Arizona has to "fight like hell for every drop.''

When the debate turned to the war in Iran, Feely said: "Anybody who says that we should not have gone into this war, what was the alternative?'' 

"We could not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,'' he said. Feely said Iran had "massively increased their spending'' on ballistic missiles that could deliver a bomb, meaning the U.S. had no choice but to fight.

"Going to get the nukes was a good decision,'' Shah agreed. "We do not want a nuclear-armed Iran.''

But he said the Trump administration "bungled the war.''

"We didn't achieve the objective that we went in there for,'' Shah said. "And if we didn't do that, then you've got to ask yourself, what went wrong here?''