Legislative District 13 Voting History

CURRENT LEGISLATORS

Senate
Richard Miranda (D)
Tolleson;
director of nonprofit, formercity council assistant.
Termed out in 2010.

House
Martha Garcia (D)
Phoenix;
director of Valley Community Revitalization Project.
Termed out in 2012.

Anna Tovar (D)
Tolleson; teacher, former Tolleson City Council member.
Termed out in 2016.

VOTING HISTORY

When the Independent Redistricting Commission drew boundaries of LD-13 in 2002, the historical partisan voting pattern in the district was 63.5 percent Democrat and 36.5 percent Republican. Kerry did not perform to that level in the 2004 presidential election, defeating Bush in the district 56 percent to 43 percent. Obama fared better. But with 62 percent of the vote to McCain’s 36 percent, he still fell a bit shy of 63.5 percent. Nevertheless, his margin of 25.6 percentage points was sixth largest in the state.

Napolitano’s margin of victory in the district over Munsil in the gubernatorial race of 2006 approached three to one.

Approximately 57 percent of the voters in LD-13 are in the 4th Congressional District. Those voters favored Democrat Pastor to Republican Karg by a margin of more than three to one.

The 43 percent of district voters who reside in the 7th Congressional District voted two to one for Democrat Grijalva over Republican Sweeney.

The more expansive marriage amendment in 2006 was defeated by district voters by only 577 votes (3.2 percent of 18,000 votes cast). In 2008, the narrower marriage amendment passed in the district by almost 5,600 votes (17.6 percent of 44,800 votes).

The union-sponsored minimum wage initiative passed easily in the district by a margin of more than three to one, the fifth-largest margin of any district in the state.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Only two Republicans have run in the district since 2002: Bill Johnson in 2004 and Tim Schwartz in 2008. Both ran for the House; both were easily defeated.

Only two contested Democratic primaries have occurred in the district. In 2002, former lawmaker Kathi Foster lost to Richard Miranda for the Senate nomination. In 2004 when John Loredo retired, a five-way primary resulted for his open House seat. Martha Garcia, who was then president of the Cartwright School District governing board, won the nomination and led the ticket in November, as she has in the two elections since then.

Anna Tovar, appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to replace Gallardo, who was elected to the House in 2008 but chose not to take the oath of office in January 2009, has filed committee organization papers for the 2010 election. Democrat Martin Quezada is the only other candidate to have filed for the House.

Richard Miranda is termed out from the Senate in 2010. Rep. Martha Garcia is expected to run for the open seat.

Education and jobs are among the top concerns mentioned by district voters.