Arizona Primary Results LIVE: Jon Kyl, Gabby Giffords Seats Up For Grabs
12:43am: Well, the three hour time difference has done in this writer. PolicyMic will have a full recap on the Arizona primary tomorrow morning. For now, live blog, out!
12:31am: With just 59% of the precincts reporting, am I bold -- read, crazy -- enough to call the GOP 6th for David Schweikert with a single digit lead? Yes I am. Schweikert has the 6 point lead and the victory. Sorry, Ben.
12:31am: The battle between Robinson and Weisser is entering "epic" territory.
12:24am: With 56% of the precincts reporting, PolicyMic is calling the Democratic 9th district primary for Kyrsten Sinema.
12:18am: A close race in the Democratic 6th between Matt Jette and John Williamson.
12:15am: Schweikert appears to be in control in the 6th against Quayle.
12:08am: With 64% of the precincts reporting, PolicyMic is calling the 5th district Republican primary for Matt Salmon.
12:05am: The Robinson-Weisser contest has gotten closer as more votes have been counted. Eight votes separate the Democrats in the 4th. Eight!
12:00am: Given the fact that it appears no candidate in either the Democratic or Republican primaries in the 9th district will win a majority of the votes cast, you may be wondering if Arizona would require a runoff election in that case. It wouldn't. The only states that require runoffs in the event a candidate does not garner a majority are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.
11:54pm: Yep, this is just your typical 12 vote spread after 16,230 ballots have been cast.
11:50: Paul Gosar has smoked Ron Gould.
11:44: A slightly neater picture is emerging on the Democratic side in the 9th district.
11:40pm: Politico just reported that Jeff Flake won the GOP senate primary. What took 'em so long?
11:39pm: It's a complete mess in the GOP House primary for the newly-created 9th district.
See, I told you.
11:33pm: David Schweikert currently beating fellow freshman GOP representative Ben Quayle in a Republican death-match.
11:31pm: Matt Salmon seems poised for victory over Kirk Adams:
11:26pm: An very close race is shaping up the Democratic primary in the 4th district between Johnnie Robinson and Mikel Weisser.
11:22pm: With 9% of precincts reporting, Paul Gosar is leading 52% to 33% in the 4th district GOP primary.
11:19pm: With 10% of the precincts reporting, PolicyMic is calling the Arizona Democratic 2nd for Ron Barber, former staffer to Gabby Giffords, who will defeat state Representative Matt Heinz.
11:14pm: I think the Arizona Secretary of State's website's horrid user interface just might crash my computer during this live blog. Bennett!
11:10pm: Well what do you know about that? Results! GOP senate primary, with a whopping 4% of the precincts reporting.
11:05pm: One hour and five minutes after the polls close and the Secretary of State's office hasn't released any returns.
10:57pm: Here's a fun fact: Paul Gosar supports sending troops two the borders and building "double layer fencing" along the U.S.-Mexico border. Unfortunately, due to the country's dire financial straits, the fence could only be four inches high.
10:46pm: Quayle is seen as having scored a political coup by securing the endorsement of the retiring Senator Jon Kyl.
10:41pm: By far the most intriguing match-up is the Republican House race in the 6th district, where two freshman incumbents, David Schweikert and Ben Quayle face off because the redictricting after the 2010 census. The race has been ugly as expected.
10:34pm: If some election returns aren't released soon, I might have to start making up results. Like a surprise write-in victory for Count Chocula in the 9th district House GOP primary.
10:25pm: Former aide to Gabrielle Giffords, Ron Barber is expected to defeat Matt Heinz quite handily in the Democratic primary for the 2nd district.
10:19pm: Jeff Flake on Fox News this past spring explaining his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a., "Obamacare":
10:17pm: Still no results being reported from the Secretary of State's office, which is unfortunate. I'm willing to be leaked one vote at a time. just give me something to go with!
10:14pm: With zero precincts reporting, PolicyMic is calling the Republican U.S. Senate primary for Congressman Jeff Flake, as he has defeated Wil Cardon. Yes, we here at PolicyMic are that good.
10:09pm: Admit it, Arizonans. This year's Republican senate primary was far less exciting without J.D. Hayworth in it.
10:04pm: Four minutes after the polls have closed, shockingly no results yet.
Aug. 28, 9:55pm: Polls in Arizona close in 5 minutes and PolicyMic will have the results as they come in. Let's do this!
Arizona voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote in several key primaries with major implications for the November general election. The two most notable seats up for grabs are those of the retiring Jon Kyl, and the seat formerly held by Gabrielle Giffords, who retired from Congress this year while she continues to recover after being shot by Jared Lee Loughner in the head.
U.S. Senate race:
Representative for Arizona's 6th congressional district Jeff Flake is heavily favored to defeat businessman Wil Cardon for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. The seat up for grabs is that of the retiring Jon Kyl, who last year announced his intention to depart the senate at the end of his term in January 2013.
The latest poll has Flake running roughshod over Cardon, 64% to 16% in what should be an anti-climactic race. Flake has been in Congress since 2003 and serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Presumptive winner Flake will go on to face Democrat Richard Carmona, who is running in his party's senate primary unopposed. Carmona is the former Surgeon General of the United States, and former Vice Admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Recent polls show a surprisingly close race shaping up between Flake and Carmona in the November general election in this red state that hasn't had a Democratic senator since 1995.
House races
2nd Democratic: Ron Barber, the ex-aide to Gabrielle Giffords who retired after being shot in the head, won a June special election to replace his former boss. He faces a primary challenge from state Representative Matt Heinz, who Barber has outraised about seven to one. Not surprisingly, polls show Barber with a gaping lead. The winner will face retired Air Force colonel Martha McSally, who successfully sued the Department of Defense in challenging a policy requiring U.S. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear abayas -- the loose-fitting robes typically worn by Saudi women.
4th Republican
Congressman Paul Gosar takes on state Senator Ron Gould. Gosar currently represents the 1st district, but because of redrawing finds himself running in what is for him largely unknown territory. Even still, Gosar has outraised Gould four to one.
5th Republican
Former Congressman Matt Salmon squares off against Arizona Speaker of the House Kirk Adams. This seat is being left vacated by Jeff Flake, who is running for U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Jon Kyl.
6th Republican
Thanks to redistricting, two incumbents duke it out. David Schweikert and Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, have been engaged in the political version of a steel cage match. Polls have consistently shown Schweikert ahead of Quayle, who during his 2010 run for Congress ran an ad in which he called Barack Obama, "the worst president in history."
9th Democratic
This is a three-person race featuring state Senator David Schapira, former state Senator Kyrsten Sinema, and former state Chairman of the party Andrei Chreny. There is no incumbent because the district was added in the after the 2010 census, which determined that the state warranted another representative.
9th Republican
The GOP field is crowded as seven candidates vie to be the first ever representative for Arizona's ninth. Notable candidates include Chandler City Councilman and Iraq war vet, Martin Sepulveda, retired Lieutenant Colonel Wendy Rogers, Paradise Valley mayor Vernon Parker, and former CIA officer Leah Campos Schandlbauer. Sepulveda and Rogers are the only candidates to crack the six-figure fundraising mark.
Polls close at 7pm Mountain time, 10pm Eastern. Yes that's correct. Since Arizona does not adjust to daylight savings time, in the summer months there is a three hour gap between the Eastern time zone and Arizona, whereas the gap is two for other Mountain time regions.
