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Marlene Galán-Woods
Marlene Galán-Woods (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 1st Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 4, 2026.[source]
Biography
Marlene Galán-Woods' career experience includes working as a broadcast journalist. Galán-Woods founded the Mesa Arts Academy within the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley. She has previously served as president of the East Valley school board.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on August 4, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on August 4, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Brian Del Vecchio | |
 | Marlene Galán-Woods | |
 | Mark Robert Gordon | |
 | Rick McCartney  | |
 | David Redkey | |
 | Amish Shah | |
 | Jonathan Treble | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
Incumbent David Schweikert and Derrick Gallego are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on August 4, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | David Schweikert | |
 | Derrick Gallego | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Democratic primary)
Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Arizona District 1
Incumbent David Schweikert defeated Amish Shah in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Schweikert (R) | 51.9 | 225,538 |
| Amish Shah (D) | 48.1 | 208,966 | |
| Total votes: 434,504 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sarah Wharton (Independent)
- Bryce Beckstrom (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amish Shah | 23.5 | 17,214 |
 | Andrei Cherny | 21.3 | 15,596 | |
| Marlene Galán-Woods | 21.2 | 15,490 | |
 | Conor O'Callaghan | 18.5 | 13,539 | |
 | Andrew Horne | 12.3 | 8,991 | |
 | Kurt Kroemer | 3.2 | 2,356 | |
| Total votes: 73,186 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Cody Newman (D)
- Melissa Lamore (D)
- John Williamson (D)
- Robert Glasgow (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
Incumbent David Schweikert defeated Kimberly George and Robert Backie in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Schweikert | 62.7 | 62,811 |
 | Kimberly George | 27.5 | 27,587 | |
 | Robert Backie | 9.8 | 9,854 | |
| Total votes: 100,252 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Paul Burton (R)
- Reina Patocs (R)
Libertarian primary election
No Libertarian candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Michelle Martin (L)
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Marlene Galán-Woods has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Marlene Galán-Woods asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Marlene Galán-Woods, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Marlene Galán-Woods to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@marleneforcongress.com.
2024
Marlene Galán-Woods did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Galán-Woods’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Marlene Galán-Woods is a 35-year Arizona resident, former broadcast journalist and mother of five children. Her parents fled communist Cuba looking for a better life for their children. Their risk paid off when Marlene moved to Arizona in the 1980s— it’s where she continued her career as a broadcast journalist, where she met the love of her life, and where they would raise a family together. While Marlene’s late husband, Grant Woods, served as Arizona’s Attorney General, Marlene was exposing corruption and holding the powerful accountable during her 20-year journalism career. Outside of their respective careers, Marlene and Grant were dedicated to improving the lives of Arizona children, from founding the Mesa Arts Academy within the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley, where she served as President of the school board, to spearheading a local tennis tournament that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help underserved kids to, helping found the Phoenix Children’s Museum. Though Marlene’s philanthropic efforts have focused on improving the lives of Arizona’s children, she has a passion for preserving and expanding the individual freedoms of all Arizonans. She is a lifelong supporter of a woman’s right to choose and couldn’t stand by idly watching ongoing attacks on our voting rights. So, in 2022, Marlene chaired the campaign of Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and led a group of former journalists in calling out Republican candidates, including Kari Lake, for their attacks on the media while spreading disinformation. Marlene’s dedication to the preservation of our democracy was recognized by Governor Katie Hobbs’, who invited Marlene to serve on her transition committee. But her journey doesn’t end there, and today Marlene is ready to take the next step. She is running for Congress because she can’t sit back and watch our freedoms and our liberties attacked while our politicians do nothing about it. She is running to be Arizona’s voice – ensuring our priorities are represented. She will be the courageous, truthful leader Arizona has earned. [2] |
” |
| —Marlene Galán-Woods' campaign website (2024)[1] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Arizona District 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marlene Galan-Woods for Congress, "Meet Marlene," accessed June 26, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
