Double Debate Day in Arizona: Stanton Faces Jasser and Benoit at 4, Then the First-Ever Lieutenant Governor Debate at 6

PHOENIX, MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2026 — Arizona voters get a debate doubleheader today.

At 4 p.m. Arizona time, the three candidates running in the 4th Congressional District — incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton, Republican Zuhdi Jasser and No Labels Party nominee Tisha Benoit — face off in a televised debate hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. Two hours later, at 6 p.m., the state makes history with its first-ever lieutenant governor debate, a contest that could not have happened before this year because the office did not exist.

Both debates run 56 minutes, white-label and commercial-free, with a simulcast Spanish translation and ASL interpretation, according to the commission’s published debate schedule. The 4 p.m. congressional debate will also be livestreamed on azcentral.com.

The 4 p.m. debate: Stanton’s seat

Arizona’s 4th Congressional District sits in Maricopa County, covering parts of Phoenix — including the whole of the Ahwatukee community — as well as Chandler, Tempe and parts of Mesa, according to Congress.gov. It is one of the Phoenix metro’s most closely watched House races of this cycle.

Stanton, the former Phoenix mayor, is seeking his fifth term in Congress. He was first elected in 2018 in the state’s 9th Congressional District, defeating Republican Stephen L. Ferrara, and this summer he handily defeated progressive activist Kai Newkirk in the July Democratic primary, per the Arizona Republic.

Jasser, the Republican challenger, was born in Syria and came to the United States with his parents in 1966 amid political instability, according to his campaign biography. He later attended university in Wisconsin and served a stint in the U.S. Navy.

Benoit is the No Labels Party of Arizona’s nominee. FOX 10 Phoenix reported that on her March 2026 nomination paper she listed herself as seeking the nomination of the “Arizona Independent Party,” though the party’s own website gives its name as the No Labels Party of Arizona — and that the party did not endorse Benoit or any other candidate in this race. Her campaign website, which lays out what she calls the “seven pillars of renewal,” carried no biography.

There is also a fourth name on the ballot’s edge: the Arizona Secretary of State’s office lists Steven Sanders of Tempe, also of the No Labels Party, as a write-in candidate, though the Clean Elections Commission’s website did not mention him.

The 6 p.m. debate: a first for Arizona

The evening debate is the milestone of the day. This is the first time Arizona voters will ever see lieutenant governor candidates debate — because Arizona has never had a lieutenant governor. Until this election, it was one of just five states without the office, alongside Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Wyoming, according to the Associated Press.

Voters created the position with Proposition 131 in 2022, approved by 55% of Arizona voters, and this November’s general election is the first in which candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run together as a joint ticket.

The change rewrites the line of succession. Since statehood in 1912, the secretary of state stood next in line for the governorship — followed by the attorney general, the treasurer and the superintendent of public instruction. Now the lieutenant governor is first in line if the governor dies, resigns, is removed from office or becomes permanently unable to serve. Arizona’s history shows why the job matters: Gov. Raúl Castro resigned in 1977 to become U.S. ambassador to Argentina; his successor, Wesley Bolin, died in office in 1978 and was succeeded by Bruce Babbitt.

The role is more than a spare tire. The governor can also appoint the lieutenant to lead the Department of Administration, to serve as chief of staff, or to another senior position under the governor’s purview, according to the Clean Elections Commission.

Who’s on stage at 6

The commission’s published schedule lists two lieutenant governor candidates for Monday’s debate: Sine Kerr and Angela Harrolle Mohan.

Kerr, the running mate of Republican gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs, is a former state senator from Buckeye with deep roots in Arizona agriculture — she and her husband, Bill, ran a dairy farm for more than 40 years. Kerr represented a reliably red district stretching from Buckeye to Yuma at the state Capitol, held a leadership role at the Arizona Farm Bureau, and in May 2025 was appointed by the Trump administration as Arizona’s state executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, a post she is leaving to campaign. She and Bill have four children and 12 grandchildren.

Harrolle Mohan is the running mate of No Labels gubernatorial candidate Teri Hourihan. She is a real estate broker and former federal Special Agent who served as chief executive officer of The 100 Club, a nonprofit that supports the families of first responders killed or severely injured in the line of duty. An Arizona State University graduate, she has served as an honorary commander at Luke Air Force Base and, per Hourihan’s announcement, brings more than two decades of executive leadership and public service experience. The No Labels Party of Arizona made no endorsement in the governor’s race.

The full ticket picture for November: Biggs chose Kerr; Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs chose former Republican Mesa Mayor John Giles as her running mate; Hourihan chose Harrolle Mohan; and Green Party nominee Risa Lombardo chose intensive care unit coordinator Lisa Castillo.

What’s next

Debate week keeps rolling. The published schedule has the gubernatorial debate Tuesday at 6 p.m., listing Biggs, Hourihan and Lombardo, and a 1st Congressional District debate Wednesday — between Thomas “Jay” Feely IV and Amish Shah — at 6 p.m. The commission notes the schedule is subject to change.

Then the real voting starts: early voting begins Wednesday, October 7, and Election Day is November 3.

Arizona keeps making statewide news this fall — from the attorney general’s lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers over the opioid crisis to Taiwan’s foreign minister landing in Phoenix to open a new office as the TSMC bet reshapes the state. But today belongs to the debate stage — twice.