Harry Mitchell

Republican political strategists see plenty of opportunity in Arizona’s 5^th Congressional District. They note that Republicans have a sizable advantage in terms of voter registration for the district that takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa.

Specifically, 43 percent of registered voters are Republican, while 29 percent are independents and only 27 percent are Democrats.

Yet the district is represented by Democrat freshman Harry Mitchell, a retired high school civics teacher, who unseated six-term Republican incumbent J.D. Hayworth last year.

Those same Republican strategists refuse to concede the district as a new Democratic bastion. They insist Hayworth lost the district more than Mitchell won it. Their argument is that while Hayworth’s foaming-at-the-mouth approach to campaigning and life in general played to a certain fringe subset of voters, his approach didn’t play well to the educated voter base in the 5^th District.

GOP insiders suggest that the district will swing back as soon as a likeable Republican runs. Even though most Republicans are reluctant to discuss the topic on the record, they firmly believe it. Consider this: Six Republicans are positioning themselves to run against Mitchell.

Former state Rep. Laura Knaperek and lobbyist Jim Ogsbury are in. Plus, state Rep. Mark Anderson, former Scottsdale councilwoman Susan Bitter Smith, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jeff Hatch-Miller, and Maricopa County treasurer Dave Schweikert are taking long, looong looks.

Mitchell, who was talking up a tax-cut plan in Scottsdale on Monday, scoffed at the notion that Hayworth blew the election.

“You know, that kind of reminds me of when somebody says, ‘The reason this team won this football game is because of all the mistakes the other team made.’ Well, the reason the other team made all the mistakes is because they played a good football team,” Mitchell said.

“They can say the reason I won is because J.D. lost it. I’m not going to brag or anything, but maybe we ran a better campaign,” Mitchell said. “I’m always amazed when they don’t give a team credit for causing mistakes, the turnovers and all the other things in a football game. ‘Ah, well, they weren’t playing their normal game!’ Well, there were reasons they didn’t.”

In that case, Mitchell ran a Super Bowl-quality campaign, because nearly a year later, Hayworth still is foaming at the mouth. Only now, instead of doing it at debates and press conferences, he’s doing it on the radio.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 1:28 pm and is filed under CD 5 race, David Schweikert, Harry Mitchell, J.D. Hayworth, Jeff Hatch-Miller, Jim Ogsbury, Laura Knaperek, Mark Anderson, Susan Bitter Smith, The elephants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.