Barber Defeats McSally in Ariz. House Race
The Arizona Republic has projected that Democratic Rep. Ron Barber will win reelection in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, determining via precinct analysis of outstanding ballots that Republican challenger Martha McSally cannot catch Barber. The Associated Press also called the race for Barber later Friday.
Barber currently leads McSally 143,173 votes to 141,771, a 1,402-vote margin that works out to about half a percentage point. Republican-leaning Cochise County already finished tallying votes, giving Barber an advantage. The Republic:
Most of the remaining provisional ballots in the Southern Arizona district are from heavily Democratic precincts in Pima County, which have trended toward Barber throughout the election.
The race is the last to be decided in Arizona and tilts the state’s delegation to the Democrats for only the second time in 45 years.
McSally could not be reached for comment late Friday, but her campaign scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Barber also could not be reached, but on Friday night a campaign adviser, Rodd McLeod, told The Republic that he planned to make a statement Saturday.
Barber's closer-than-expected win, coming just five months after an emotional special election victory to replace his former boss, Gabrielle Giffords, leaves two races still uncalled 11 days after Election Day. In North Carolina's 7th District, Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre is the apparent winner, leading by 655 votes in the final official results and declaring victory Friday night. But Republican David Rouzer has the opportunity to request a recount, given the small margin. In Florida's 18th District, GOP Rep. Allen West trails Democrat Patrick Murphy by 1,907 votes, outside the margin to trigger a recount, but officials in St. Lucie County are recounting early ballots there after discovering errors in the initial tally.
Additionally, GOP Reps. Charles Boustany and Jeff Landry of Louisiana will compete in a December runoff after neither reached 50 percent in a jungle primary on Election Day.
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