Arizona's 1st congressional district

Arizona's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. Geographically, it is the eleventh-largest congressional district in the country and includes much of the state outside the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas. Since 2013, it includes the Navajo Nation, the Hopi reservation and the Gila River Indian Community, with 25% of the population being Native American. The district has more Native Americans than any other congressional district in the United States.[4] It is currently represented by Democrat Tom O'Halleran.

Arizona's 1st congressional district
Arizona's 1st congressional district - since January 3, 2013
Representative	Tom O'Halleran D–Sedona
Area	58,608 sq mi (151,790 km^2)
Distribution	55.4% urban 44.6% rural
Population (2019)	782,088[1]
Median household income	$56,117[2]
Ethnicity	51.7% White 22.6% Native American 16.4% Hispanic 7.5% other 1.3% Black 0.5% Asian
Cook PVI	R+2[3]

History

When Arizona was first divided into congressional districts as a result of the 1950 Census, the 1st district comprised all of Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, while the rest of the state was in the 2nd district. In a mid-decade redistricting resulting from Wesberry v. Sanders in 1967, the 1st was cut back to eastern Phoenix and most of what became the East Valley.

Over the years, the 1st's share of Phoenix was gradually reduced due to the area's explosive growth in the second half of the 20th century. However, it remained based in the East Valley until Arizona picked up two seats in the 2000 U.S. Census. The old 1st essentially became the 6th district, while a new 1st district was created to serve most of the state outside of Phoenix and Tucson.

After the 2012 redistricting, the Hopi reservation was drawn into the 1st district; it had previously been included within the 2nd district. Also included were some northern suburbs of Tucson that had been in the 8th, as well as a tiny section of Phoenix itself near the Gila River Indian Community. Meanwhile, heavily Republican Prescott, the old 1st's largest city, and much of surrounding Yavapai County were drawn into the new, heavily Republican 4th district. The district is now considered to be significantly more competitive for Democrats.

External links

• Map of Congressional Districts first in effect for the 2002 election
• Tentative Final Congressional Map for the 2012 election

Areas covered

It covers the entirety of the following counties:

• Apache County
• Coconino County
• Graham County
• Greenlee County
• Navajo County

The district covers the majority of:

• Pinal County

Small portions of the following counties are also covered:

• Gila County
• Maricopa County
• Mohave County
• Pima County
• Yavapai County

Competitiveness

This large congressional district covers the mainly rural areas of northern and eastern Arizona. Democrats perform well in Flagstaff, Sedona, and the Navajo Nation among Native Americans, while Republicans are strongest in the more rural white areas. Elections are usually decided by conservative "Pinto Democrats" throughout the rural areas. Due to its vast size, it is extremely difficult to campaign in and has few unifying influences.

George W. Bush received 54% of the vote in this district in 2004. John McCain also carried the district in 2008 with 54.4% of the vote while Barack Obama received 44.3%. In the 2012 presidential election Mitt Romney (R) won with 50% of the vote, with Obama receiving 48%. Due to intense competition, this is generally considered a swing district. The redistricting has increased the number of historically Democratic voters.

During the Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008 Arizona Democratic Primary, the district was won by Hillary Clinton with 48.5% of the vote, while Barack Obama received 42.2% and John Edwards took 5.0%. In the Arizona Republican Primary, the 1st district was won by McCain with 46.0% while Mitt Romney received 35.2% and Mike Huckabee took in 11.7% of the vote in the district.

Tom O'Halleran (D) won the congressional seat in 2016. The district was considered very competitive for both parties in the 2016 primaries and general election.

Voting

Election results from statewide races
Year	Office	Results
2000	President	Bush 51 – 46%
2004	President	Bush 54 – 46%
2008	President	McCain 54 – 44%
2012	President	Romney 50 – 48%
2016	President	Trump 48 – 47%
2020	President	Biden 50 – 48%

List of members representing the district

Arizona gained a second congressional seat after the 1940 Census. It used a general ticket to elect its representatives until the 1948 elections, when candidates ran from each of the districts.

Member	Party	Term	Cong ress	Electoral history	Geographical area[5][6][7]
John R. Murdock	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	81st 82nd	Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Lost re-election.	1949–1967: Maricopa County: Metro Phoenix
John J. Rhodes Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1983	83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	Elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Retired.
					1967–1983: Part of Maricopa County: Metro Phoenix
John McCain	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987	98th 99th	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	1983–2003: Part of Maricopa County: Parts of Metro Phoenix (East Valley)
John J. Rhodes III	Republican	January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993	100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Lost re-election.
Sam Coppersmith	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995	103rd	Elected in 1992. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Matt Salmon	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001	104th 105th 106th	Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Retired to run for Governor of Arizona.
Jeff Flake	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2003	107th	Elected in 2000. Redistricted to the 6th district.
Rick Renzi	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009	108th 109th 110th	Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Retired.	2003–2013: North and East Arizona: Apache County, Gila County, Graham County, Greenlee County, Yavapai County, and parts of Coconino County, Navajo County, and Pinal County
Ann Kirkpatrick	Democratic	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011	111th	Elected in 2008. Lost re-election.
Paul Gosar	Republican	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013	112th	Elected in 2010. Redistricted to the 4th district.
Ann Kirkpatrick	Democratic	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017	113th 114th	Elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	2013–present: Apache County, and parts of Coconino County, Gila County, Graham County, Greenlee County, Maricopa County (part Navajo County, Pima County, Pinal County
Tom O'Halleran	Democratic	January 3, 2017 – Present	115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020.

Recent election results

2002

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rick Renzi	85,967	49.2%
	Democratic	George Cordova	79,730	45.6%
	Libertarian	Edwin Porr	8,990	5.2%
Majority			6,237	3.6%
Total votes			174,687	100.0
	Republican hold

2004

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rick Renzi (Incumbent)	148,315	58.5%
	Democratic	Paul Babbitt	91,776	36.2%
	Libertarian	John Crockett	13,260	5.2%
Majority			56,539	22.3%
Total votes			253,351	100.0
	Republican hold

2006

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rick Renzi (Incumbent)	105,646	53.2%
	Democratic	Ellen Simon	88,691	44.7%
	Libertarian	David Schlosser	4,205	2.1%
Majority			16,955	8.5%
Total votes			198,542	100.0
	Republican hold

2008

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ann Kirkpatrick	155,791	57.5%
	Republican	Sydney Ann Hay	109,924	40.5%
	Independent	Brent Maupin	4,124	1.5%
	Libertarian	Thane Eichenauer	1,316	0.5%
Majority			45,867	16.9%
Total votes			271,155	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2010

Arizona's 1st Congressional District House Election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Paul Gosar	112,816	49.7%
	Democratic	Ann Kirkpatrick (Incumbent)	99,233	43.7%
	Libertarian	Nicole Patti	14,869	6.6%
Majority			13,583	6.0%
Total votes			226,918	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

2012

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ann Kirkpatrick	122,774	48.8%
	Republican	Jonathan Paton	113,594	45.2%
	Libertarian	Kim Allen	15,227	6.0%
Majority			9,180	3.7%
Total votes			251,595	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2014

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ann Kirkpatrick	97,391	52.6%	+3.8%
	Republican	Andy Tobin	87,723	47.4%	+2.3%
Majority			9,568	5.2%	+1.6%
Total votes			185,114	100.0
	Democratic hold

2016

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tom O'Halleran	142,219	50.7%
	Republican	Paul Babeu	121,745	43.3%
	Green	Ray Parrish	16,746	6.0%
Majority			20,474	8.8%
Total votes			280,710	100.0
	Democratic hold

2018

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tom O'Halleran (Incumbent)	143,240	53.8%
	Republican	Wendy Rogers	122,784	46.2%
Majority			20,456	7.6%
Total votes			266,024	100.0
	Democratic hold

2020

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District House Election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tom O'Halleran (Incumbent)	188,469	51.6%	-2.2
	Republican	Tiffany Shedd	176,709	48.5%	+2.3
Total votes			365,178	100.0
	Democratic hold

See also

• Arizona's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

General

1. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
2. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
3. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
4. "Can Navajo Nation help rescue endangered Dem Congresswoman?". ABC News. October 8, 2010.
5. Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, 1789-1983. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
6. Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
7. Congressional Directory: Browse 105th Congress Archived February 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

Specific

• Demographic data from census.gov
• 1998 election data from CNN.com
• 2000 election data from CNN.com
• 2002 Election Data from CBSNews
• 2004 Election Data from CNN.com
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Rose Institute of State and Local Government, "Arizona: 2010 Redistricting Changes: First District", Redistricting by State, Claremont, CA: Claremont McKenna College, archived from the original on September 15, 2020