His departure leaves a Tucson-based district open that in 2014 hosted one of the closest home runs in the country. But since then, it has become a Democratic trend and will be redesigned by an independent commission in this cycle. Arizona is on its way to winning a House seat in the reallocation.
State deputy Randy Friese, a trauma surgeon who treated the then deputy. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), After being shot in the head in 2011, he will probably run for his seat, according to a source familiar with his thinking. He represents Tucson in the State House and considered a candidacy for the Senate in 2018 before transferring to the now Senator. Kyrsten Sinema.
Other possible Democratic candidates include Matt Heinz, nominated in 2016 for the position now on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, and state representatives Andrés Cano and Daniel Hernández Jr.
On the side of the GOP, Lea Márquez Peterson, who lost handily to Kirkpatrick in 2018, can run again. And state deputy TJ Shope is in contact with House Republicans on a 2022 bid. He currently represents Pinal County, north of the 2nd District. But if one redraws loops in any of his current legislative chairs, he could be a candidate.
Kirkpatrick had an unconventional career in Congress. She was first elected in 2008 to the extensive 1st district that spans the northeastern part of the state and includes southern Phoenix and the Navajo and Hopi nations. She won the seat left by Republican Rick Renzi – who got involved in a scandal and ended up convicted on charges of federal fraud – but later lost it during the Republican Party wave in 2010 to Republican Paul Gosar.
The 2012 redistricting opened a new red chair for Gosar and gave Kirkpatrick his comeback. She won that year and in another fierce dispute again in 2014, but left the Chamber for the second time in 2016 because of an ill-fated candidacy against then Sen. John McCain, to whom she lost, 54% against 41%.
In 2018, she ran for the seat she now holds when then-incumbent Republican Martha McSally ran for the Senate. Faced with complaints from his main opponent, Kirkpatrick said he moved to Tucson to be closer to his grandchildren. She beat Márquez Peterson by 10 points.
Born on an Apache reservation, Kirkpatrick had a unique connection to the district’s native rural communities and fought for more access to water, benefits for veterans and better housing for the tribes in the district. She grew up speaking the Apache language.
She ran as a proud moderator in early bids, displaying an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, but later became a strong supporter of gun control laws after her friend Giffords was shot.
In 2020, Kirkpatrick took a leave of absence from Congress to seek treatment for alcoholism – a move motivated by a fall in the Washington, DC metropolitan area that left her with back and rib injuries.
The 2nd district was distancing itself from the Republicans. Mitt Romney narrowly won in 2012, but Hillary Clinton won by 4 points in 2016. President Joe Biden won by 12 points in 2020.
Still, Torunn Sinclair, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Republicans “are eager to make that chair red again”.
“Ann Kirkpatrick saw the writing on the wall: Most Democrats in the House are doomed,” said Sinclair.
McSally initially won the seat by defeating the current Rep. Ron Barber, district director of Giffords who was also injured in the 2011 shooting by 167 votes.