Today, U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., launches a week of meetings and events across Congressional District One with visits to Marana and Oro Valley.

Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee have elected U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., to be the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in the 113th Congress. She has also been assigned to serve on the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee.

U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., announced that she has been appointed to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in the 113th Congress. Kirkpatrick is the only Arizonan serving on either of the House committees.

With the high number of provisional and mail-in ballots last week, the state had more than 600,000 votes to count after the Nov. 6 General Election. In Pima County, election crews spent the last week going through nearly 80,000 ballots.

It appears Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick will become the representative for one of the largest congressional districts in the nation, defeating Republican Jonathan Paton in the race for Arizona’s District 1.

There are two congressional races still up in the air in Southern Arizona, as no winner as been announced in Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 2.

When the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission created Congressional District 1 last year, many couldn’t believe the size. CD1, which was created because of the state’s increase in population, is by far one of the largest congressional districts in the nation, and there are two candidates wanting to run it.

Ann Kirkpatrick is honored to announce the endorsements of law-enforcement leaders across Arizona's Congressional District 1 -- sheriffs or county attorneys from Apache, Coconino, Gila, Greenlee, Navajo, Pima and Pinal counties. Kirkpatrick has already received the endorsement of the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police.

Mayors from all across Arizona says Paton will best represent Arizona’s First District

The national Veterans and Military Families for Progress organization announced today it is endorsing Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona’s Congressional District 1 in recognition of her support of veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, and military family issues.

Republican Jonathon Paton, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, and Libertarian Kim Allen, each running for U.S. Congress, District 1, met on Monday night at the Legacy Traditional School in Marana to debate federal, state, and local issues.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission will host a debate for House of Representative and Senate candidates in Legislative District 9 at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4. The debate will be at the Pima Community College Downtown Campus located at 1255 N. Stone Avenue in Tucson.    

Democrat Nancy Young Wright received the nod of approval from former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt on Wednesday.

If Ann Kirkpatrick wants to win back her seat in Congress, she’s eventually going to have to face CD1 voters in a public setting. As a candidate for Federal office, you’d think that Kirkpatrick would want to address the people she’d be representing in Congress. Yet, so far, Kirkpatrick has refused to attend nearly every public event hosted for the CD1 Congressional candidates, including forums and debates. Her campaign has cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason for her non-appearance. However, I am convinced that this pattern stems more from Kirkpatrick not wanting to answer questions about her record in Congress than having a conflicting campaign schedule.

Kirkpatrick running from record

Jonathan Paton’s military service, combat experience in Iraq and support for the troops and veterans has earned him the support of Move America Forward, one of the nation’s largest grassroots, pro-troops organizations.

The National Republican Congressional Committee today announced that Jonathan Paton has reached ‘Young Gun’ status, the top tier of the Committee’s four-level ‘Young Gun’ recruitment program. Founded during the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ‘Young Guns’ program is a Member-driven effort that is the primary method for recruiting strong candidates for both open-seat and challenger races. Paton is running for Arizona’s First Congressional District.

We are just a couple weeks away from seeing which primary election candidates will move on to the General Election, and which ones will be finished. Early in the primary season, The Explorer said we would not be endorsing candidates, but with that stressed we would point out good points and faults in candidates who are running. We will stick to that. We will not say who you should vote for, but we are going to stick to the promise to make a few observations.

Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, a candidate in Arizona’s Congressional District 1, today is launching an “Arizona Values, Arizona First” tour in the final two weeks before the Aug. 28 primary as part of her ongoing efforts to talk with voters about issues that matter.

The White Mountain Independent, a top news source for Eastern Arizona communities including Show Low, Holbrook, St. Johns and Snowflake, endorsed Congressional District 1 candidate Ann Kirkpatrick on Friday.

Congressional District 1 Republican candidate Jonathan Paton continues to be a favorite in the primary race where he is running against Patrick Gatti and Doug Wade.

With the Primary Election just around the corner, area groups and organizations are working to give voters an opportunity to meet the candidates.

Name: Jonathan Paton

Name: Ann Kirkpatrick

Gover. Jan Brewer has endorsed Jonathan Paton for Congress in District 1.