Former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber wins election to finish her term
In an election to fill former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords', left, D-Ariz., congressional seat, Democratic candidate Ron Barber, right, celebrates a victory with Giffords and supporters at a post election event, June 12, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. / AP/Pool
Updated at 3:30 a.m. Eastern.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (AP) PHOENIX - Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' hand-picked Democratic candidate won a special election Tuesday in southern Arizona to finish her term, defeating a Republican who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010.
The race was a hard-fought preview of the broader fall campaign as the two political parties used the contest to hone and test their political arguments for the November elections, when everything from the White House on down will be on the ballot.
Giffords had stepped down earlier this year to focus on her recovery from the gunshot wound she suffered in 2011 during a shooting rampage at a Tucson, Ariz., parking lot that killed six people and wounded 13. One of the wounded was Ron Barber, an aide to the congresswoman who will now serve the remainder of her term.
Republicans, sensing a chance to capture the seat, sought to make the special election a referendum on President Obama and his handling of the economy. They argued that Barber, who was asked by the lawmaker to pursue the seat, would fall in line behind the White House.
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Democrats, in turn, played to the senior vote by contending that Republican Jesse Kelly would not protect Medicare and Social Security.
With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Barber was winning about 52 percent of the vote while Kelly had 45 percent.
Complete coverage: Election 2012Both candidates have promised to run for a full term in the fall, setting up a possible November rematch in a redrawn district that is friendlier to Democrats. Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters by about 26,000 under the current map. That edge will narrow to about 2,000 under redistricting.
Other primary elections
Elsewhere Tuesday, Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Arkansas and South Carolina held primary elections -- with most of those states choosing Senate nominees -- as did North Dakota, where voters decided to let the University of North Dakota scrap its controversial nickname, the Fighting Sioux.
In Virginia, former Sen. George Allen brushed aside three rivals in the Republican Senate primary. Allen's victory set up a November clash with another former Virginia governor, Democrat Tim Kaine, in a campaign closely tied to the presidential race in a state both parties consider vital for victory.
In North Dakota, Rep. Rick Berg defeated businessman Duane Sand in the state's Republican Senate primary. Berg now faces Democrat Heidi Heitkamp in the November race to replace retiring Sen. Kent Conrad. The election is expected to play a critical role in determining which party controls the Senate next year.
The vote concerning the Fighting Sioux nickname came about after the NCAA deemed it hostile and abusive, and placed the university under postseason sanctions. The state's Board of Education is now expected to retire the moniker and American Indian head logo.
North Dakota voters also defeated a proposal that would have made the state the first in the nation to abolish local property taxes.
In Nevada, Republican Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley easily defeated a slate of political unknowns in their respective primaries. Their fall race will be one of the most competitive in the country.
In Maine, state Sen. Cynthia Dill won the Democratic primary in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe. Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers won the GOP nomination.
The front-runner, former two-term Gov. Angus King, wasn't on the ballot because he's running as an independent.
No statewide races were part of the Arkansas and South Carolina primaries.
All eyes on Arizona
Of all the races Tuesday, the Arizona House race was the most closely watched, partly because of Giffords' absorbing story and partly because holding onto the seat was important for Democrats if they want to regain control of the House.
The party needs big gains in November to grab the majority from Republicans, who now hold a 240-192 advantage with three vacancies, including Giffords' seat.
Republicans, riding high after a decisive victory in Wisconsin's gubernatorial election last week, set their sights on Arizona. A victory would have given party leaders a chance to claim momentum five months before November and fine-tune their plan to link Democratic candidates to Obama, the incumbent at the top of the ticket.
Giffords, 42, largely shunned public appearances during the race, but in the closing days of the campaign she stepped out to help Barber.
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Even her hair turned back to blonde.
It's a miracle I tell you!
O.K. you've made your case and it is probably a solid one. I, too don't believe the American voters are as ignorant as the far-right arm of the GOP thinks they are.
Unfortunately it may not matter much.
I point to two stolen elections by the Bush Crime Cartel (some may argue but in both cases, they WERE stolen), and numerous attempts at voter intimidation on the part of the right since. The inmates have taken over the asylum and the GOP is nothing at all like it was when Hatfield, McCall, Brooke and Chas. Percy were the standard bearers. All they had left in the 2000's was Snowe and she bailed. But I digress.
My point is the modern iteration of the once Grand Old Party will do ANYTHING to reclaim the power they lost in '08 and never should have gained in '00 or '04. This will undoubtedly include pushing voter restriction acts, hacking electronic voting results and voter data bases, "robo" calls misinforming democratic sympathisers as to where and when, outright voter intimidation, and attempts to nullify results that do not go "their" way. Legality or ethics mean nothing to their "big picture".
These boyz (and girlz) play rough and never in my more than 60 years on this planet have I seen such desperate attempts on the part of one party to destroy the other. Complicating the issue is the fact Obama himself has been a huge disappointment to many of his supporters.
I think it's important not to gloat (yet) and be mindful that we have seen unpleasant surprises in the past. Obama securing a second term is not a slam dunk. We can not count on the Republican party to continue shooting itself in the foot nor can we be content to sit back and assume common sense will rule the day.
Adjust your tinfoil hat, sparky.
Initially it was thought Giffords would make a complete recovery. When it became clear she would not, she quit her seat. I don't believe she will ever be 100%, being shot in the head does that in a lot of cases. She and her family are (and should be) grateful she's come along this far.
As far as "a tactic to keep the seat Democratic"... Maybe, but I can't see how the timing of her resignation would matter much. Barber would have still been appointed as a temporary fill-in and would still have had to run against a Republican contender regardless of when Giffords resigned.
He'll be tossed with the rest of the democrat trash in November.
The side that gets out their vote in November will win. Period.
On the national level, unfortunately, this is not the case. Both Obama and Romney - indeed every candidate that is even remotely in a position to run for president - is/are owned completely by corporate interests who may, or more likely not, have the interests of the nation at heart. This includes outliers like Ron Paul and Ralph Nader.
Barber was a top aide to Giffords; that sounds qualified to me....
As the story explained, the district in which Giffords had been elected -- and in which Barber was elected yesterday -- had 26,000 more registered GOP voters than registered Democratic voters. The same two candidates will run again in November but, after redistricting, their district will then be much closer to an even split....
Good luck Rep. Barber.
And again, I salute Gabby Giffords...what a woman.
In his losing campaign against Gabby Giffords in 2010, he invited voters to "fire a fully automatic M-16 with Jesse Kelly" ...
And he left very little doubt at the time about who his implied target was...
But if there was any lingering confusion...crack spotter, target acquisition specialist, and all-around diva extrordianre, Sarah Palin...made it all just as clear as reading a map.
These are such foul people...
Congratulations and good luck to Ron Barber...and renewed prayers and meditation for the continued miraculous recovery of Gabrielle Giffords...
As for the GOP...I hope they throw even more ridiculous sums of money away on Arizona in November, attempting to purchase national elected office for extremist losers the likes of Jesse Kelly...