The Full Record

U.S. House · Arizona's 1st District

Northeast Phoenix metro area, including Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills, and part of north Mesa.

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 22 claims re-checked against their sources · 2 corrected · 0 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • Amish Shah's state-legislature committee record omitted his 2021-2022 session (Transportation and Infrastructure + Health and Human Services) and misleadingly implied his 2019-2020 committees (Health and Human Services, Regulatory Affairs) applied to all 'earlier sessions'; corrected to list all three sessions' committees as shown on Ballotpedia.
  • Jay Feely/Shah fundraising totals ($2.53M/$1.83M) were correct but mis-dated 'as of the July 2026 primary' (July 21); Ballotpedia's figure is actually 'as of July 1, 2026,' so corrected the date reference.

On the ballot · 3 candidates

Amish ShahDPhysician; former Arizona State Representative

Raised $1.8M · spent $1.5M · $402K cash on hand (through 2026-07-01) FEC filing ↗

Jay FeelyRFormer NFL kicker and CBS sports analystMonica AlponteLIB

Raised $8,941 · spent $8,307 · $634 cash on hand (through 2026-07-01) FEC filing ↗

Where they stand — side by side

Only positions documented in a cited source are shown. Where an officeholder’s recorded votes speak to an issue, the votes set the position (marked “votes”). A dash means we found no clear public position — not that the candidate has none.

ISSUEAmish Shah
D
Jay Feely
R
Monica Alponte
LIB
Protect legal access to abortionSupports[7]votes——
Stricter gun laws——Opposes[6]
Public funding for school choice (vouchers / charters)Opposes[8]votes——

The candidates, in full

Amish Shah

DPhysician; former Arizona State Representative

Won the July 21, 2026 Democratic primary with 39.5% of the vote

Amish Shah is an emergency-medicine physician and the Democratic nominee for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, an open seat. He served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2019 to 2024, representing District 24 and later District 5, and unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Rep. David Schweikert for this seat in 2024.[3]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

On the record — official actions

  • actionAs an Arizona state representative, served on the House Appropriations Committee and House Health and Human Services Committee (2023-2024 session); the Transportation and Infrastructure and Health and Human Services Committees (2021-2022 session); and the Health and Human Services and Regulatory Affairs Committees (2019-2020 session).[3]
  • vote2022-03-24 · Voted no on SB 1164 (banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy), which passed the Arizona House 31-26 on 2022-03-24.[7]
  • vote2022-06-22 · Voted no on HB 2853 (expanding Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program to all students statewide), which passed the Arizona House 31-26 on 2022-06-22.[8]
  • vote2021-04-20 · Voted no on SB 1485 (removing voters from the Permanent Early Voting List if they do not vote by mail in two consecutive election cycles), which passed the Arizona House 31-29 on 2021-04-20.[9]

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsProtect legal access to abortionFrom recorded votes

    Voted no on SB 1164 (banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy), which passed the Arizona House 31-26 on 2022-03-24.[7]

  • OpposesPublic funding for school choice (vouchers / charters)From recorded votes

    Voted no on HB 2853 (expanding Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program to all students statewide), which passed the Arizona House 31-26 on 2022-06-22.[8]

In their words — priorities

  • Says he has 'a track record of being an independent voice working across party lines to put Arizona families first while standing up to extremist attacks on abortion and voting rights.'[1]
  • Campaign material highlights increasing teacher pay and supporting small businesses as priorities from his state legislative record.[1]

Background

  • Born in Chicago, Illinois. Earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1997, an M.D. from Northwestern University in 2001, and a master's in public health from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003.[3]
  • Worked as an attending physician with Mayo Clinic, Dignity Health, and IASIS Healthcare, and as chief medical officer of Urgent Consult.[3]
  • Served in the Arizona House of Representatives, District 24 (2019-2023) and District 5 (2023-2024).[3]
  • Was the Democratic nominee against incumbent Rep. David Schweikert in the 2024 general election, losing 51.9%-48.1%.[1]

