South East Valley bucks Ariz. Republicans, backs Romney
February 6th, 2008, 7:37 am · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
John and Cindy McCain celebrate Super Tuesday wins (Tribune photo)
Conservative Republicans in Arizona appear to have turned their back on Sen. John McCain on Super Tuesday, but were outnumbered in the huge turnout by moderates and independents who registered as Republicans to be able to cast primary ballots.
McCain won the Arizona presidential primary by wide margin over Mitt Romney and also claimed Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county. But it was a different story in Congressional District 6, which probably has the largest concentration of social conservative GOP activists in the state. CD6 covers most of the south East Valley including Mesa, Gilbert, much of Chandler and a small portion of neighboring Pinal County.
According to results from the Secretary of State, Romney received 39,743 votes compared to McCain’s 33,432 votes. CD6 also features a large number of Mormons, and Republican church members have enthusastically embraced Romney over other party challengers.
But McCain doesn’t have a problem with just Mormons. CNN is reporting that exit polling showed Romney received 47 percent of the vote statewide from Republicans who self-identified as conservatives. McCain received only 36 percent.
Interestingly, the House member who represents Congressional District 6, Rep. Jeff Flake, was on the stage at McCain’s election rally Tuesday night showing his support for Arizona’s senior senator. But it appears a majority of Flake’s Republican voters would have preferred for him to be among Romney supporters at a party in Paradise Valley instead.
The other major East Valley district, Congressional District 5, easily went to McCain as he grabbed more than twice as many votes as Romney. (Mike Huckabee came in a distant third everywhere in Arizona). CD5 includes most of Scottsdale, Tempe and Ahwatukee Foothills, and is considered to be a more moderate Republican base. While there are more registered Republican voters than Democrats, the district is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell.
