Ann Kirkpatrick

The campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Ann Kirkpatrick claimed Friday that Kirkpatrick was far better positioned to win the open 1st Congressional District seat than Republican Sydney Hay. 

"Last Tuesday's results made it clear, people in CD-1 are looking for real change, not more of the same," said Kirkpatrick communications director Zac Petkanas in an e-mail to PolitickerAZ.com.

"Not only did our campaign win by 15 points compared to Sydney Hay's four," continued Petkanas, "our campaign garnered 8,000 more actual votes as well as a greater percentage of the total vote than did the Phoenix corporate lobbyist."

"At the end of the day," he said, "ten thousand  more Democrats voted than did Republicans in CD-1."

An study conducted on behalf of the Sydney Hay congressional campaign shows a "close and winnable race" for the Republican contender in the 1st Congressional District, according to a memo from Washington, D.C.-based polling firm Wilson Research Strategies.

Though the Hay campaign hasn't divulged the figures associated with the poll, they did release a copy of the memo summarizing the findings to PolitickerAZ.com.  

"Sydney Hay has made strong gains since our initial study one month ago," the memo read. "[Democratic nominee Ann] Kirkpatrick’s current advantage is primarily due to a name ID advantage acquired as a result of a more active Democratic primary campaign. Once the general election campaign begins we expect both the name ID gap and the ballot gap to close quickly."

The general election race in the 1st Congressional District is already getting rancorous, mere hours after the contestants were finalized.

Wednesday, Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic nominee in the 1st district, said she anticipated a "tough" and "heated" fight between she and GOP nominee Sydney Hay.

"We're not taking anything for granted," Kirkpatrick told PolitickerAZ.com.She also said that her campaign was not going to quail in the face of harsh criticism already coming from the Hay camp. Tuesday night, as it became clear that Hay, a mining industry lobbyist, would defeat her closest GOP rival in the primary, Sandra Livingstone, Hay sent out her inaugural statement as her party's congressional nominee, slamming Kirkpatrick, who easily won the Democratic primary earlier in the evening.

AZ-5 Laura Knaperek was the first congressional candidate to reach out in a sign of unity today.  Knaperek issued a statement congratulating David Schweikert for winning and offered to help him defeat Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell.

AZ-1 Democrats are also getting on the unity train.  The three losing candidates Mary Kim Titla, Howard Shanker and Jeffrey Brown will be attending a press conference tomorrow in Flagstaff to show their support for Ann Kirkpatrick.  

Sydney Hay, who eked out a narrow victory against Sandra Livingstone and others in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary Tuesday, immediately went on the attack against the new Democratic nominee, Ann Kirkpatrick.

"The voters of the First District of Arizona want someone who will shake up Washington," said Hay. "My track record of accomplishment bringing meaningful conservative change cannot be matched by Ann Kirkpatrick, whose legislative accomplishments are next to nil.”

Hay went on to say Kirkpatrick was "wrong on all" of the issues important to voters in the 1st distrtict, and said she had a "shockingly liberal voting record."   

Newly minted 1st Congressional District Democratic nominee Ann Kirkpatrick issued a statement Tuesday declaring, "Tonight, we are one step closer to bringing real change to Washington and it feels great."

At latest count, Kirkpatrick had 47.6 percent of the vote, as compared with Mary Kim Titla, her next closest rival, who had 32.6 percent. As of this writing, 95.7 percent of totals had been reported.

Former state representative Ann Kirkpatrick is the winner in the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary.

With around 70 percent of votes counted, Kirkpatrick has 49.8 percent of the vote, making it statistically impossible for any of her rivals to catch up.

Kirkpatrick has been the favorite in the race from the start, earning a spot in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program - a rare feat for a primary candidate. Kirkpatrick also gained the backing of the Arizona Democratic Party and a host of Democratic elected officials.

Former television personality Mary Kim Titla put up a strong showing - she now has over 31 percent of the vote. Attorney Howard Shanker's share stands at more than 13 percent, while dark horse Jeffrey Brown has gained around 6 percent.

Mary Kim Titla has raised over $100,000 from Native American tribes in Arizona and nationwide, according to a statement put out by the campaign Thursday.

"From coast to coast tribes such as Soboba Band of Mission Indians in California and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina as well as her own tribe, the San Carlos Apache Nation are among those who have enthusiastically endorsed Mary Kim Titla for Congress," said the release, which announced that Native sources have so far contributed $101,000 to her campaign. 

Both Republican Sydney Hay and Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick face primary challenges on Sept. 2, but it's hard to tell from the ads the two have been putting out. Rather than focus on bumping off the intra-party competition (Mary Kim Titla and Howard Shanker on the Democratic side, Sandra Livingstone on the Republican), the would-be rivals for the 1st Congressional District seat have been taking swipes at each other in two new ads.

Hay's attack lambastes Kirkpatrick's "opposition to drilling for American oil," and accuses Kirkpatrick of "voting for every tax increase" and casting "multiple votes against gun rights" during her time in the Arizona House of Representatives. The ad also cites the Goldwater Institute's "F" rating of Kirkpatrick's voting record to label her "one of Arizona's 'most liberal' legislators."

The Kirkpatrick campaign was quick to respond. Wednesday it unveiled a new television ad to "set the record straight."

AZ-1 Democratic candidate Ann Kirkpatrick has launched a new television add featuring Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil.  Pribil does a narrative talking about how Kirkpatrick is tough on crime.