November 5, 2008
Giffords parlays record, timing to ice 2nd term
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Timing.
Good for Gabrielle Giffords, trouble for Tim Bee.
In a year that proved politically dominant for Democrats and deadly for Republicans, Arizona’s 8th District congresswoman schooled Bee, the GOP hopeful seeking to graduate from state Senate president to the U.S. House.
Giffords led Bee by 55 percent to nearly 43 percent early Wednesday with almost three-fourths of precincts reporting, while Libertarian Paul Davis had 2 percent, to ice her second term in Congress.
Bee declined to concede Tuesday night, saying a lot of ballots remained to be counted. “Right now it’s not looking favorable, and right now I’m not ready to concede,” he said.
Bee said he would examine the returns Wednesday to see where the votes had come from and decide what to do.
But Giffords also parlayed her deep purse, hard work on behalf of constituents and favorable positions on matters of concern to district voters, along with a toxic climate for Republicans, to her advantage.
With a 2-to-1 margin in campaign financing, she also worked hard to tie Bee to a highly unpopular President Bush.
“We ran a great race,” Giffords said. “We focused on the issues. We had thousands of volunteers who dedicated countless hours to the campaign.”
She said talking directly to southern Arizonans about issues that matter most to them was an essential element in her victory.
Giffords said she’s excited that a historic election swept Barack Obama into the presidency, but that the country faces profound challenges “greater than any political affiliation that we have,” and the people will have to work together as Americans to solve the energy, economic and immigration problems.
Giffords was the recipient of good fortune two years ago when she first ran for Congress to replace retiring Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe. She easily defeated conservative Republican Randy Graf, whom Kolbe refused to endorse.
This time, after Bee voted to place a proposition on Tuesday’s ballot seen as anti-homosexual, Kolbe, who is gay, refused to endorse Bee.
