Indian-American Democrat Amish Shah has won the Democratic primary for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, defeating establishment-backed Marlene Galan-Woods.
The emergency physician and three-term state lawmaker will face Republican Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker endorsed by President Donald Trump, in the November election. Shah, who campaigned extensively through door-to-door outreach, once served as the New York Jets' emergency physician while Feely was the team's kicker.
Born in Chicago to Gujarati immigrant parents, Amish Shah studied medicine and public health before becoming an emergency physician. After securing the Democratic nomination, he called the result a grassroots victory and vowed to earn support across party lines. Shah also won the district's Democratic primary in 2024 but narrowly lost the general election to Republican David Schweikert.
With Republican David Schweikert opting to run for Arizona governor, Shah will now face Republican nominee Jay Feely in November. Beyond medicine and politics, Shah founded the Arizona Vegetarian Food Festival, supports several charities, speaks fluent Gujarati and conversational Spanish, and enjoys basketball, flying and travel.
