Rep. Trent Franks (R) Elected 2002, 2d term
Born:	June 19, 1957, Uravan, CO
Home:	Glendale
Education:	Ottawa University, 1989-90
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Josie)
Elected  Office:	AZ House of Reps., 1984-86.
Professional Career:	Director, AZ Governor's Office for Children, 1987-88; Exec. Director, AZ Family Research Institute, 1989-93; Writer-commentator, AZ radio station KTKP; Co-owner, Franks Brothers Independent Drilling; Pres.-CEO, Liberty Petroleum Corp.
DC Office	1237 LHOB20515, 202-225-4576; Fax: 202-225-6328; Web site: www.house.gov/franks
State Offices	Glendale, 623-776-7911.
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Beyond the reach of metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson, much of Arizona looks as it did a century ago. Some is intentionally preserved in its natural state, such as the sere uplands of the Hopi Indian Reservation; other places maintain a timeless western look, like Wickenburg, the oldest Arizona town north of Tucson. Still others preserve antiquated ways of life, such as the polygamist community of Colorado City, just south of Utah, which prosecutes open polygamists. In some cases, nature and settlement juxtapose jarringly: the real London Bridge has been transplanted to Lake Havasu City, a retirement community on the Colorado River.

All these areas are part of the 2d Congressional District of Arizona, which stretches from the west side of Phoenix to cover the northwest corner of the state, from Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to the western suburbs of Phoenix, where 80% of its voters live. Astride Grand Avenue, the only diagonal street in the rigorous grid of metro Phoenix, is the mushrooming suburb of Glendale, not so long ago just a crossroads but with 219,000 people in 2000. Just west in the former desert are Peoria, as Middle American as its namesake in Illinois, and the huge retirement community of Sun City, where locals obsessively prune their Seussian hedges. The 2d also includes the fast-growing corridor along the westbound I-10 Papago Freeway, past Luke Air Force Base--the largest fighter training wing in the Air Force and the only active duty F-16 training base in the U.S.--to the once open spaces of Goodyear and Buckeye. The 2d also includes the Hopi Indian Reservation, connected to the rest of the district by a narrow, oddly shaped corridor that runs along the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

This is Republican territory. The retirees here remember--and upwardly-striving, family-oriented young migrants who have populated these new towns in the desert still try to live--the culturally conservative, Ozzie-and-Harriet lifestyle of the 1950s. Culture, more than affluence, which by national standards is not all that striking here, accounts for their political conservatism. Similarly Republican are the new cities along the Colorado River.

The congressman from the 2d District is Trent Franks, a Republican first elected in 2002. He grew up in Colorado, attended college only briefly and started his own oil and gas exploration business. His political career began when he won a single term in the Arizona House in 1984; he was known for wearing a tie tack in the shape of the feet of a fetus. In 1987 he was the director of the Governor's Office for Children under Governor Evan Mecham, a conservative Republican who was impeached and removed from office in April 1988. He was a consultant to Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign and in 1989 became executive director of the Arizona Family Research Institute, an organization associated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family. Franks led the campaign for an unsuccessful 1992 ballot initiative to limit abortion rights and designed the state's 1997 scholarship tax credit legislation, a much-litigated measure that ultimately was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The plan provides tax credits for donations to non-profits to help families pay for private education. He was a school-choice advocate and an abortion opponent on Family Life radio. In 1994, he ran for the open 4th District seat and trailed John Shadegg in the Republican primary, 43%-30%.

In April 2002, Republican Congressman Bob Stump, first elected in 1976, announced he was retiring and endorsed Lisa Atkins, his chief of staff throughout his congressional career. When the campaign started, Franks was not considered in the top tier of candidates. But his base of Christian conservatives and abortion opponents (plus more than $300,000 of his own money) made him a contender. Franks spent heavily on radio ads; he also benefited from the distribution of a voter guide by the religious conservative Center for Arizona Policy, which describes itself as "the only organization in Arizona actively fighting in the legislature and media for conservative, traditional views on gambling, homosexuality and pornography." Franks called for overturning Roe v. Wade and for constitutional protection to fetuses. He endorsed a flat tax as a step toward eliminating the federal income tax, individual investment accounts under Social Security, tougher enforcement of immigration laws and minimal federal involvement in health care. In a contest that operated mostly under the political radar, Franks's base of activists made the difference. He finished first with 28% of the vote, only 797 votes ahead of Atkins, who got 26%. In November he won 60%-37%.

In the House, Franks became the most conservative member of the Arizona delegation. He got 21 co-sponsors for his Children's Hope Act, which was based on his 1997 state scholarship tax credit. He showed his outsider stripes by proposing that service on the Appropriations Committee be limited to a maximum of three terms in 10 years; redundantly, he commented that he had no interest in serving on Appropriations. He said he voted against the highway bill because it was bloated and also short-changed Arizona. But he succumbed to pressure from Republican leaders, and earned their gratitude, by switching his vote to support the Medicare/prescription drug bill while the roll call was held open for nearly three hours. On the Armed Services Committee, he worked to secure $27 million for Arizona to buy land adjacent to Luke Air Force Base in order to curtail housing development, and he worked to locate at Luke the new F-35 joint strike fighter planes. Franks got $4 million for a new highway bypass at the Hoover Dam as part of a broader traffic and security project.

Franks faced a competitive primary in September 2004 against Rick Murphy, a free-spending radio station owner, who criticized Franks for abandoning his conservative principles by supporting the Medicare/prescription drug bill. Murphy was endorsed by several local Republican officials who complained about their lack of contact from Franks; he attacked Franks for abandoning his promise not to take money from political action committees. Franks won 64%-36%--a wide margin, but less than incumbents usually get over primary challengers. He narrowly lost Mohave County, but he took 68% in Maricopa, which cast 76% of the total vote. In November Franks won 59%-39%, a downtick from 2002: more evidence he needs to pay closer attention to his district.

Committees

• Armed Services (28th of 34 R): Readiness; Strategic Forces.
• Judiciary (22d of 23 R): The Constitution.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	0	0	0	0	90	85	95	100	100	100	--
2003	10	--	0	5	--	78	93	92	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	9%	--	84%		0%	--	95%
Social	5%	--	87%		0%	--	91%
Foreign	11%	--	80%		7%	--	93%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Trent Franks (R)	165,260	59%	$738,525
	Randy Camacho (D)	107,406	39%	$101,998
	Other	6,637	2%
2004 primary	Trent Franks (R)	45,261	64%
	Rick Murphy (R)	25,871	36%
2002 general	Trent Franks (R)	100,359	60%	$555,648
	Randy Camacho (D)	61,217	37%	$40,206
	Edward Carlson (Lib)	5,919	4%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 182,326 (61%) Kerry (D) 112,620 (38%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 119,386 (56%) Gore (D) 86,251 (41%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 9
• District Size: 20,391 square miles
• Population in 2000: 641,329; 89.0% urban; 11.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $42,432; 8.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 22.2% blue collar; 60.3% white collar; 17.5% gray collar; 19.6% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 78.4% White, 2.1% Black, 1.7% Asian, 2.0% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.4% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 14.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 14.6% German, 9.4% English, 9.3% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.