When it comes to endorsements, my own belief is that they rarely move the needle in a race. However, there is one that frequently does: the immediately previous retiring officeholder.
Today Ann Kirkpatrick and Kirsten Engel announced Rep. Kirkpatrick’s endorsement of Engel for the nomination to the 6th Congressional district of Arizona.
Kirkpatrick joins Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Former Rep. Ron Barber, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and former Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild in endorsing Engel. That’s quite a list of prominent southern Arizona officeholders, past and present.
Kirkpatrick said:
‘Kirsten Engel has been a fierce advocate for Arizona families in the State Legislature. As an environmental attorney, she understands the climate crisis we are facing and the need for action to protect our state’s
resources,”“When it comes to energy and water, she is the expert we need advocating for Arizona. Kirsten has also been a champion for our public schools – as an educator, mother, and policy maker, we have seen her show up and fight to restore funding for your children’s education.”
“Over the course of this campaign, Kirsten Engel has put Arizonans at the forefront. She listens, she shows up, and she has done the work. I believe Kirsten has what it takes to win this seat and advocate for you; join me in supporting Kirsten Engel for Congress.”
While Kirkpatrick’s district is CD2, not CD6, due to redistricting, it covers a lot of the same territory, and most importantly, largely contains the Tucson media market, though it now leans slightly Republican instead of slightly Democratic due to inclusion of more communities in Pinal County, and some parts of Greenlee and Graham Counties, and the exclusion of some areas of Tucson, tribal lands, and some border communities, in order to skew it red.
You can compare them below:
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Ann Kirkpatrick has represented my congressional district since 2019. There were a number of Democratic candidates in the 2018 election who were more interesting, but AK was the establishment pick, “the one who could win.”
So I had to vote for her, twice. And, in the past 3.5 yrs, I have no memory of her reaching out to voters for any reason other than to get elected. I’m almost certain she’s done nothing exceptional or I would have heard. No one talks about her or expected her to do much other than vote with her party.
The one thing I do remember about AK is that time she fell down in public and we found out that she’s an alcoholic. I think she went into rehab and was elected for another term, if I’m not mistaken.
I’ve always felt my CD deserved much better, especially after suffering with Martha McSally for years.
So you tell me, Michael, why is AK the endorsement whale? I wouldn’t take her advice on where to eat lunch let alone on who should get the Democratic nomination for a House seat.
SMDH.
She’s not my rep.
But her wikipedia page doesn’t make her look great.
Above Ann says Engel understands climate issues, but Ann did this:
“In 2009, as a U.S. Representative, Kirkpatrick voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey).[42] In 2015, she voted in favor of HR 2042, which blocked implementation of President Obama’s signature climate change policy, the Clean Power Plan”
Pro gun with some changes of her mind lately, (meaning 10 years too late and way too little).
She voted to allow US intelligence agencies to share info with private companies.
I guess that’s fine, since SCOTUS and the GQP says we don’t have a right to privacy anyway.
She’s on the right side of abortion, etc., but otherwise, kinda’ bad for you if you’re a school-kid or planet.
When Ann Kirkpatrick represented CD1 in northern AZ, she was very proud of her A-rating form the NRA. She was a real Annie Oakley. Then she did a complete reversal when the Democrats wanted her to run in CD2 in 2018.
AK was asked to explain how that happened, of course. I remember her answer being that when Gabrielle Giffords was shot it changed everything because she knew her. I thought that was the most stupid, rehearsed, phony answer she could have given. And it showed a stunning lack of empathy.
All the people who were shot and killed or maimed prior to Jan 8, 2011 somehow escaped her notice. The loss of those lives and the suffering endured by victims and survivors just wasn’t on her radar.
AK should never have accepted the invitation to run in CD2. She was an old woman with a drinking problem and a record that was nothing to boast about.