Republican Debbie Lesko won the special election in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District on Tuesday, keeping the US House seat in GOP control but by a much narrower margin than expected.
The former state senator defeated Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician who had hoped to replicate surprising Democratic wins in Pennsylvania, Alabama and other states in a year where opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies have boosted the party’s chances in Republican strongholds.
Trump won the district by 21 percentage points in 2016, but early returns show Lesko winning by just six percentage points.
Republican political consultant Chuck Coughlin called the margin ‘not good’ for national Republicans looking at their chances in November.
Republican Debbie Lesko won the special election in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District on Tuesday (pictured), defeating Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician
Trump won the district by 21 percentage points in 2016, but early returns show Lesko (pictured, Tuesday) winning by just six percentage points
Lesko (pictured, Tuesday) replaces former Rep Trent Franks, a Republican who resigned in December amid sexual misconduct allegations
‘They should clean house in this election,’ said Coughlin, longtime adviser to former Gov Jan Brewer.
‘There’s a drag on the midterms for Republican candidates that’s being created by the national narrative. And it would be very hard to buck that trend if you’re in swing districts, much less close districts, if you can’t change that narrative between now and November.’
Lesko replaces former Rep Trent Franks, a Republican who resigned in December amid sexual misconduct allegations.
The seat became open when Franks stepped down after acknowledging that he had discussed surrogacy with two female staffers. A former aide told The Associated Press that he pressed her to carry his child as a surrogate and offered her $5million.
At a victory party in her Glendale neighborhood, Lesko greeted supporters and looked back in wonder.
‘I’ve really come a long way and this is really quite overwhelming, it’s very surreal,’ she said.
‘Twenty-five years ago I left an abusive husband and I sure as heck never would have dreamt in a million years that I would be running for Congress to be a congresswoman. I mean, that’s right, now I’m actually running for Congress, I won!’
The district sprawls across western Phoenix suburbs, covering some of the most conservative areas of the red state, including the retirement community of Sun City.
At a victory party in her Glendale neighborhood, Lesko (left and right) greeted supporters and looked back in wonder. ‘I’ve really come a long way and this is really quite overwhelming, it’s very surreal,’ she said
National Republican groups spent big to back Lesko (pictured, Tuesday), pouring in more than $500,000 in the suburban Phoenix district for television and mail ads and phone calls to voters.
Several Republican voters who spoke with AP said they backed Lesko (pictured, Tuesday) primarily because she supported Trump’s border security plans
Tipirneni worked the district hard, making inroads rarely seen in an area that hadn’t elected a Democrat since the early 1980s. She was seen as a fresh Democratic face with relatively moderate views that could get support in the district.
Making a push for older voters, she had said Lesko would vote to go after entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy. She’s pushed a plan to allow some people to buy into Medicare.
National Republican groups spent big to back Lesko, pouring in more than $500,000 in the suburban Phoenix district for television and mail ads and phone calls to voters.
National Democratic groups didn’t commit money to the race, a sign they didn’t believe the seat was in play. And it showed in the February 27 primary, two out of every three ballots were cast for a Republican.
Lesko slammed Tipirneni as being out of touch with voters who oppose government-run health care. She called the Democrat too liberal for the area, and pointed to Tipirneni’s opposition to a wall on the Mexican border.
Several Republican voters who spoke with AP said they backed Lesko primarily because she supported Trump’s border security plans.
The seat became open when Franks (pictured, September 2016) stepped down after acknowledging that he had discussed surrogacy with two female staffers
Lesko slammed Tipirneni (pictured, Tuesday) as being out of touch with voters who oppose government-run health care. She called the Democrat too liberal for the area
Tipirneni (pictured, Tuesday) saud Lesko would vote to go after entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy
David Hunt, a 64-year-old retired construction and warehouse worker from Glendale, said he cast his vote Tuesday for Lesko because he believed that immigrants in the country illegally are creating unfair competition for jobs for recent high school students in Arizona.
‘She’s the best candidate to deal with the porous border,’ Hunt said.
His views were echoed by Larry Bettis, a retiree from Glendale.
‘Immigration – the fence,’ Bettis said. ‘That’s all I really care about.’
Democrats said they wanted to send a message to Trump and supported Democratic health care plans.
‘I don’t like the president and felt it was time to take a stand,’ said Nikole Allen, a 45-year-old medical assistant from New York now living in Glendale. ‘It’s time for us to vote the Republicans out.’
Lance Ostrander, a registered Democrat who works for Maricopa County and lives in Peoria, said he’d be happy if Tipirneni wins.
‘We’d really like a change,’ he said. ‘Trump had a lot of good ideas at first but a lot of people feel like they were hoodwinked.