Campaign money

Raised $1.8M · spent $1.5M · $402K cash on hand (through 2026-07-01) FEC filing ↗

Campaign website ↗Shareable profile page

Jay Feely

RFormer NFL kicker and CBS sports analyst

Won the July 21, 2026 Republican primary with 49.8% of the vote

Jay Feely is a former NFL placekicker (2001-2014) and CBS football analyst, and the Republican nominee for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, an open seat. As of July 1, 2026, he had raised $2.53 million to Amish Shah's $1.83 million.[4]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

In their words — priorities

  • Describes his approach as bringing the same 'unwavering commitment to having a positive impact' from his football and broadcasting career to public service, without detailing specific legislative proposals on his campaign site as of this research.[4]

Background

  • Earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Michigan in 1998.[4]
  • Played as a kicker for six NFL teams from 2001 to 2014, then worked as an NFL analyst for CBS.[4]
Campaign website ↗Shareable profile page

Monica Alponte

LIB

Won the July 21, 2026 Libertarian primary

Monica Alponte is the Libertarian nominee for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, running on non-interventionist foreign policy, abolishing the IRS and Federal Reserve, and opposing government overreach into individual and property rights.[5][6]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Positions on the issues

  • OpposesStricter gun laws

    Describes herself as having a pro-Second Amendment commitment to the right of self-defense, opposing stricter gun laws.[6]

    “a pro-2A commitment to self-defense”

In their words — priorities

  • Opposes U.S. involvement in foreign wars and says she will not accept money from foreign lobbies, including AIPAC, pledging to vote solely in American interests.[6]
  • Wants to abolish the IRS and end the Federal Reserve's control of currency, favoring free markets without government interference.[6]
  • Says government, from homeowners' associations to Congress, should serve rather than rule, and describes herself as a defender of free speech and the right to self-defense.[6]

Background

  • A retired business writer and former co-host of a conservative TV talk show; has spent 21 years working with her Arizona county on road and driver safety and on homeowners' association reform.[6]

Campaign money

Raised $8,941 · spent $8,307 · $634 cash on hand (through 2026-07-01) FEC filing ↗

Shareable profile page

Research notes & limits

This is an open, battleground seat. Candidate campaign websites for Shah and Feely did not render usable text content in this environment (JavaScript-rendered pages), so positions were drawn from quoted material on Ballotpedia's 2026 battleground-election summary rather than direct campaign-site issue pages; specific issue-by-issue positions could not be independently confirmed and are left out per the research standard rather than inferred. Monica Alponte (Libertarian nominee) completed a Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, but her responses were not fetched within this research session's time budget; her entry is marked minimal. Two write-in candidates (Gage Thunder, no party preference; Dev Gupta, independent) are on the general-election ballot per Ballotpedia but have negligible public footprint and are not given full entries. Federal key votes and FEC totals are not applicable since neither major candidate is a sitting member of Congress; campaign finance totals mentioned in context come from Ballotpedia's own reporting, not verified FEC filings.

Sources · 9

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.Amish Shah · Ballotpedia Reference
  2. 2.United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2026 · Ballotpedia Reference
  3. 3.Amish Shah · Ballotpedia Reference
  4. 4.Jay Feely · Ballotpedia Reference
  5. 5.Monica Alponte · Ballotpedia Reference
  6. 6.Monica Alponte's Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey responses · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
  7. 7.SB1164 - abortion; gestational age; limit (Bill Overview, House Third Read vote 2022-03-24) · Arizona State Legislature · 2022-03-24 Official record
  8. 8.HB2853 - empowerment scholarship accounts; eligibility (Bill Overview, House Third Read vote 2022-06-22) · Arizona State Legislature · 2022-06-22 Official record
  9. 9.SB1485 - early voting list; requirements; violation (Bill Overview, House Third Read vote 2021-04-20) · Arizona State Legislature · 2021-04-20 Official record