About Legislative District 5

The state’s two Apache Indian Reservations (San Carlos and White Mountain) lie within the district, as do parts of three national forests: Apache-Sitgreaves, Coronado and Tonto. Mining is king in the southern half of the district as one of the largest copper deposits in the world stretches from Globe in Gila County to Safford in Graham County and on to Morenci in Greenlee County. The state’s biggest copper mine is the Freeport McMoRan operation in Morenci, and the state’s newest copper mine is Freeport McMoRan’s Dos Pobres, just north of Safford.

The economic fortunes of this area are generally tied to the price of copper. The collapse of the world economy has resulted in mine closings and layoffs, reversing the economic expansion enjoyed here in mid-decade. The northern part of the district is ranching country with another significant part of the economy dependent on tourism.

District Voters

Since 2002, Democrat registration has slipped almost eight percentage points, to 39.2 percent from 47.1 per-cent. During the same time, Republican registration actually grew almost 2.5 points – making this district one of only two in the state in which GOP registration has grown in the past seven years; the other is LD-25. With 21.5 percent of voters categorized as “other,” this district is also the one with the lowest percentage of voters registered outside one of the two major parties.