Mendoza makes healthcare cuts central in bid to unseat Ciscomani

A Democrat frontrunner to challenge Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani’s seat is making Republican healthcare cuts central to her campaign.

At a campaign event on Thursday, JoAnna Mendoza criticized the Congressional District 6 representative for his recent comments defending work requirements and eligibility checks for Medicaid.

“It's just another barrier that they're creating in order to prevent people from accessing the real help they need. And that, to me, is wrong,” she said.

At a roundtable this month, Ciscomani said the new eligibility requirements, including 80 hours of work or community service a month to qualify for Medicaid, were justified to control what he said is “waste” in the program, and defended his vote by saying only people that don’t need coverage would be kicked off.

“This does not impact the population that needs it the most,” he said.

Democrats and healthcare advocates say more frequent eligibility checks create more opportunities for mistakes or missed deadlines that can cause people to lose coverage. The Congressional Budget Office also projects the most cost savings on Medicaid spending will be generated through coverage losses due to new work requirements.

Another frontrunner in the Democratic primary, immigration attorney Mo Goldman, dropped out of the race this month, posting on social media that his office faces a “crisis” every day, and his clients need representation. Goldman told his followers to support Mendoza’s bid.

Eleven Democrats, two Republicans, and one Green Party candidate filed statements of interest with the Secretary of State’s Office for the seat, which is expected to be highly competitive. The district covering the southeastern corner of the state leans Republican, but it also has a large portion of independent voters. In 2022, Ciscomani won the seat over Democrat Kirsten Engel by just over 5,000 votes.

The primary election is August 4, 2026.