Kirkpatrick, Hay to fight for Renzi seat

A Democrat who raised a hefty amount of money and a Republican lobbyist who has never held elected office will battle each other in November to succeed embattled Republican Rep. Rick Renzi in Arizona's 1st Congressional District.

Ann Kirkpatrick, a Flagstaff lawyer and former state legislator, easily beat out three other Democrats in the district primary Tuesday with 23,557 votes, or 48 percent, with 97 percent of precincts reporting.

Trailing her were former longtime TV broadcaster Mary Kim Titla with 16,145 votes, or 33 percent, and Flagstaff attorney Howard Shanker with 6,930 votes, or 14 percent. Another candidate had 6 percent.

``We're one step closer to bringing real change to Washington, and it feels great,'' Kirkpatrick said after winning her party's nomination.

Sydney Hay, a mining industry lobbyist, won by a smaller margin among a field of four Republicans. She had 15,493 votes, or 39 percent, with 97 percent of precincts reporting.

Sandra Livingstone, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Human Dignity International, had 13,887 votes, or 35 percent. Two other Republicans trailed far behind.

``I will celebrate for about 10 minutes,'' Hay said, ``then I'll have to jump in and work very hard on what's going to be a very challenging, hard-fought general election on issues that matter for Congressional District 1.''

Livingstone wasn't ready to concede. She said she will be looking into whether any election laws were violated and will request a re-count. ``When it's this close, we just have to be sure that everything is above board,'' she said.

Democrats vying for the largely rural Arizona seat raised twice as much as Republican candidates, led by Kirkpatrick, who had the financial backing of Democrats nationwide and a key endorsement from Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Kirkpatrick has begun looking forward to the Nov. 4 general.

``We've got a tough race, a huge district, and we've got 62 days to bring this home,'' she said. ``So we're going to beef up our operation, work extremely hard and get things done.''

Kirkpatrick and Hay also will face Independent Brent Maupin in the general election.

Political analysts say the Democratic candidate will have a slight edge over the Republican because of the suspicion surrounding Renzi, a national surge of enthusiasm and financial support for Democrats, and because no Republican candidate in the race attracted a lot of money, had big name recognition or had held elected office.

Renzi, who is not running for re-election, was indicted this year on charges that he engineered a swap of federally owned mining land to benefit himself and a former business partner.

He allegedly told groups seeking the rights to a copper deposit that they would have to buy land owned by his partner to win required congressional approval for an exchange of federal land.

Authorities also contend that he stole from clients of his family owned insurance company to help finance his first congressional campaign.

Renzi, 50, has pleaded not guilty and said he will not resign because he is innocent. He is scheduled to go on trial in federal court in Tucson next spring.

The district, larger than Pennsylvania at more than 58,000 square miles, has been Renzi's since he won it in 2002. His decision not to run again allowed the race to become one of the country's most competitive in the eyes of political analysts and both political parties.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by nearly 25,000. About 367,000 voters are registered in the district, the largest in the state and the 10th largest in the nation.

In another Arizona race, David Schweikert, a former Maricopa County treasurer, held a 790 vote lead in the 5th Congressional District.

Schweikert had 12,289 votes, or 30 percent, with all precincts reporting. His closest rival, Susan Bitter Smith, who serves on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board of directors, had 11,499 votes, or 28 percent.

The winner of the GOP primary will challenge Harry Mitchell, a one-term Democrat, who wrested the seat away from J.D. Hayworth two years ago. The district includes numerous affluent neighborhoods as it sweeps through Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Tempe, parts of Mesa, Chandler and east Phoenix.