In the Republican primary, Sydney Ann Hay, mining industry lobbyist, earned a narrower-than-expected victory against Sandra L. B. Livingstone, Tom Hansen and Barry Hall.
Among those endorsing her were: Governor Janet Napolitano, U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, U.S. Representative Harry Mitchell, the Arizona Education Association, the Arizona Police Association, the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Navajo County School Superintendent Linda Morrow, county sheriffs in Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo, and Pinal Counties, Coconino County School Superintendent Cecilia Owen, Pinal County School Superintendent Orlenda Roberts, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., San Carlos Apache Tribal Chair Wendsler Nosie, White Mountain Apache Tribal Chair Ronnie Lupe, former Navajo Nation President Dr. Peterson Zah, and many other tribal leaders.
Kirkpatrick ran on a platform of tax cuts for 86 million middle-class families, making health care affordable and accessible to all, and encouraging renewable energy projects to end America's dependence on foreign energy and create jobs for rural Arizona.
Hay meanwhile ran on increasing offshore drilling and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as tapping oil reserves in Colorado and Wyoming to stimulate the economy.
[3] In what was essentially a rematch of the previous election, Franks was challenged by Democrat John Thrasher(campaign website) CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.
This district was previously held by Arizona's junior United States senator, Republican Jon Kyl.
[24] On February 11, 2008, incumbent Shadegg announced he would not run for an eighth term, saying that he wanted to "seek a new challenge in a different venue to advance the cause of freedom."
[26] Although it was speculated that he would run for the United States Senate if John McCain were to become president,[27] Shadegg had expressed his intention to leave public life and return to the private sector[26] before changing his mind.
[32][33] Despite having his campaign privately criticized by Republican operatives, Shadegg was re-elected by 12 points in strong Democratic year.
Richard Grayson, an Apache Junction resident who ran as a write-in candidate in Florida's 4th congressional district in 2004, filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for this seat as a Democrat, as did trucking-firm account manager Chris Gramazio.
Rebecca Schneider (campaign website), a library supervisor from Mesa, also filed and ended up defeating Gramazio in the Democratic primary.
Early on in the campaign, Bee was assessed by the Rothenberg Political Report to be the number one challenger race in the nation saying "In 2008, Giffords will face state Senate President Tim Bee (R), whose candidacy represents a slice of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy election cycle for national Republicans... the 8th District should feature one of the most competitive races for the House in the country.
"[44] Roll Call stated said that Bee's candidacy "erases some key advantages the freshman incumbent carried into her successful 2006 Congressional campaign.
On July 13, the Arizona Republic summarized the race: "Giffords has proved adept at fundraising and is considered a rising star in Democratic circles.
But Bee is one of the state's highest-profile political figures and has enlisted the support of some heavy-hitters, including President Bush, the headliner of a Tucson fundraiser planned for later this month."
Plus, Bee is just off a tough legislative term in which he drew heavy criticism for his role in a state budget deal and the referral of an anti-gay-marriage proposal to the November ballot.
Bee remains a popular political figure, and registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 14,000 in the district.
"[1] On July 16, the Arizona Republic reported that freshman Congresswoman Giffords "has proved to be the most successful fundraiser among the state's House delegation and now has more than $2 million in her campaign coffers.