Barber Wins Arizona Special Election
The Democrat will finish Giffords' House term, but will face off against the same GOP challenger later this year in a regular election.
| Posted Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at 9:59 AM
Photo by Jonathan Gibby/Getty Images.
Former Gabby Giffords aide Ron Barber easily won an Arizona special election Tuesday, earning the chance to finish out the former Democratic representative's term.
Barber defeated Republican Jesse Kelly, who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Barber won 52 percent to Kelly's 46 percent, according to the Associated Press.
Giffords represented the Republican-leaning 8th District until leaving Congress in January in order to concentrate on her recovery from a 2011 shooting that left six people dead. She and her husband backed Barber, who was also shot during the rampage, in the special election.
Both Democrats and Republicans attached special significance to the special election heading into Tuesday's vote. As the big winners, Democrats will likely cite the win as a forecast of a strong showing this November and a possible House takeover.
Barber will more or less immediately have to start his re-election campaign: he'll face off against Kelly again in the November election for the votes of a changed electorate. The census re-districting of Arizona will place Giffords' former seat in a more Democratic-leaning 2nd District, instead of its current 8th District.
