Race overview
Arizona State House District 24 has a contested State House race in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. Lydia Hernandez and Anna Abeytia are the candidates in the race. Both are Democrats, and both are incumbents.
Those shared labels shape the contest. Party affiliation does not distinguish Hernandez from Abeytia, and neither is running as a challenger to an incumbent. Instead, District 24 voters will see two candidates who already hold office and are identified with the same political party.
The race is designated as contested, meaning the general election includes competition for District 24’s State House representation. The candidate field does not present a choice between political parties or between an incumbent and a newcomer.
The candidates
Lydia Hernandez is running as a Democratic incumbent. Her place in the race gives voters one of two candidates with current officeholding experience. Her party affiliation matches that of the other candidate, so the basic ballot labels of party and incumbency do not set her apart from Abeytia.
Anna Abeytia is also running as a Democratic incumbent. Like Hernandez, she enters the general election with current officeholding experience. Her party affiliation and incumbent status are the same as Hernandez’s, leaving the two candidates on equal footing in those basic parts of the race profile.
The candidates therefore begin with two major points in common: both are Democrats and both are incumbents. Neither candidate can be described as the sole officeholder in the field, the sole Democrat or the candidate seeking to replace an incumbent.
What is contested
The contest concerns State House representation for District 24 in the 2026 general election. Hernandez and Abeytia are both part of that race, and the election is set for Nov. 3.
For voters, the listed candidate information establishes who is running, each candidate’s party and each candidate’s status as an incumbent. It also makes clear which common ballot cues will not separate the candidates. A party label often marks a basic difference in a general election, but that is not the case here because both candidates are Democrats. Incumbency also does not create a contrast because both candidates currently hold office.
That makes the District 24 race a contest among candidates who share the same party identification and officeholding status. Any distinctions that emerge during the election will have to come from other parts of their candidacies rather than those two labels.
Election date and process
The District 24 contest is scheduled for Arizona’s Nov. 3, 2026, general election. That date is the central deadline for the race and gives voters the point at which the contest will be decided.
Before then, the key process questions include the final general election ballot and whether the candidate field or contest status changes. Candidate statements and campaign disclosures may also give voters more information for comparing Hernandez and Abeytia. Those developments would add detail to a race currently defined by two Democratic incumbents competing in the same district election.
