Democrats are targeting the Republican Congressman for failing to protect Tucson residents’ access to healthcare.
Despite verbal commitments to protect healthcare for Arizonans, US Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Tucson) has failed to vote for its access for millions of Americans, including thousands of his own constituents.
As the country gears up for the 2026 midterms, Democrats are already using Ciscomani’s voting record to target the congressman, hoping to flip his seat blue in the next election cycle.
On Dec. 17, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) launched a mobile billboard campaign in Tucson, criticizing Ciscomani for failing to extend expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.
The mobile billboard truck, which drove throughout downtown Tucson, portrayed Ciscomani as a Grinch “who stole health care,” poking fun at Ciscomani using the likes of the notorious holiday villain, Mr. Grinch.
It’s not the first time Ciscomani has worked against the healthcare interests of Arizonans. Earlier this year, he and other Republicans passed President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA), which included the steepest cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the program’s history.
While Ciscomani and 12 Republican colleagues sent a letter to Republican leadership in April, urging them not to cut Medicaid coverage for vulnerable communities, he ultimately voted in support of the legislation that is slated to cut Medicaid for more than 20,000 of his constituents. Five Arizona hospitals, too, are at risk of shuttering as a result of the cuts.
In October, as Congress entered a government shutdown after Republicans failed to negotiate with Democrats regarding a budget bill that extends ACA tax credits, Ciscomani criticized the left for the shutdown while failing to address the issue of the subsidies. Without an extension of these subsidies, 22 million Americans will see their premiums more than double on average, according to KFF, a health policy organization. Another 4 million Americans, including 120,000 Arizonans, are expected to lose coverage altogether.
The refusal to extend subsidies led to the longest shutdown in US history, lasting 43 days. Eight Senate Democrats ultimately voted with Republicans to reopen the government as long as the GOP pledged to hold a vote on extending subsidies.
Now facing mounting pressure, Ciscomani and other lawmakers recently announced a healthcare plan that would extend ACA tax credits for a year with some modifications, including a new income limit. The plan is not currently supported by House leadership, and its chances of moving forward are slim.
Ciscomani later voted in favor of a GOP healthcare proposal that would allow small businesses to offer their own health plans, impose new requirements on pharmacy benefit managers with the intention of lowering drug costs, and fund cost-sharing reductions for ACA enrollees.
The plan does not renew ACA subsidies, and it is not expected to make its way to a vote in the Senate, all but ensuring premiums will rise for more than 20 million Americans in the new year.
When a handful of Republican moderates signed onto a discharge petition, bypassing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Lousiana) to force a looming floor vote on a bill extending the subsidies, Ciscomani was not among them. Arizona’s Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Adelita Grijalva, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, and Rep. Greg Stanton, used the opportunity to criticize Ciscomani for failing to protect Arizonans’ healthcare access.
“Extending these tax credits is the only realistic way to lower premiums and protect health coverage for working families,” the statement read. “Four Republicans chose people over politics and joined Democrats in demanding a vote. Unfortunately that did not include any of our Republican colleagues from Arizona.”
