Democrat Sinema wins Arizona congressional seat

November 12, 2012 @ 2:34 pm


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Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) - Former Democratic state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been elected to represent a new Phoenix-area congressional district, emerging victorious after a bitterly fought race that featured millions of dollars in attack ads.

Sinema becomes the first openly bisexual member of Congress. Her victory came in a year when three states approved gay marriage, and at least five openly gay Democrats were elected to House seats. A Wisconsin congresswoman also became the first openly gay person elected to the Senate.

Sinema had a narrow lead on election night that made the race too close to call. But she slowly improved that advantage as more ballots were tallied in recent days, and now has a nearly 6,000-vote edge that is too much for Republican Vernon Parker to overcome.

Sinema, 36, said Monday she was "honored and ready to start working for the people of Arizona."

During the race, Parker was criticized by Democrats as a tea party radical who would hurt children by cutting the federal education department.

Republicans countered saying Sinema was too liberal for the newly created district and doesn't understand stay-at-home moms.

One other congressional race remains undecided in Arizona. Rep. Ron Barber, the hand-picked successor to Gabrielle Giffords, had a lead of a few hundred votes over Republican Martha McSally in the Tucson-area district.


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    Wow!
    November 12, 2012 5:02 pm
    Did any republicans win, anywhere? I see the negative posters are still here, though. Tough to get it through their heads that they are irrelevant for four more years.Four (4) And probably eight if everything goes right. American voters are tired of the stalemate that the republicans caused during Obama's term. mitch (mcnasty) mcconell said it best, his only goal was to make Obama a one term President. How did that work out for you mitch? Looking for a job in 2014? I hope so. Take boner with you.
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @longwayhome...
    November 13, 2012 8:17 am
    Republicans won a little here and there, but overall they lost big time. In this economy, it should have not only been a lock to win the Presidency, but they should have increased thier number of seats in the House of Representatives and Senate. Instead, they lost the Presidency AND seats in both houses of Congress. (In years past, the opposition party would have won the Presidency AND with it being as close to even in the Senate as it was, they would have taken enough seats in the Senate to take control there too...). None of that happened AND the Republicans even lost seats in the House (although they kept the majority there) simply because they did not win the hearts and minds of the majority of Americans. The Majority of Americans voted the Republicans away. Why? Because the majority of Americans don't believe in the extremist positions that the Republicans stand for these days. It truly is that simple, and if the Republicans truly get it, they will be a force to reckoned with in 2014's mid term elections. If they don't, they will be on the path to total irelevancy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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