Former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber wins election to finish her term
Outside groups spent more than $2 million on the race. Barber, 66, had a sizable fundraising lead in late May, but spending from conservative groups helped reduce the Democratic financial edge.
The Arizona 8th is a rare district that is competitive virtually every election. Giffords defeated Kelly by about 4,000 votes in 2010 when the election focused on immigration and when tea partyers rallied to the tough-talking former Marine. Now, the economy and jobs are voters' top concerns.
Kelly, 30, spent the campaign arguing that Barber and Obama are out of touch with people in the district. He called for lower taxes and more energy production as ways to improve the economy. And he said he would roll back federal regulations and environmental protections in an effort to boost oil and gas drilling.
Barber tried to convince voters that he understands their concerns. He frequently talked about building up the solar industry and cutting taxes for the middle class. While Kelly made it clear he would not support any income tax increases, Barber said the wealthy need to "pay their fair share."
The Tucson region is home to a growing population of retirees who rely on Medicare and Social Security. Kelly said in 2010 that privatizing the programs was a "must." He said he would protect Social Security for current seniors but that the program needed to be "phased out." Giffords assailed his comments with great effect, and Democratic groups employed a similar game plan for the special election even as Kelly said his words were taken out of context.
Democratic officials were thrilled that Barber won a seat in a district that President George W. Bush carried with 54 percent of the vote in 2004 and that John McCain carried with 53 percent of the vote when he ran against Obama.
Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, used the victory to make the claim that the election was a referendum on "the Republican plans to drastically cut Medicare and privatize Social Security, while giving massive tax breaks to millionaires, big oil and corporations that ship jobs overseas."
But Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, made the point that special elections are unique and that the Arizona race was particularly so because of what had happened to Giffords. He predicted that Barber would not fare as well in the fall with Obama leading the ticket.
"No one wanted this election to happen or to see Gabrielle Giffords step down from Congress, but Jesse ran a campaign focused on pro-growth policies that will lead to less government and a strong and vibrant economy," Sessions said.
- prev
- no next page
2/2
Popular in Politics
- Obama prom pictures surface
- Drones, Gitmo part of broad Obama counterterrorism speech
- House passes GOP bill to speed Keystone XL pipeline approval
- IRS' Lerner: "I have not done anything wrong" 753 Comments
- Christie: Keep politics out of Oklahoma disaster relief
- Amid scrutiny of commerce pick, White House confident about her fate
- Lawmakers push to punish sexual offenders in the military
- Former Miss America might challenge McConnell
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...