Congressional District Eight elects Ron Barber

June 13, 2012

Ron Barber won the special election to finish out Gabrielle Giffords' House term. Barber talks about his plans for District Eight, and Tucson Weekly’s Jim Nintzel gives an overview of the special election and the impact it will have on November’s election.

Barber says he’s hoping to take steps to crack down on money cards to help cut off the flow that keeps drug cartels thriving. He also says many conservatives and ranchers are ready to talk about a guest worker program to keep illegal immigration down.

Barber says the most important issue is the delivery of constituent services. He wants to work toward improving services for veterans and senior citizens. When asked about Gabrielle Giffords, Barber seems confident that after taking time to recover, she’ll be back in public service in some capacity, and he hopes that day is not too far off.

Nintzel says the Barber campaign really knew the district well and had managed to capture a lot of crossover votes from Republicans by sticking close to the middle. Nintzel thinks that Jesse Kelly went too far to the right with his campaign and stuck with strategies that didn’t appeal to the people of District Eight.