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Giffords, Mitchell not in lockstep with Dems' leadership

The Tucson Citizen

WASHINGTON - Six months into the new Congress, neither of Arizona's two freshmen House members seems to be easing into the job.

Both former Arizona state senators, Harry Mitchell of Tempe and Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson came to Washington as part of a wave of new lawmakers chosen in the Democratic sweep of last fall's elections. Now, both are trying to balance the demands of their party's majority against the challenges inherent in representing swing districts - where many of their constituents are Republicans - as Congress's overall approval ratings sink to near-record lows in national polls.

"If you had to place them on a scale within the Democratic caucus, they'd probably be right in the middle as far as ideology between the party's liberals and the party's moderate-to-conservative members," said David Wasserman, who analyzes House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. "I think that serves them well in the districts they represent."

Posted by Editor at July 7, 2007 04:43 PM

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