Legislative Elections
The District DeskLegislative District 17
Debate availableLD17 · 2-Year Term
Population
249,296
Registered Voters
184,760
District Lean
R+10.2
Voter Registration Breakdown
General Election Debate
Legislative District 17 General Election Debate
State Senate
Christopher King
Republican · Senate
Christopher King retired from the Air Force in 2012 after 20 years as an explosive ordnance disposal technician and won election to the Vail Unified School District governing board in 2020 and again in 2024. He was a plaintiff in Sidney Powell's 2020 suit to overturn Arizona's presidential result, dismissed within days, and in a successful 2024 challenge to a Tucson gun-reporting ordinance. He beat Anthony Dunham in the July primary and would cut mail-in voting from 29 days to 21.
Prominent Endorsements
Edgar Soto
Democrat · Senate
Completed the Agenda's candidate questionnaire
Edgar Soto is a vice president at Pima Community College's Desert Vista campus, where he has worked for more than 20 years, and a Marine Corps veteran who grew up in Tucson. He holds degrees from the University of New Mexico and Northern Arizona University. His only prior campaign for public office came in 2024, when he finished second of four candidates in the Democratic primary for Pima County supervisor in District 3, well behind Jennifer Allen.
State House
Kevin Volk
Democrat · House
Kevin Volk, a graduate of Salpointe High School in Tucson and of Brown University, taught fifth grade, taught English in Mexico on a Fulbright, sold real estate and founded a prefabricated affordable-housing company before his first run for office. In 2024 he led the three-way House field, ahead of both Republican incumbents, unseating Republican Rep. Cory McGarr in this swing district.
Prominent Endorsements
Rachel Keshel
Republican · House
Rachel Keshel, who worked at UPS before winning a House seat in 2022, is an Arizona Freedom Caucus member and vice chair of the House Federalism, Military Affairs and Elections Committee. In February 2024 she introduced a resolution asking the governor to award Arizona's 11 electoral votes to the Republican presidential primary winner, and she backed a bill ending no-excuse mail voting. She was re-elected that November, behind Democrat Kevin Volk.
Prominent Endorsements
Hollace Lyon
Democrat · House
Completed the Agenda's candidate questionnaire
Hollace Lyon taught seventh-grade math before a 26-year Air Force career that included two commands and oversight of education and strategic planning. This is her third run for the Legislature: she lost House races in District 11 in 2014, to Republicans Mark Finchem and Vince Leach, and again in 2018. She has not held elected office. She says water policy and economic policy cannot be separated, and backs rural groundwater management zones.
Prominent Endorsements
John Winchester
Republican · House
Completed the Agenda's candidate questionnaire
John Winchester is the senior director for Southern Arizona in Arizona State University's Office of Government and Community Engagement, covering Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties, and holds a master's in public administration from the University of Arizona. He has not held elected office. His one previous campaign came in 2016, when, working as a University of Arizona outreach coordinator, he lost the Republican primary for Pima County supervisor in District 1 to incumbent Ally Miller.
Prominent Endorsements