Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, 2012

Last updated
2012 United States House of Representatives Special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district
Flag of Arizona.svg
  2010 June 12, 2012 2012  
  Ron Barber 113th Congress.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Ron Barber Jesse Kelly
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote111,20396,465
Percentage52.2%45.3%

U.S. Representative before election

Gabrielle Giffords
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Ron Barber
Democratic

A 2012 special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district was held on June 12, with primary elections held on April 17, to fill a seat in the United States House of Representatives for Arizona's 8th congressional district until the 112th United States Congress ends on January 3, 2013. [1] The election was caused by the resignation of Representative Gabrielle Giffords on January 25, 2012, to concentrate on recovering from her injuries from the 2011 Tucson shooting. [2] The seat was won by Ron Barber, a former aide to Giffords who was wounded in the attempt on her life.

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the legislature of the United States.

Arizonas 8th congressional district

Arizona's 8th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It includes many of the suburbs north and west of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona.

112th United States Congress legislative term

The One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 days before the end of the presidential term to which Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Senators elected to regular terms in 2006 completed those terms in this Congress. This Congress included the last House of Representatives elected from congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2000 census.

Contents

Background

Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer announced April 17 to be the date for the special primary elections and June 12 for the special general election. [3]

Jan Brewer American politician

Janice Kay Brewer is an American politician and author who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona, from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman, and was the third consecutive woman, to serve as Governor of Arizona. Brewer became governor of Arizona as part of the line of succession, as determined by the Arizona Constitution, when Governor Janet Napolitano resigned to become secretary of Homeland Security. Brewer had served as secretary of state of Arizona from January 2003 to January 2009.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Paula Aboud is an American politician who was a member of the Arizona Senate, representing the 28th District. A Democrat, she served as the Senate's minority whip.

Arizona Senate part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona

The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents. Members serve two-year terms with term limits that limit Senators to four terms for a total of eight years. Members of the Republican Party are currently the majority in the Senate.

A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This usually means ensuring members of the party vote according to the party platform or other accepted policy views shared by the party, rather than according to their own individual conscience or the will of their constituents.

Results

Democratic Primary results [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ron Barber44,185100
Total votes44,185100

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Frank Ronald Antenori was a Republican member of the Arizona Senate, based in Tucson, Arizona.

Iraq War war which started on 20 March 2003

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, in breach of international law. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Martha McSally U.S. Air Force officer and United States Senator from Arizona

Martha Elizabeth McSally is a United States Air Force (USAF) combat veteran and politician serving as the junior U.S. Senator for Arizona. A Republican, she previously served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district.

Declined

Jonathan Paton American politician

Jonathan Paton is a former Arizona Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's 8th District and an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Paton was first elected to southern Arizona's Legislative District 30 as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004. He won reelection and began his second term in February 2007. In 2008, he was elected to the Arizona Senate, again representing Legislative District 30. On January 17, 2010, Paton announced he would be challenging Democratic U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. He subsequently resigned from the state Senate to focus his efforts on campaigning for Congress. Paton lost in the 2010 Republican primary and endorsed his former opponent, Jesse Kelly. He ran for Congress again in 2012, this time in Arizona's newly formed 1st Congressional District, ending in close defeat against Democratic opponent Ann Kirkpatrick.

Results

Republican Primary results [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jesse Kelly27,10135.1
Republican Martha McSally19,41325.1
Republican Frank Antenori17,49722.6
Republican Dave Sitton13,29917.2
Total votes77,310100

General election

The following candidates were on the ballot:

Ron Barber American politician

Ronald Sylvester Barber is an American politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2012 to 2015. Barber, a member of the Democratic Party from Arizona, served as district director for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords before Giffords resigned her seat due to the severe injuries she sustained in an assassination attempt, during which Barber was also injured. He won the Democratic nomination for the special election to finish Giffords's term and was sworn into office on June 19, 2012.

Arizona Republican Party

The Arizona Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arizona. Its headquarters is in Phoenix.

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Ron
Barber (D)
Jesse
Kelly (R)
Charlie
Manolakis (G)
Undecided
Public Policy Polling June 9–10, 20121,058± 3.0%53%41%4%3%

Results

Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, 2012 [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ron Barber111,20352.2
Republican Jesse Kelly96,46545.3
Green Charlie Manolakis4,8692.3
Total votes213,189100

See also

Related Research Articles

Gabby Giffords American politician

Gabrielle Dee Giffords is an American politician from Arizona and a gun control advocate. As a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she represented Arizona's 8th congressional district from January 3, 2007, until her resignation on January 25, 2012, after surviving an assassination attempt that left her with a severe brain injury. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Considered a "Blue Dog" Democrat, her focus on health care reform and illegal immigration were sources of attention for those opposed to her candidacy and made her a recipient of criticism from various liberal groups.

Ann Kirkpatrick American politician

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References

  1. "Giffords to Resign From Congress". The Wall Street Journal. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  2. "Rep. Giffords to resign this week from Congress, focus on recovering from shooting injuries". The Washington Times. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  3. "Brewer Orders Special Election For June 12". The Huffington Post. January 27, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  4. "Giffords aide to run for seat in special election". AP. February 9, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  5. "Heinz for Congress". heinzforcongress.com.
  6. Rep. Heinz pledged to drop out and endorse Ron Barber if he chose to run in the special election. Heinz will still run in the primary for the general election in the district, which was renumbered the 2nd in redistricting.
  7. 1 2 "Governor will declare April special election for Giffords' seat". KOLD. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Livingston, Abby (January 27, 2012). "Arizona: GOP State Senator Enters Race to Replace Giffords". Roll Call . Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  9. "Giffords resignation sets off competitive special election for her Ariz. House seat". The Hill. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  10. "With Giffords Stepping Down, Who Might Step Up?". National Journal. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  11. "Latas is Back". Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Arizona Candidates Race for Giffords Seat". Roll Call. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  13. "Janet Napolitano Not Interested in Gabrielle Giffords' Seat". Roll Call. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  14. 1 2 Nintzel, Jim (January 26, 2012). "What's Next?". Tucson Weekly . Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  15. "Potential candidates for Giffords' seat begin to emerge". FOX 11 . January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. "Giffords meets with supporters, says she'll run again". Green Valley News and Sun. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  17. 1 2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20120504030820/http://azsos.gov/election/2012/special/primary/canvass2012specialprimary.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 4, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. Livingston, Abby (January 24, 2012). "Jesse Kelly to Run in Arizona Special Election". Roll Call . Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  19. McCombs, Brady (9 February 2012). "1st Female AF Air Combat Vet in Run for Congress". Arizona Daily Star . Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  20. "Politicians Scramble to Fill Giffords' Void". Arizona Daily Star . 3 February 2012.
  21. Smith, Dylan (January 25, 2012). "Paton to seek CD1 seat in Congress". Tucson Sentinel. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  22. "AZ - Election Results". clarityelections.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16.