2012 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election

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 Gabby 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.

2012 United States House of Representatives Special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district

← 2010 June 12, 2012 2012 →
Arizona's 8th congressional district
Nominee Ron Barber Jesse Kelly Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 111,204 96,465 Percentage 52.3% 45.4%
County results Barber:      50–60% Kelly:      50–60%
U.S. Representative before election Gabby Giffords Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Ron Barber Democratic

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]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ron Barber, small business owner and Giffords' District Director^[4]

Withdrawn

• Matt Heinz, state representative^[5][6]

Declined

• Paula Aboud, Arizona Senate Whip.^[7][8]
• John Adams, retired Brigadier General^[9]
• David Crowe, software company owner^[10]
• Steve Farley, Arizona House of Representatives^[7][8]
• Jeff Latas, former vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and 2006 primary candidate^[11]
• Linda J. Lopez, state senator^[8][12]
• Janet Napolitano, former Governor of Arizona and United States Secretary of Homeland Security^[13]
• Daniel Patterson, state representative^[14]
• Tim Sultan, program chair of the Democrats of Greater Tucson and 2004 primary candidate^[15]
• Ramon Valadez, Pima County, Arizona Supervisor^[8][12]
• Nan Stockholm Walden, Farmer Investments VP and former chief of staff to Senator Bill Bradley^[16]
• Bruce Wheeler, state representative^[14]

Results

Democratic primary results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Barber	44,185	100.0
Total votes			44,185	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jesse Kelly, Iraq War veteran and the Republican nominee for this seat in 2010^[18]

Eliminated in primary

• Frank Antenori, state senator and Iraq War veteran^[8]
• Martha McSally, U.S. Air Force colonel, first female USAF air combat pilot^[19]
• Dave Sitton, businessman, broadcaster, and coach^[20]

Declined

• Jonathan Paton, state senator and 2010 primary candidate^[21]

Results

Republican primary results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jesse Kelly	27,101	35.1
	Republican	Martha McSally	19,413	25.1
	Republican	Frank Antenori	17,497	22.6
	Republican	Dave Sitton	13,299	17.2
Total votes			77,310	100

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ron Barber (D)	Jesse Kelly (R)	Charlie Manolakis (G)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[22]	June 9–10, 2012	1,058	± 3.0%	53%	41%	4%	3%
National Research (R)[23]	April 12, 2012	300	±5.7%	45%	49%	—	6%

Hypothetical polling

With McSally

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ron Barber (D)	Martha McSally (R)	Undecided
National Research (R)[23]	April 12, 2012	300	±5.7%	42%	42%	16%

Results

Arizona's 8th congressional district, 2012 (special)^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ron Barber	111,204	52.32%	+3.56%
	Republican	Jesse Kelly	96,465	45.39%	−1.91%
	Green	Charlie Manolakis	4,869	2.29%	N/A
Total votes			'212,538'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Democratic hold

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives