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BISBEE — Being a congressional representative is not a job title, it’s a job description, Gabrielle Giffords told about 50 people Sunday afternoon. Saying retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is the person who made that comment, Democrat Giffords promised she would more than carry a title by working hard to be a representative. She made her comments to an audience at Bob and Estellean Wick’s Bisbee home, outlining what she wants to achieve, not if, but when she is elected on Nov. 7. Saying her Republican opponent, Randy Graf, is out of touch of the needs facing the district...

National Guard keeps eyes on border Guard's hands-off approach tightens border security By Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.21.2006Senior Airman Jeremiah Steele stands guard east of Nogales. Apprehensions and deaths in the Tucson Sector have dropped since the National Guard arrived. Perched on a hilltop near the border in the rolling hills east of Nogales, National Guard Tech. Sgt. Nick Livingston and his crew scan the horizon from east to west looking for illegal border crossers. With rifles at their sides, binoculars around their necks and bulletproof vests underneath their camouflage fatigues, Livingston, 33, of Cincinnati,...

To hear the liberal media, the Democratic Party and a few disgruntled liberal Republicans tell it, the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Kolbe (R.-Ariz.) is already lost to the Democrats. Republican nominee Randy Graf would save himself a month of aggravation by conceding now, they will tell you, and Democrat Gabrielle Giffords can start hiring staff and contacting real estate agents in Washington, D.C. To all that, conservatives throughout Arizona’s 8th District and nationwide should chorus in unison: “You’re dreaming!”

District 8 race offers challenge, rare opportunity By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.15.2006 As one of a select number of truly competitive congressional districts, the diversity of Southern Arizona's 8th cannot be overstated. Juxtaposing chi-chi Foothills neighborhoods with high-poverty border towns — swallowing in Bohemian artists enclaves and straight-laced family populated suburbs, the district presents a unique political challenge. And with the retirement of Rep. Jim Kolbe, a rare opportunity for the aspiring. That's precisely why the seat was supposed to be one of the most competitive races in the nation. But since the...

McCain backs Minuteman Graf; Giffords wants Hastert to resign The Business Journal of Phoenix - October 8, 2006 by Mike Sunnucks The Business Journal Arizona Sen. John McCain has endorsed conservative Tucson congressional candidate Randy Graf despite a split between the two on immigration and the Mexican border. Graf is also a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a controversial group that patrols U.S. border and wants tougher immigration controls. The Minutemen have opposed McCain's approach to immigration, including a guest worker program. Graf faces an uphill climb against Democratic rival Gabrielle Giffords in a southeastern Arizona U.S. House...

McCain supports Graf for House seat By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.08.2006 Republican congressional candidate Randy Graf has won the endorsement of political superstar John McCain — a significant step, the campaign says, toward unifying moderates and conservatives. "Randy Graf's record as a state representative has demonstrated his commitment to the values important to the people of Arizona," McCain said in a written statement provided to the Arizona Daily Star. "His voting record on issues such as supporting our military, reducing taxes and reining in election and welfare fraud bodes well for his future...

Another Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications. A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline. source with direct knowledge of...

Tucson Chamber backs Napolitano An influential business group is endorsing Gov. Janet Napolitano's election effort. The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is backing Napolitano, a Democrat, over Republican challenger Len Munsil in this year's governor's race. Napolitano has carved out a moderate, pro-business path since becoming governor in 2003. That includes approving business and Republican-backed tax cuts the past two legislative sessions. Napolitano is favored to win over Munsil, a social conservative and Scottsdale attorney. Munsil was head of the Center for Arizona Policy, a Scottsdale-based Christian conservative group, before entering the governor's race. The Tucson chamber and a number...

Call 520-887-2984!! And call it now! The #1 issue for Republican Randy Graf is stopping illegal immigration, defending our borders and protecting US national sovereignty. Randy is also a rock solid conservative on both economic and social issues and he is pro gun rights. Randy Graf needs your help! Randy Graf is just like Tom Tancredo and we need a lot more Tom Tancredos in Congress. The number one race for conservatives in the USA is the Randy Graf campaign for Congress in Arizona, district #8. Nationwide grassroots conservatives can help Randy win by 1) sending money and 2) making...

Karl Rove Offers Pep Talk to Arizona GOP by Patrick McNamara Posted Oct 02, 2006 TUCSON, ARIZ.—In hopes of keeping Arizona’s 8th District in Republican hands, White House adviser Karl Rove came to town last Friday with this message: Democrats can’t be trusted to fight the War on Terror. At the fundraising event organized by the Arizona Republican Party, Rove—the man President Bush calls “the architect”—derided the Democratic congressional leadership for a “cut-and-run philosophy on terror.” “We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can walk out on Iraq—without having won—and not embolden the terrorists,” Rove told the crowd of Arizona...

