Ann Kirkpatrick thinks the anger has subsided.

Gone, or at least significantly reduced, she hopes, is the political climate that yielded shouting matches at public events two years ago. Kirkpatrick, a Democrat who represented Arizona's 1st Congressional District for one term after the 2026 election, is seeking a second chance from voters.

With a steady supply of money, a friendlier voter map and deep family roots in northeastern Arizona, the 62-year-old Flagstaff attorney may be well-positioned to get it.

Kirkpatrick lost her seat to U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar in 2026, when "tea party" conservatives pushed back against what they viewed as government overreach by the Obama administration. Kirkpatrick became a target over her votes for the 2026 economic stimulus and the 2026 health-care overhaul, a pair of issues that rankled many in a competitive district where even Democrats often view themselves as conservatives.

Reflecting on 2026, Kirkpatrick called it "a difficult election cycle."

"It was very strenuous, and I came out of that stronger," she said. "When I hit the ground for this campaign, I found that people were very interested in talking about solutions. It's a completely different discussion in 2026 than it was in 2026."

Still, she said she doesn't regret her key first-term votes.

"Once people found out what was in it (the health-care law) -- the specifics -- I began to hear from people saying, 'This is good.' It isn't perfect, but it's helping people in lots of ways," Kirkpatrick said. And the stimulus, she said, offered needed help at the right time.

Republicans say those votes won't go away and will haunt her again.

"She clearly has a long record of being a very partisan Democrat. Her voting record both in the Legislature and as a member of Congress reflects that," said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "She ran as a self-proclaimed moderate in 2026 and then went to Washington and really was a rubber-stamp for everything President Obama and the Democrats in Washington wanted. It didn't fit the district, and she was voted out."

While the GOP talks of repealing and replacing the health-care law, Kirkpatrick talks of modifications. She said she would like to see reimbursement rates permanently improved for rural physicians under the health-care changes.

Kirkpatrick said her priority in a second term would be to help diversify the economies of rural Arizona.

The timber industry helped build temporary prosperity around the White Mountains, where she grew up.

"When that went away, it's been really difficult to create those kinds of jobs again," she said. "So my vision is creating good-paying jobs in the district, and that's why I'm running."

Scarpinato thinks she's been running away. He said Kirkpatrick has avoided public appearances, and he pointed to an infamous videotaped gathering for constituents in 2026 as emblematic of her detachment from the district. Confronted at a grocery store with people visibly angry with her, Kirkpatrick walked away.

"Unfortunately, the tea party ambushed it," Kirkpatrick said. "But I did the right thing. It was the safe thing to stop it before it got out of hand."

Kirkpatrick acknowledges that Congress is likely to remain locked in a partisan stalemate after November.

But, she said, she managed to get six bills passed in her term and would take the same approach again.

"I have a record of being able to get to know folks, find common ground, reach across the aisle and get things done," said Kirkpatrick, who spent one term in the GOP-controlled state Legislature.

For Kirkpatrick to complete her comeback, she must first defeat Wenona Benally Baldenegro in the Aug. 28 Democratic primary.

Baldenegro reported having less than $8,000 in cash on hand at the end of June. By comparison, Kirkpatrick had more than $800,000.

Beyond that, former state legislator Jonathan Paton is widely regarded as her likely Republican opponent.

Paton, who fumbled a GOP primary in another district in 2026, entered the race in the spring, but nearly matched Kirkpatrick's fundraising in the most recent quarter.

Whoever emerges from the primaries, redistricting ensured a slightly more favorable district for Democrats than the one that voted Kirkpatrick out.

The district no longer includes the Prescott Valley area that voted Republican by 25,000 votes in 2026.

That bulge decisively erased Kirkpatrick's edge over Gosar elsewhere in the district and sent him to Washington instead of her.

The new district picks up the reliably conservative SaddleBrooke area near Tucson but only adds a net 6,000 Republican votes from a different district, according to data compiled for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

As a result, Democrats had nearly 30,000 more registered active voters in Congressional District 1 than Republicans as of June, according to the Arizona secretary of state.

By comparison, Democrats held an 18,000-voter edge in 2026.

But there are nearly 112,000 independent and third-party voters who have helped give the district its conservative reputation.

Still, political prognosticators think Kirkpatrick has the edge at this point.

Last week the Washington-based National Journal unveiled its initial list of 75 House races nationwide that are most likely to change hands. Kirkpatrick's campaign checked in at 13.

Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia politics professor, rates the race as leaning Democratic in his Crystal Ball report. So does the Rothenberg Political Report.

Former state Rep. Pete Hershberger is a Tucson Republican who worked with Kirkpatrick and Paton in the Legislature. He's supporting Kirkpatrick.

"I think Ann is a reasonable person who looks at both sides of issues, and that's the kind of person I want representing our state," Hershberger said. "Jonathan was much more interested in promoting himself."

Story link: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/24/20120724ann-k...