Paul Babeu, Matt Heinz, incumbents win U.S. House primaries

• Law enforcement veterans Babeu and O'Halleran will face off for 1st District.
• Republican incumbent Paul Gosar defeats Ray Strauss in the 4th District.
• Matt Heinz elected to challenge Martha McSally in her race to a second term.

Voters in one of Arizona's rural congressional districts chose two veteran law-enforcement officers to face off for Congress this fall.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu defeated four others vying for the Republican nomination in the 1st District, which spans much of eastern Arizona. Tom O'Halleran, a former Chicago police officer and businessman, also won his race for the Democratic nomination in the same district.

“We had a convincing win and a clear mandate in a crowded field,” Babeu said in an interview. “Voters in Arizona want leaders to act not give speeches.”

Babeu signaled an effort to begin reaching out to a broader base of voters in the competitive district, noting his desire to push the interests of coal and the jobs it represents in the district, as well as veterans issues.

O'Halleran, a former Republican state lawmaker, defeated Miguel Olivas to earn the Democratic nomination.

There was little drama in other congressional primaries across the state, with seven incumbents — four Republicans and three Democrats — leading or winning their party's nominations based on unofficial results.

4th District

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., holds the state's seat with the most lopsided advantage among active Republican voters, yet faced the most competitive primary among the incumbents.

Even so, Gosar easily defeated Ray Strauss, a pastor and former Buckeye city councilman, at the ballot box in the 4th District. In doing so, he had to overcome at least $297,000 in spending to defeat him from a Virginia-based super PAC largely financed by growers in California and Arizona.

1st District

Babeu's victory in the GOP primary came as little surprise. The Republican field eventually widened to seven candidates, but Babeu remained atop with solid fundraising and high visibility among conservatives. Babeu has made many appearances on Fox News discussing border security, a key issue that he made the centerpiece of his second campaign for Congress.

In her third failed congressional bid, former Air Force pilot Wendy Rogers also tried to claim the mantle as the most conservative candidate in the race. She attacked Babeu, claiming he had "a lifetime of political corruption" and vowed to secure the border in a "world on fire."

Businessman Gary Kiehne spent heavily on his second run for office and was closely matched with Rogers but well behind Babeu. Former Secretary of State Ken Bennett pledged a balanced federal budget but also couldn't dent Babeu's appeal to Republicans.

2nd District

In the 2nd District, Democrat Matt Heinz defeated Victoria Steele in a battle between state lawmakers for the right to challenge U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., as she tries for a second term in Washington. After eking out a narrow victory in 2014, McSally has amassed perhaps the largest campaign war chest among the state's congressional candidates this year.

Other Arizona districts

Meanwhile, other incumbents were on track in their efforts to win another two years in Congress. They include:

• Trent Franks, an 8th District Republican seeking his eighth term.
• Ruben Gallego, a 7th District Democrat seeking his second term.
• Raúl Grijalva, a 3rd District Democrat seeking his eighth term.
• David Schweikert, a 6th District Republican seeking his fourth term.
• Kyrsten Sinema, a 9th District Democrat seeking her third term.