Republican-held seats
AZ-01: Rick Renzi (R)A recent poll by Northern Arizona University Social Research Lab provides the first empirical look at the looming showdown between freshman GOP Rep. Rick Renzi and Democratic Coconino County Supervisor Paul Babbitt. The survey provided some hopeful news to both candidates, and ultimately backs up the instincts of both Republicans and Democrats that this will be a competitive contest.
The poll (April 7-11 of 611 likely voters) gave Renzi a double-digit lead over Babbitt, although the freshman Republican was just under 50 percent, 49 percent to 38 percent.
Memories of their flawed 2002 nominee George Cordova, the surprise winner of a crowded primary, provided Democrats with the incentive they needed to clear what was shaping up to be another crowded field. As such, they coalesced around Babbitt, who also happens to be the brother of former Gov. Bruce Babbitt. On paper, Babbitt seems like the right kind of Democrat for this rural district. He boasts of deep roots in the district, pointing out that his family has lived in Flagstaff since the 1880s, and in
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