/ Modified apr 18, 2012 5:56 p.m.

Kelly Turning Quickly to General Election

Other CD8 GOP candidates ponder future; Barber revs up his campaign

Republican Jesse Kelly won the CD8 GOP primary Tuesday, and with the general election just two months away, he says he's ready to hit the campaign trail.

That trail will include a battle with Democrat Ron Barber and Green Party candidate Charlie Manolakis, both of whom were unchallenged in the primary.

alt text Barber (left) began airing his first TV campaign commercial Wednesday, signaling the race is on.

Kelly (right) took 35.7 percent of the GOP vote, which was largely attributed to the name recognition he had when he began the race, after running for the same seat in 2010. alt text

Retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally finished second, with 25 percent. State Sen. Frank Antenori was third at 21.9 percent, and businessman and sports broadcaster Dave Sitton was fourth with 17.1 percent.

For Kelly, the June 12 special election is next. The others are considering their futures.

“I think this is going to be a campaign a hundred percent focused on the issues that matter to southern Arizona families, seniors, veterans," Kelly said Tuesday night. "They want to know how to lower the cost at the pump, they want to know how to get back to work, and we’re going to be presenting our plan.”

McSally said she is certain to run in the new Congressional District 2 in the fall, even as she backs Kelly in this summer’s election in District 8.

“It's a new district and a new race, and so I’m planning to do that," McSally said. "Since it’s still a short period of time between now and August and November we’re just going to keep charging forward as we’re supporting the nominee.”

Sitton also said he’s behind Kelly in the race to fill the remainder of Gabrielle Giffords’ term, and the outcome of that race will determine whether he will run in the fall.

“If one of the four candidates of this special election on the Republican side prevails in the June special election, it’s unlikely, not 100 percent no, but it’s very unlikely, that I would challenge a quasi-incumbent Republican for the seat in District 2," Sitton said.

But if Democrat Ron Barber wins in the summer election, will Sitton run in CD2 in the fall?

“That would be a possibility that I would discuss with our team and our supporters," he said.

Antenori has a similar opinion. He'll back Kelly in the fall if Kelly wins CD8.

“I’m hoping Jesse wins. If Jesse wins, he's our incumbent, so there's no need to run in CD2," Antenori said.

As results were still coming in, Sitton said he’s not ready to analyze what he could have done differently, but he acknowledged that Kelly went into the race with more name recognition because of his 2010 race, and the limited time may have been a factor.

“We could look ourselves in the mirror and our supporters in the eye and say we did the best we could with what we had in terms of time," Sitton said.

McSally also said it’s a bit early to figure out what she would do differently.

“We’ll definitely debrief in a hot wash like you do after every mission," she said. "We’re definitely not perfect but we have made an incredible effort and I have such wonderful support surrounding me and I’m just so grateful for that.“

Turnout in Tuesday's primary election was 28 percent, with the highest turnout among Pinal County voters, at 43 percent. The smallest turnout was 20 percent in Cochise County.

The special general election for Congressional District 8 will be held on June 12.

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