Congressional candidate Amish Shah said attacks from fellow Democrats damaged his standing with voters and signaled he will adjust his campaign strategy in a private call with supporters, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Shah, a former state lawmaker from Phoenix,
called his district's July 21 Democratic primary "bruising" at a July 28 virtual meeting hosted by the liberal group Swing Left."We are now digging ourselves out of a hole, because the primary was very damaging," he said.
Shah also said he will pare back his longtime strategy of knocking on doors to reach voters, a personable but inefficient approach that frustrated some national party operatives when he was the nominee in 2024. He urged
the group of supporters to knock doors on his behalf.
"While I will be knocking some doors, it won't be at the scale that I did in the primary or I've done throughout my time in politics," he said. "I'm going to need you guys to be my proxy out there."
It was the most candid remarks on the topic so far made by Shah to surface publicly. He is a restrained political figure who has generally declined to criticize his campaign opponents or discuss national operatives' attempts to keep him from winning the primary nomination in Arizona's 1st Congressional District.
Shah spokesperson Colin Lauderdale told The Republic in a written statement that Shah "decisively" won his primary "and is now working every day to put together the resources and the broad coalition necessary to win in November."
Washington, D.C., groups spent millions of dollars attacking Shah and boosting one of his opponents in the primary for the 1st district, which covers Scottsdale, north Phoenix, Paradise Valley and other parts of northeastern Maricopa County.
It was one of nearly 20 swing congressional districts where the Democrats' House campaign wing made the controversial decision to intervene. Some local strategists criticized the decision, calling it a misjudgment of voters and a waste of resources during an important midterm election year.
Shah's victory in the race deepened a national reckoning over the role of Democratic insiders as the party's approval ratings sag to historic lows.
Shah discussed the topic only briefly during the hour-long meeting with supporters July 28. He said that his negative poll ratings among Democrats rose steeply — from 7% or 9%, up to 25% — when his opponents blanketed the district with attack ads leading up to Election Day. The ads warned voters Shah "can't be trusted" and highlighted votes he took while serving in the Arizona Legislature.
"That's serious damage done to the nominee," he said.
Shah said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called him and set a goal of raising $2.5 million by Sept. 30. He asked the meeting attendees for their support.
"We got battered and we're broke, OK, after the primary," Shah said. "Every single primary candidate spent to zero, including us."
Eager to generate momentum in the race, Republicans have embraced the idea that the Democratic primary was "disastrous" and indicative of a political party "in complete disarray."
Conservative groups have contrasted the Democratic nomination fight with the GOP race, where former NFL kicker Jay Feely cruised to an easy victory, largely on the strength of President Donald Trump's endorsement.
But Republicans will face headwinds, too.
The 1st district, one of Arizona's toss-up seats, has a decidedly ambivalent attitude toward the current occupant of the White House. Trump's struggling approval ratings are expected to put pressure on Feely, who continued to embrace the president during primary season as he fended off a hardline Republican challenger.
The election is Nov. 3, 2026.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Amish Shah, in private call, says 'bruising' primary damaged campaign
