Elections
Schweikert ran in the September Republican primary in Arizona's 6th congressional district. It included NE Arizona, including parts of Metro Phoenix. J. D. Hayworth defeated him, 45%–22%. After that defeat, Schweikert took time to reconsider and left for a lengthy vacation, which included travel to Kolkata, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Serbia, among other places.
Schweikert won a six-way Republican primary election on September 2 with 30% of the vote, compared to 27% for his nearest rival, Susan Bitter Smith.
Several organizations endorsed Schweikert in the election, including the primary: Club for Growth, the Arizona Police Association, Arizona Right to Life, and the Arizona Medical Association. He received more than $500,000 from the Club for Growth.
Schweikert lost to freshman incumbent Democrat Harry Mitchell, 53%–44%. He later attributed his defeat on the very bitter primary fight that preceded it.
Schweikert sought a rematch with Mitchell in 2010, with Libertarian Nick Coons also running. Schweikert won the Republican primary on August 24 with 37% of the vote. After having sat out the competitive primary, the Club for Growth again endorsed Schweikert.
On November 2, Schweikert defeated Mitchell, 52%–43%.
After redistricting, the bulk of Schweikert's former territory became the 9th district, while his home in Fountain Hills was drawn into the newly created 4th district. But as soon as the maps were released, Schweikert announced he would run in the 6th district. That district had previously been the 3rd, represented by fellow Republican freshman Ben Quayle. In a statement announcing his reelection plans, Schweikert pointed out that he had grown up in Scottsdale—most of which had been drawn into the 6th as well—had represented it in both the state house and in Congress and owned a second home there. A revised map, however, placed Schweikert's Fountain Hills home in the reconfigured 6th.
Quayle, whose home in Phoenix had been drawn into the 9th but was just outside the boundaries of the 6th, also opted to seek reelection in the 6th. During the bitter primary, Schweikert was widely criticized for a mailer that accused Quayle of "going both ways", suggesting that he was bisexual. On the reverse, the mailer listed issues on which it claimed Quayle had taken both liberal and conservative positions. Senator Jon Kyl, who had represented the district from 1987 to 1995, said that "such campaign tactics insult the voters, degrade politics and expose those who stoop to them as unworthy of high office", and Senator John McCain said the mailer was one of the "worst that I have seen" and that it "crosses the boundary of decent political dialogue and discourse." Quayle's spokeswoman called the mailer "utterly false" and "a sleazy smear tactic." Schweikert's spokesman responded that people "should get their minds out of the gutter" because the mailer was "obviously" referring to "'both ways'—as in liberal and conservative." The Arizona Republic asked two political scientists to review the mailer; both said that they had "never seen anybody accuse someone of flip-flopping [on political issues] that way" and said that it was "difficult to believe" that the sexual suggestion was unintentional.
Although the 6th contained almost two-thirds of Quayle's constituents, Schweikert defeated Quayle in the primary–in what was then a heavily Republican district–53% to 47%. He was reelected with 62% of the vote.
Schweikert was easily reelected in 2014, winning over 60% of the vote.
Schweikert was easily reelected in 2016, winning over 60% of the vote.
In 2018, Democratic tech executive Anita Malik held him to only 55% of the vote despite spending very little money. Malik won 44%, the first time a Democrat had crossed the 40% mark in what is now the 6th since 1976, when Eldon Rudd won election by only 707 votes in what was then the 4th District (the district was numbered as the 3rd from 2003 to 2013, and has been the 6th since 2013).
In 2020, Schweikert was challenged by Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, who had run in the neighboring 8th district two years earlier. The Cook Political Report rated the race a tossup, partly due to the district's changing demographics. According to Cook Political Report, the 6th has the most college graduates in Arizona; in recent years, college graduates had trended away from the GOP. Schweikert defeated Tipirneni with 52% of the vote.
In 2022, Schweikert ran for reelection in the newly redrawn 1st district. He defeated Democratic nominee Jevin Hodge in the general election by less than one percent of the vote.
Schweikert ran for reelection in 2024 against Democratic nominee Amish Shah, an emergency room physician. Schweikert defeated Shah in the November 2024 general election.
Schweikert made the U.S. national debt the centerpiece of his campaign. Schweikert does not endorse spending cuts or tax increases; rather, he proposes "a 'unified theory' of debt reduction that includes a 'radical adoption of technology' such as artificial intelligence, a talent-based immigration system and a comprehensive plan to attack chronic obesity, among other proposals."
