Arizona elects pro-gun candidate to Gabby Gifford’s former House seat per recount

Arizona elects pro-gun candidate to Gabby Gifford’s former House seat per recount

Pro-Second Amendment GOP candidate Martha McSally was declared the winner of Arizona’s Congressional District 2 seat Wednesday after a recount, defeating Democratic incumbent Rep. Ron Barber.

Barber was a staff member of Gabrielle Giffords, who held the same seat when both she and Barber were shot and wounded in January, 2011, according to Fox News.

McSally, the first female U.S. Air Force combat pilot, was declared the winner by a mere 167 votes. Her win gives the Republicans its greatest number of House seats — 247 — since the Herbert Hoover administration 83 years ago. Democrats will control 188 seats.

“Martha McSally has broken barriers her entire life, and I know she will continue to fight for the issues she is passionate about in Washington,” said Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “From growing jobs to securing our border, Martha will be an effective and common-sense representative for southern Arizona.”

McSally’s victory is also a rejection of both Giffords’ and Barber’s anti-gun philosophy. According to Breitbart News:

Breibart News previously reported that Barber was trying to get re-elected on a gun control platform, while McSally was running as a pro-Second Amendment candidate. On September 20, Breitbart News reported that Giffords ads against McSally were filled with such vitriol that The Arizona Republic described them as “base and vile,” and said Giffords was harming Barber and her own image more than she was hurting McSally.

The recount automatically kicked in due to the tiny margin separating the two candidates at the first count last month. At that time, McSally was declared the winner by 161 votes. The recount gave her an additional six. Fox reported:

Judge Katherine Cooper announced the results, roughly six weeks after the Nov. 4 election, in court Wednesday before lawyers for both candidates. There were no objections.

Now that McSally has been officially declared the winner of Arizona’s CD-2, the GOP holds five of the state’s nine Congressional seats.

Michael Dorstewitz

Michael Dorstewitz

Michael Dorstewitz is a recovering Michigan trial lawyer and former research vessel deck officer. He has written extensively for BizPac Review.

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