Jesse Kelly Wins GOP Primary For Special Election To Fill Gabrielle Gifford's Seat

The Iraq War vet and small business owner won pretty handily in a four way primary. Now it's on to the June special election.

Jesse Kelly won the Republican primary for Arizona's 8th Congressional District Tuesday and will now take on Democrat Ron Barber in a special election to decide who completes former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' term, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

...

Barber, who served as Giffords' district director and took two bullets in the shooting, has been endorsed by the former congresswoman. He has already raised more than $500,000 for the June special election.

Kelly ran against Giffords in 2010 losing by less than 2%. I profiled Kelly during that race, highlighting his views on "bi-partisanship".

Kelly, an Iraq war veteran who grew up in Montana and has never held elective office, scoffs at the idea of bipartisanship.

"Bipartisanship in Washington means Republicans selling out their conservative principles in order to appear nice on MSNBC," he told a town-hall meeting at the Oro Valley Country Club.

It's going to be a tough race given the emotions around the Gifford's shooting and his opponent already has a head-start, so if you have any money left after tax day, you might want to consider supporting Kelly.

posted by DrewM. at 05:23 PM

| Access Comments