Along with Gabrielle Giffords, he was one of the two candidates to win the Democratic primary.
However, in the general election, while Giffords won, Downing came in third, losing to Carol Somers.
[1] In November 2002, he ran again for the house, this time in District 28 following redistricting, and won.
[4]: viii–ix In 2006, Downing decided not to seek re-election to the House, and chose to run for the State Senate.
However, he lost in the Democratic primary to Paula Aboud, who ran unopposed in the general election.