I thought this link would be of value regarding the AZ district 8 election. If you go to the link http://tray.com/cgi-win/x_IndepExp_SQL_By_State_Date.exe?DoFn=&Count=20060901&sYR=2006 You will find the following from about 8/22 to 9/22: 1. The NRCC spent about 100,000 dollars supporting Huffman. 2. The DCCC spent about 200,000 dollars opposing Huffman and about 0 dollars opposing Graf. 3. The Minutemen have spent about 45,000 supporting Graf 4. After the primary, the RNCC spent about 16,000 supporting Graf and about 70,000 opposing Giffords. From this I conclude that the Democrats wanted to run against Graf and not Huffman. The Republicans wanted Huffman to...

Tucson Region AdWatch: The Star's ongoing evaluation of the record versus the rhetoric in campaign ads Giffords' TV ad addresses America's safety By Josh Brodesky arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.01.2006 advertisement Today: We look at an ad for Democrat Gabrielle Giffords. The Race: Congress, District 8. Medium: A 30-second television ad. The Message: The ad begins with an image of cargo containers as a narrator says, "our ports uninspected." The message is re-emphasized by a graphic stating "one in 20 ports inspected." It then cuts to an image of a dirt road slicing across the desert as...

Tucson Region Political Notebook Despite Giffords' gripe, ad still on air By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.01.2006 Democrat Gabrielle Giffords wants a new television ad criticizing her taken off the air, but Cox Media has no plans to pull it. In a letter sent Wednesday from Giffords' attorney to Cox Media, the campaign urges the company to take an ad paid for by the Minuteman Political Action Committee off the air since the Minutemen haven't been able to clearly back up claims they make about Congressional District 8 candidate Giffords in the ad. In the...

Trip Comes Amid New Reports Linking Rove to Indicted Former Republican Lobbyist Jack Abramoff9/29/2006 6:14:00 PM To: State Desk Contact: Luis Miranda of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148 WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following release was issued today by the Democratic National Committee: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Arizona Republican Party has gone to desperate measures today by bringing GOP fear and smear king Karl Rove to Tucson and Scottsdale to raise campaign cash. But, Rove is lucky to be getting out of Washington and avoiding questions raised in a new a bipartisan Congressional report,...

Opinion Guest Opinion: John Kromko Demos losing poor Hispanic voters who want effective border security Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.25.2006 In 2004, Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, which cut some social services for illegal aliens. While impacts of this proposition have been frequently debated, one profound aspect has been ignored: the poorer a voter was, the more they supported Prop. 200, regardless of ethnicity. In heavily Hispanic precincts, about 40 percent to 45 percent of voters voted for Prop. 200, about the same percentage that voted for Bush. If you're wealthy, an alien probably won't take your job or...

Poll results District 8, U.S. House Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat: 48.4% Randy Graf, Republican: 35.7% David Nolan, Libertarian: 1.4% Jay Quick, independent: 1.1% Undecided: 13.4% Margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. Survey of 600 likely voters in Congressional District 8 Sept. 16-19. Name the single most important issue when deciding whom to vote for: Border Control/Immigration: 45.8% War in Iraq: 10.7% Candidates' experience: 8.5% Party affiliation/Support for President Bush: 7.4% Health care: 7.2% Education: 5.8% Rate the importance of these issues when deciding whom to vote for: Important or very important Immigration: 82.3% War on terror: 82.2% War in...

Tucson Region National Demos pulling Dist. 8 ads Republicans earlier did the same in Graf-Giffords race By Daniel Scarpinato arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.23.2006 advertisement National Democrats, following the lead of their Republican counterparts, yanked money out of the District 8 congressional race Friday. The move indicates the diminished level of national influence and interest — at least for now — in what has long been considered a competitive race. On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee made the first move by canceling plans to run nonstop advertising through the Nov. 7 election. Now, Democrat Gabrielle...

  PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2006: Primary School Lessons from last week's election By JIM NINTZEL Why did Randy Graf kick Steve Huffman's ass in the Congressional District 8 GOP primary? Huffman had plenty of advantages in this race: The backing of the business community, a campaign war chest packed with more than $670,000 (we'll be really interested in seeing the final spending figures when he files his next Federal Election Commission report), six-figure support from the National Republican Congressional Committee, the endorsement of outgoing Congressman Jim Kolbe and the general perception that he was the moderate alternative to...

The Democratic party is upset that former Ku Klux Klan leader and Louisiana State Rep. David Duke put a link on his Web site to District 8 GOP congressional candidate Randy Graf's site. Graf's campaign swiftly denounced Duke after the Arizona Democratic Party sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon suggesting Graf is associated with the controversial figure. The link on Duke's Web site is the only evidence offered to support the allegation. "We have no ties nor have we ever had ties with David Duke or any of his racist crazies," said Graf campaign manager R.T. Gregg. The link...

--Advertisement-- --Advertisement-- Evolving wisdom and original reporting from the staff of the Hotline « WH 08: "Run, Tom, Run" | Main | The Big Number: 30 » September 08, 2006 House Race Hotline Update: Huff Over Huffman An unusual GOP primary is taking place 9/12 in AZ 08, where the NRCC is attacking front-runner Randy Graf while the DCCC is rooting for him. Graf has a loyal base of support because of his hard-line stance on immigration. But many GOPers fear he's unelectable in the general. Instead, they're spending over $100K to back state Rep. Steve Huffman, who fits...