It covered most of the southeastern portion of the state, though the bulk of its population was located in the eastern half of Tucson.

It was a Republican-leaning swing district, though a Democrat won it when it was first contested in 1982 before giving way to a Republican in 1984.

This version of the 5th covered all of Tempe and Scottsdale and portions of Chandler, Mesa and the Ahwatukee section of Phoenix.

George W. Bush received 54% of the vote in this district in 2004 and home state candidate John McCain narrowly won the district in 2008 with 51.70% of the vote while Barack Obama received 47.17%.

In Maricopa County it is basically south of downtown Phoenix and the Salt River and east of Rt.