A little bit of good news! Barber has won the special election in AZ-08. According to this AP report:
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.
This means a lot to me. Giffords was my rep. I'm out of the country a lot so I can't usually work in campaigns. However, I worked in hers and helped her squeak out a win - only for her to be shot by that jerk a week after her term started.
The issues mentioned in the article are interesting
Republicans, sensing a chance to capture the seat, sought to make the special election a referendum on President Barack 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.
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.
The fight is not over. It's never over, is it? Kelly plans to challenge Barber again in the fall.
But we live in the short term and this is good news.
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