Rebekah L. Sanders

The Republic | azcentral.com

Democrats held onto at least two of Arizona's three competitive U.S. House seats, as Republican challengers Andy Tobin and Wendy Rogers conceded their races Wednesday morning.

The victories by Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema are rare bright spots for Democrats against a backdrop of nationwide gains by Republicans who appealed to midterm voters weary of the president's party.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Ron Barber was in danger of losing his seat. Less than 100 votes separated Barber and Republican Martha McSally on Wednesday morning, with ballots left to be counted in Cochise County, a GOP-friendly area, and Pima County, which trends Democratic.

Tobin congratulated Kirkpatrick on her victory in the race for northern Arizona's 1st District and said he was proud of the eight years he served in the Arizona Legislature, half of them as House leader.

"I had the opportunity to serve with outstanding legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, to see our great state through some of its most challenging days," he said in a statement.

Kirkpatrick made no mention of Tobin in a statement issued following his concession. She did not attend her Election Night party.

"Last night, rural Arizona stood up to Washington and gave its partisan games the boot," she said. "I am deeply honored that the voters of Arizona's 1st Congressional District have asked me to continue representing them. Now, let's get back to work."

Rogers also did not mention Sinema in a statement acknowledging her loss in the Tempe-based 9th District, where she was solidly beaten.

"I ran for Congress because of my concern over the direction America is heading in, and I hope that, for the good of our country, Congress will work to turn our nation around and put a stop to the Obama agenda," she said in her concession statement.

Barber's race echoes his 2012 showdown with McSally, who came within a percentage point of beating him. The vote count in southern Arizona's 2nd District was so close at that time that the race wasn't called for days. McSally and Barber attended freshman lawmaker orientation in Washington.

Barber sounded a confident tone at his Tucson Election Night party, while McSally urged supporters to be patient until the ballots were counted.

Barber's campaign predicted a victory Wednesday:

"This isn't our first rodeo. Two years ago, we woke up the day after the election with a significant vote deficit, but when the last early ballots were counted, Ron triumphed," spokeswoman Ashley Nash-Hahn said in a statement. "Vote counts will go up and down ... but in the end ... we're fully confident ... Ron Barber will win another term in Congress."

Republicans hoped to flip all three Arizona toss-up seats.

But a number of factors hurt the party, said GOP consultant Brian Murray. One issue was Tobin's bruising primary that damaged him going in to the general election, he said.

The 2014 election season was marked by unprecedented spending by outside political groups. Together the groups poured more than $25 million into House races in Arizona.

Among the biggest surprises of the midterms was the "Obamacare" fizzle. Democrats had vowed to tout coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. Republicans were expected to hammer Democrats over the botched rollout of the health-care law. Instead the issue was largely background noise.

In the final weeks of the election season, campaigns turned to exploiting voters' growing fear over Islamic State terrorism and border security. One ad warned that "evil forces" would cross the Mexican border.

Many Democrats maintained an arm-length distance from President Barack Obama, as his public favorability sank.

1st Congressional District

In the most expensive race in the state, Kirkpatrick, the incumbent Democrat, beat Tobin in rural eastern Arizona. Her victory ended the seat's recent history of flipping between the major parties each election.

Kirkpatrick criticized Tobin as an outsider, since he lives outside the district, and showed off her broken-in cowboy boots to play up her roots there.

Tobin painted Kirkpatrick as an Obama foot soldier since she voted for the Affordable Care Act and other party priorities. Kirkpatrick failed to defend the district against onerous environmental regulations, Tobin argued, which could shutter parts of coal plants in the district and destroy jobs.

2nd Congressional District

Barber was tied with McSally in their southern Arizona rematch.

Gabby Giffords, the former Tucson congresswoman who resigned after she was injured in an assassination attempt, reprised her active role in the race. Barber, a Giffords aide who was injured in the attack, replaced her in 2012.

Giffords' political group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, spent more than $2 million to attack McSally because of her stances on gun control.

McSally touted her military experience as the first female Air Force pilot to fly in combat. She argued she would better defend Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from budget cuts to the A-10.

9th Congressional District

Sinema triumphed over Rogers in the Tempe-based district.

Sinema, a former anti-war protester, promoted her work on Veterans Affairs reform and family ties to the military.

Rogers touted her 20 years in the Air Force, attacking Sinema as weak on national security.