GOP picks up seat long held by Brown in LD5

Republicans picked up a House seat in Legislative District 5 long held by Rep. Jack Brown, a St. Johns Democrat who is retiring.

Republicans Chester Crandell and Brenda Barton easily outdistanced Democrats Prescott Winslow and Bill Shumway in the Nov. 2 election, according to unofficial election results.

Brown, a rancher and real estate broker, had been continuously elected to the Legislature since 1989. Before that, he had served a 12-year stint, beginning in 1963.

Crandell is an assistant superintendent Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology and is a lobbyist for the school. Barton is a seventh generation Arizonan who ran on a tough fiscal platform.