Jewish Incumbent Race Profile: Gabrielle Giffords

Linda Berg — March 26, 2010 – 8:24 am | Democrats | Election 2010 | Health Care | Republicans | Women's Issues Comments (2) Add a comment

Gabrielle Giffords was the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Arizona State Senate and is the only woman serving in the Arizona congressional delegation. She is one of eight Jewish women serving in the US House of Representatives. And since winning her Republican-leaning district in Tucson, Arizona in 2006, Gabrielle Giffords has been targeted for defeat by the Republican Party.

 

 

When longtime Republican moderate Representative Jim Kolbe retired in 2006, State Senator Giffords ran against extreme conservative Randy Graf and netted 54% of the vote. The Republican Party tried a different tack in 2008 and recruited the more moderate State Senate President Tim Bee —who happened to have also gone to kindergarten with Giffords—to be their candidate. Bee and Giffords had even played together in the high school band and shared the role of Geppetto in a school production of Pinocchio. Although a good story, that strategy did not work either, and Giffords won the 2008 election with 55% of the vote. Adding to the “small world” storyline, among Republicans who are seeking to challenge Giffords this year is someone she used to date—State Senator Jonathan Paton.  

 

Unlike Giffords’ earlier two races, where the political climate was favorable for Democrats, we can expect that her reelection campaign in 2010 will be more challenging. During the last two cycles Democrats have picked up many swing seats that are now particularly vulnerable because historically the party holding the White House loses seats in their first midterm election. And since Giffords voted in favor of cap and trade legislation, the economic stimulus package and—just this week—the health insurance reform bill, she will be again on the target list for the Republicans. 

 

It certainly was ominous that within a few hours of Giffords’ vote in favor of health insurance reform, her congressional office in Tucson was vandalized.Fairly quickly after that, Sarah Palin announced that she’s planning to go after lawmakers who voted for health care reform and hail from districts that she and Arizona Senator John McCain won in the 2008 presidential election. Forty-eight Democrats represent districts that voted for McCain, including Gabrielle Giffords. In fact, in 2004 Bush won Arizona’s 8th District with 53% of the vote and in 2008 McCain won it with 52% of the vote. 

 

Giffords is very much in tune with this clearly “swing” district. The National Journal ranked her voting record as one of the most centrist in Congress and she flies back to Tucson every weekend to stay involved in her district’s activities. She is a prolific fundraiser and is proud of the effective constituent service her office provides.

 

Keep an eye on this race. The Cook Political Report rates it a district that leans Democratic but votes more Republican than the average district in the country. Giffords seems to have her hand on the pulse of her district, but it remains to be seen how effective the Republicans will be in nationalizing this election.

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