Conor O'Callaghan latest Democrat to announce bid to challenge Rep. David Schweikert

Conor O'Callaghan is the latest candidate to enter the crowded Democratic primary for Arizona's 1st Congressional District.

The seat is held by Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., and the 2024 race in the district is expected to be one of the most competitive congressional contests in the state.

O'Callaghan, 40, lives in the DC Ranch area of Scottsdale. He immigrated to the U.S. when he was four years old and graduated from Chaparral High School, where he was a state champion runner.

O'Callaghan now works in finance as a managing director at BTIG.

This is his first run for public office. O'Callaghan said that a sense of service was instilled in him by his father, who worked as a doctor at the Mayo Clinic and who held a public post during Democratic Gov. Rose Mofford's administration.

O'Callaghan said that he is running for Congress because he believes he is the most electable candidate.

"So everybody keeps saying that this seat is super ... flippable ... but it's the same rhetoric that we've been hearing for the last three or four cycles at this point," O'Callaghan told The Arizona Republic in an interview. "And when I look at the people that are in the race, I don't believe that the winning candidate is already in the race or I wouldn't run.

"We as Democrats need to put up a nominee that can actually beat Schweikert and get this thing over the goal line and I believe that I can."

He believes the party has put up candidates in the last few election cycles that were "too left" for the district and is worried that the party is going down the same path this year. Growing up in what is now the 1st Congressional District, O'Callaghan says that he is uniquely tuned in to what matters to Democratic and general election voters where he lives.

The economy is O'Callaghan's most important issue.

"Some of my opponents cite issues like women's rights, common sense gun reform. I think those things for me are table stakes. It matters to us as Democrats throughout the country, not just in Arizona. Those are things that we need to advance and we need to improve upon," he said.

"But for me, specifically to CD1, the most important thing is the economy," he added, noting that the district is home to many small businesses.

However, O'Callaghan puts a caveat on the importance of the economy.

"(The economy) is what is important to me ... but none of that matters (because) if we don't ... fix the water situation, there isn't going to be anybody living here 50 years from now," he said. "And so the number one issue, as far as I'm concerned, is securing the future of Arizona's water."

O'Callaghan faces tough competition to become the Democratic nominee to face Schweikert in the November 2024 general election.

Other candidates running for the party's nomination include: Marlene Galán-Woods, former broadcast journalist and widow of former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods; nonprofit executive Kurt Kroemer; Andrei Cherny, former CEO of Aspiration, an environmentally friendly financial services company; state Rep. Amish Shah and Phoenix orthodontist Andrew Horne.

The U.S. House of Representatives, which is composed of 435 voting members, is a body that operates on seniority, and Schweikert is a senior member of the influential Ways and Means Committee.

When asked why the district's constituents should relinquish that power for a freshman member of Congress, O'Callaghan said:

"I don't think that voters, even Republican voters here in CD1, care enough about the seniority of the existing congressperson on their committee. I think they want somebody that's going to represent them."

"I think people want a fresh perspective and frankly, somebody who's not a politician to shake things up in Washington and I think they would take that over Schweikert, who in my opinion is a quintessential insider," O'Callaghan added.

The 1st Congressional District is among Arizona's wealthiest and includes Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills and sections of Phoenix.

Tara Kavaler is a politics reporter at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @kavalertara.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Democrat Conor O'Callaghan announces bid against Rep. David Schweikert