Prior to the election on November 5th, I wrote about Arizona’s Congressional races and the candidates’ positions and records on broadband issues. In the House, I highlighted two races: the 1st and 6th Districts. In both of those races, the Republican candidate prevailed, riding the wave of support for Donald Trump. In Arizona’s highly publicized Senate race, however, Democrat Ruben Gallego was able to find success despite Trump carrying the state in the presidential race. How do these results impact Arizona’s ability to realize its goal to add the “6th C”–connectivity—to its cultural identity?

Arizona's goal is to provide dependable and affordable high-speed internet services to every community and access to the necessary digital skills, so every resident can fully participate in a digital world.

Whether or not this goal is achieved will depend on the Arizona Commerce Authority’s ability to carry out the mandate of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Here’s a look at the team of elected officials who will be Arizona’s voice in Washington. 

Gallego will be Arizona’s Broadband Voice in the U.S. Senate 

Ruben Gallego was one of the few Democrats who managed to overcome the wave of Republican support in a swing state election. His campaign was endorsed by a number of labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, due, in part, to his support for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and its labor requirements and union coordination standards.

Gallego’s campaign also acknowledged the severity of the digital divide on tribal lands, which make up approximately 28 percent of Arizona’s total land area:

“Ruben knows that too many Native Americans in rural areas, including tribal lands, often lack access to vital resources – and he’s made progress to close that gap … He successfully advocated for the inclusion of robust broadband deployment for Indian Country in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and he wants to do even more to expand broadband on tribal lands through his Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act.”

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Gallego has been a consistent voice for universal broadband access. During his tenure, he has been involved in a number of broadband efforts:

• In 2024, he introduced a House version of a bicameral bill to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program.

• In September 2023, Gallego cosponsored a bill to ease the tax burden on BEAD and other federal broadband grant program recipients. 

• In 2021, Gallego announced that Arizona’s schools and libraries would be eligible for assistance through the American Rescue Plan to purchase hotspots and devices.

Schweikert and Ciscomani Deliver Key Republican House Victories

The 1st and 6th districts were carried by the two Republican incumbents, David Schweikert (R-AZ-1) and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-6). 

In May 2024, Rep. Schweikert introduced bipartisan legislation to expand telehealth services to Medicare patients. Despite this advocacy for equitable telehealth access, he voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which established BEAD and Digital Equity Act programs. 

In September 2024, Rep. Schweikert argued on the House floor that the BEAD program is problematic, noting that no broadband networks have been deployed through the program three years after the legislation became law. He also argued that BEAD will over-subsidize networks in rural areas. He advocated for using satellite-based, Wi-Fi-mesh networks to provide broadband to the hardest-to-serve rural areas, including tribal communities.

Rep. Ciscomani will return for a second term in 2025. In 2023, Rep. Ciscomani introduced bipartisan legislation in the House to reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program; make it easier for small providers, local governments, nonprofits, and cooperatives to apply for loans and grants,  shortening required permitting deadlines; and expediting funding for projects in rural communities.

Rep. Ciscomani’s position on funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has shifted throughout his House tenure: 

• In August 2023, he joined a bipartisan letter to congressional leadership to call for an extension of the ACP.

• In March 2024, the Republican Study Committee, of which Ciscomani is a member, released its FY2025 budget proposal, which recommended allowing the ACP to sunset and repealing all broadband provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Republicans Avoid a 2nd District Upset

In the 2nd District, Republican incumbent Eli Crane (R-AZ-2) was challenged by Jonathan Nez (D-AZ). A late poll suggested that the race was a sleeper for Democrats. However, Crane received 54 percent of the vote, making it a comfortable Republican victory in the end. 

The 2nd District is the largest in Arizona, spanning nearly 60,000 square miles,  covering the whole northeastern part of the state and all the way south of Phoenix. The northern portion of Arizona has the most distinct need for improved broadband access and adoption. North of Flagstaff and Kingman, there is almost no 100/20 Mbps broadband coverage offered through reliable technologies, leaving that area predominantly unserved or underserved. However, many parts of northeast Arizona have 25/3 Mbps coverage provided over licensed, fixed-wireless technology. Even though some towns—such as Pinon, Round Rock, Cottonwood, and Cow Springs—have some form of broadband, they are still considered underserved. Many residents who live between these towns lack access to any form of broadband coverage. 

Rep. Crane’s now-defeated challenger, Jonathan Nez, made history as the first Native American candidate to advance past the primaries in Arizona. He noted his efforts to close the digital divide on tribal lands.

In his first term in the House, Rep. Crane joined many of his Republican colleagues in attacking the BEAD program for the lack of deployments to date. He also sponsored a bill that would have limited the total sum a state could receive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program in fiscal year 2024.

The 119th Congress

The future of the BEAD Program and other historic federal investments in broadband adoption will be determined by the 119th Congress, set to convene in January 2025. In the 1st, 2nd, and 6th districts, Arizona voters have chosen representatives that have attacked these investments in recent months. We will see if these attacks translate into new policies.

Reid Sharkey is a Community Broadband Specialist & Research Associate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. He completed a year of Americorps service in 2023 which was his introduction to working in broadband and digital equity policy. Sharkey first worked with the Benton Institute during his service term. He assisted in administering the Benton Institute's Accelerate community engagement and broadband infrastructure planning program in Tennessee, where he was serving as an American Connection Corps Fellow at the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Reid received a Masters of Public Policy from George Mason University in 2022.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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Broadband Delivers Opportunities and Strengthens Communities