Legislative District 24 Voting History

CURRENT LEGISLATORS

Senate
Amanda Aguirre (D)
Yuma;
CEO/Pres. of Regional Center for Border Health.
Termed out in 2014.

House
Lynne Pancrazi (D)
Yuma;
Realtor, retired teacher
Termed out in 2014.

Russ Jones R
Yuma;
owner of family insurance and customs brokerage business.
Termed out in 2016.

VOTING HISTORY

When the Independent Redistricting Commission drew boundaries of LD-24 in 2002, the historical partisan voting pattern in the district was almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Thus, Democrats’ large voter registration advantage did not translate into electoral victories. The conservative preference of district voters was borne out in the 2004 presidential election in which Bush defeated Kerry by more than 16 percentage points (58 percent to 42 percent). Yet, in the gubernatorial election of 2006, Napolitano defeated Munsil in the district by nearly 25 percentage points, almost as large as the margin statewide.

In 2006, voters in the district approved the more expan-sive version of the marriage amendment by nearly 9 points, while statewide the measure was defeated by 4 points. In 2008, the narrower version of the marriage amendment passed in the district by 26 points.

The union-sponsored minimum wage initiative passed in 2006 by more than 32 percentage points, slightly beating the statewide margin of 31.8 points.

McCain defeated Obama in 2008 by 14 points, greater than McCain’s statewide margin of 8.5 points.
For Congress, district voters preferred to return liberal Democrat Raul Grijalva over perennial candidate, conservative Republican Joseph Sweeney by 5 percentage points.

FINAL ANALYSIS

With a historical voting pattern difference of only 0.1 percent, this was the most competitive district in the state when lines were drawn in 2002. Voting registration has favored Democrats, but a significant percentage of rural Democrats are politically conservative and tend to vote Republican in statewide and national elections. The balance of power in this district, as in many others in the state, is in the hands of voters who are not affiliated with either major party.

For many years the district sent a mixed delegation to the Legislature.

In the 2006, Democrat Robert Cannell chose not to run for re-election to the Senate, and both House incumbents challenged for the vacancy. Russ Jones was accused of election fraud, and even though he was later exonerated, the bad publicity and lower voter turnout that year were enough to give the election to Amanda Aguirre – the Legislature’s only naturalized citizen – by 273 votes.
Democrats swept the delegation that year as political newcomers Lynn Pancrazi and Teresa Ulmer were elected to the House.

In 2008, Republicans did not challenge Aguirre, but Jones was single-shotted for the House. He defeated Ulmer to reclaim his House seat.

Education is a major issue in the district, as are concerns about illegal immigration. Taxation is important because of a high proportion of retired people in the district.