Sydney Hay

Former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick declared victory in her bid for the 1st Congressional District seat Tuesday night, as returns showed her with a substantial lead over Republican opponent Sydney Hay.

"In true Arizona spirit, we've come together regardless of party with a commitment to changing the way that Washington works," Kirkpatrick said in her victory speech, according to her campaign. "As your Representative, I will be your independent voice in the halls of Congress and I will fight for working families."

With 80 percent of the vote counted, Kirkpatrick was leading Hay by 54 to 42 percent, with under 4 percent for independent candidate Brent Maupin.

PRESCOTT -- Republican Congressional candidate Sydney Hay got a couple of plugs for her campaign in front of thousands of people who gathered in the center of Prescott to see Sen. John McCain speak Monday night.

Mike Broomhead, the KFYI talk show host who served as emcee for McCain's final campaign stop in Arizona, pointed out the 1st Congressional District candidate, who was in the VIP section of the crowd.

Chants of "Sydney! Sydney!" rose up from the roughly 4,000 assembled.

Later, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Glendale) also touted Hay's effort against Democratic candidate Ann Kirkpatrick.

Franks asked the crowd to vote for Hay, to whom he referred as "Sarah Palin from the Southwest."

Here are the Election Night happenings for congressional candidates and Sen. John McCain.

This post will be updated as events are announced.

JOHN MCCAIN:

Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa

2400 E. Missouri Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85016

This is a ticketed event. No one without a ticket will be admitted.

Former Republican presidential candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter (D-Calif) will appear with 1st Congressional District candidate Sydney Hay Monday afternoon, as the Republican nominee to the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Flagstaff) spends her last day of campaigning before the election.

The two will be at rallies in the Prescott-area towns of Cottonwood and Chino Valley, at noon and 3 p.m., respectively, to discuss "issues that both are championing; border security, which involves immigration; a strong national defense; and keeping American jobs at home," according to the advisory from the Hay campaign.

The National Rifle Association is giving the cash-strapped campaign of Republican congressional candidate Sydney Hay some help in the 1st Congressional District, according to an NRA spokeswoman.

"We've done billboards and sent out mailers to our members," said Ashley Varner, speaking on behalf of the NRA. "We've also done some radio."

Varner said she believed the radio spots and mailers went out across the sprawling 1st district, but didn't know how many billboards had been put up as well.

The Arizona Republic, citing former State Representative Ann Kirkpatrick's "pragmatic views and lack of ideological rigidity" and "her skills in mediation and conflict resolution," announced their endorsement of her candidacy to represent Arizona's 1st Congressional District in the issue hitting newsstands today. The Republic is Arizona's largest newspaper.

Roy Tyler, spokesman for the Sydney Hay campaign, told PolitickerAZ.com that the campaign's internal polling indicates a closer race in the 1st Congressional District than many are predicting.

"We've steadily gained ground," said Tyler. "We went from 12 points [behind Ann Kirkpatrick] to within single digits."

Tyler didn't release any information about the polling's methods or margin of error, nor did he reveal the specific results. However, he said it showed Hay "within three points" of her Democratic rival Ann Kirkpatrick.

The latest Cook Political Report House Update came out today and it showed two districts to be solidly Democratic and two districts to be solidly Republican. The districts in question are AZ-1, AZ-3, AZ-5 and AZ-8.

As of today Cook has rated three of those seats as likely Democrat. Cook expects Ann Kirkpatrick to likely defeat Sydney Hay in AZ-1, Harry Mitchell to likely defeat David Schweikert in AZ-5 and Gabrielle Giffords to likely retain her seat against Tim Bee in AZ-8.

Cook has AZ-3 as a closer race as he sees John Shadegg leaning towards a victory over Bob Lord.

The third quarter is over and the numbers are in.  The reports filed yesterday encompass all fundraising efforts since the September primary through the end of the month.

In AZ-1 Ann Kirkpatrick continues to outpace Sydney Hay by 2.5:1 and holds a $306K to $123K cash-on-hand advantage going into the final three weeks. Hay impressed people with her performance in the Horizon Sunday Morning Square Off (sorry my mistake) debate/forum this past week, but is facing a non-stop onslaught of ads from the DCCC in addition to the Kirkpatrick's money advantage.

Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick and Republican Sydney Hay are both taking their appeals directly to the people of the 1st Congressional District - perhaps the only way to reach voters in a sparsely populated district the size of Illinois.

As the election approaches, Kirkpatrick and Hay are touring the district, meeting face-to-face with their prospective constituents and trying to hit as many towns as possible.

Kikpatrick brought her "tour" to Clifton, Morenci and Safford on Wednesday for a series of meet-and-greets with voters and local dignitaries. Her campaign said she "will be visiting seven different communities in Gila, Greenlee and Graham Counties on this leg of the tour."

Hay has also been busy hitting town halls district-wide. Tuesday night, Hay addressed an audience at Central Arizona College in Signal Peak, after doing a similar event in Show Low. Her campaign said it had invited Kirkpatrick to participate in the town halls, but that after some discussion they'd rejected the idea.