It's official: Paton is running against Giffords - By DAN NOWICKI - AZ/DC Blog

Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 10:46 AM



State Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, on Sunday ended months of speculation and announced his candidacy for Congress against U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.


"Over the past year, I’ve watched the country I’ve risked my life for veer down a troubled path," said Paton, an Iraq war veteran. "Out-of-control spending. Jobs evaporating. An economy whisking down the drain. Threats of lost benefits for our seniors and higher taxes for the rest of us. Enough is enough.

"Today, I’m proud and excited to announce that I’m running for Congress to represent the community I love and to fight for the values that we share -- values, I‘m afraid, that have been cast aside and ignored by the incumbent and her friends back in Washington."

Before Paton can face Giffords, he must win the Aug. 24 GOP primary in the 8th Congressional District race. He must prevail over fellow Republicans Andy Goss, Jesse Kelly and Brian Miller. Republicans have a voter registration advantage in the Tucson-based district, which Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., carried over President Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race.


Late Saturday, Giffords put out a preemptive statement on Paton's entrance into the race. "I look forward to discussing our nation's most important issues with whomever the Republican nominee is," she said. "I remain focused on the job that my constituents hired me to do. My priorities are Arizona’s priorities -- securing our border, rebuilding the economy , supporting our military and veterans and ensuring access to affordable health care."


For his part, Paton acknowledged that Giffords, who was first elected in 2006, would be a tough general-election foe: "For this campaign, the road ahead will not be an easy one. Gabrielle Giffords is a political animal. She’s a D.C. money machine, and both (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Barack Obama will do everything in their power to ensure she remains in Congress to support their misguided policies. But we can do better -- and despite the challenging path before us, I‘m in this race to win it. And make no mistake, we are going to win."

Two Words: ADIOS GABBY!!!