Congressional District 1 is diverse with rural and urban populations, plus national parks, state land and tribal reservations, making it one of the unpredictable races in Arizona this election cycle.
Incumbent Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick has a voter-registration edge in the race, with 37 percent of voters in the district registered as Democrats. That compares to 32 percent independents and 30 percent Republicans.
Those independents are who Republican challenger Andy Tobin is likely to need to win the district back for his party, which held the seat in the early 2000s and again from 2011 through 2012.
If he wins, he'll have defeated Kirkpatrick's efforts at gaining a third term, her second in a row after a 2010 defeat.
Her supporters have targeted Tobin with criticism of cuts to the Arizona state budget, including education, while he was speaker of the state House of Representatives, a position he still holds.
Tobin is hoping to unseat Kirkpatrick in the sprawling district, because she is too tied to her party and Washington and not in line with Arizona, he said.
He supported state budget cuts because there was no other choice, he said.
"Here in Arizona, we can't print money, I know that Washington doesn't understand that," Tobin said.
He has criticized Kirkpatrick for supporting Obama administration policies. An example he cited is her support for closing the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, he said. That would release terrorists who could target this country, Tobin said, adding it is not in line with the values of CD1.
Kirkpatrick countered that she bucked her party when fighting some EPA regulations for coal-powered plans in the district, and said she wouldn't have been successful in office had she voted always with Democratic leadership.
"Congressional District 1 is extremely diverse, and anyone who tows that line can't represent that district well," she said.
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