Giffords’ October Surprise

Sure, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has captured the endorsement of the Tucson Weekly, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen in her race against Republican Tim Bee. But she was saving the big one for now–just one week before the Nov. 4 election.
That’s right: Giffords, who is married to astronaut Mark Kelly, [...]

No Game-Changer: A Delayed LiveBlog of the Giffords-Bee Debate on Education

6:30 p.m.: An hour before the debate, I notice a Giffords side by the side of Prince Road. And then another. And another. The Giffords camp has sunk signs everywhere they could along a three-mile stretch of Prince Road leading to the debate at Flowing Wells High School.
As I arrive at Flowing Wells, I notice [...]

Bee’s Latest Financial Report: $185K

Republican Tim Bee has turned in his latest financial reports with the FEC. The numbers show him once again trailing Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Bee reports raising $185,183 in the most recent period, which ended Sept. 30. That brings his total haul for the campaign to $1,426,833—or less than half of the $3 million that Giffords [...]

The Final Debate: Giffords Meets Bee Tonight! Plus: Giffords Campaign Surpasses the $3 Million Mark While DCCC Pulls Out of CD8

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords faces Republican challenger Tim Bee tonight in the last scheduled debate of the Congressional District 8 race. We’re not sure how it got scheduled on the same night as the presidential debate, but you can see the throwdown at 7:30 p.m. at Flowing Wells High School, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Road.
Speaking of [...]

Tucson Weekly Endorsement: Giffords in Congressional District 8

When we endorsed Gabrielle Giffords in 2006, it was a leap of faith based on what we knew about her. As a member of the minority party in the Arizona Legislature, Giffords hadn’t had a chance to build a long list of legislative accomplishments, although we admired her voting record on environmental and health-care issues [...]

Courting That Elusive Youth Vote

So is this the year the young’uns finally go out and vote? Who knows? Christopher Beam addressed the question earlier this week over at Slate:
In 2004, the “youth vote” was supposed to break all records. It did and it didn’t—but either way, it didn’t make a difference for John Kerry, even though he won 54 [...]

Political Theater: Giffords and Bee Play the National Issues on the Local Political Stage

When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords steamrolled to victory over Republican Randy Graf in the Congressional District 8 race two years ago, the contest was one of the most closely watched in the nation.
But this year, as Giffords faces a challenge from state Sen. Tim Bee, all the political air seems to be taken up by a [...]

The Great CD8 Debate: A Ridiculously Delayed Liveblog of the Giffords-Bee Exchange of Soundbites

In case you missed KUAT-TV’s broadcat of the debate between Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Tim Bee, you can watch it here.
Here’ our liveblog on the event from the week’s TW print edition:
7 p.m.: Moderator Christopher Conover introduces Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Tim Bee, who both get rousing applause from their fans [...]

Test Study: Why Are Politicians Afraid To Tell You Where They Stand?

Every election year, political candidates are asked one simple question: “Are you willing to tell the citizens your positions on the issues?”
Most answer “No.”
The Political Courage Test, a survey administered by Project Vote Smart, asks candidates—from presidential hopefuls to your neighborhood representative—to tell the voters where they stand on a range of serious policy options facing the [...]

No Reservations: Will Bee Get Help From NRCC?

Bad news for Republican Tim Bee’s congressional campaign against Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in Congressional District 8: Politico is reporting that the National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved ad time for the first round of television spots–and Bee is not on the rather short list.
From the report: “GOP lawmakers will focus more money and manpower on [...]