Republican congressional candidate Andy Tobin.Andy Tobin declared victory Tuesday in the Republican primary in Arizona's 1st Congressional District, one week after the election.
Opponent Gary Kiehne conceded, determining that Tobin's margin of 0.6 percent, or fewer than 400 votes, was insurmountable given the few ballots left to be counted. Last week, third candidate Adam Kwasman of Oro Valley conceded.
"It’s taken a while to count the ballots in our race, and it’s now clear that we have won the Republican primary," Tobin said in a posting on his campaign website Tuesday afternoon. " ... I spent the weekend traveling our district, and everywhere I go, I hear from Arizonans of all parties that they are ready for a representative that isn’t beholden to Washington, D.C., or (Democratic leader) Nancy Pelosi."
He will face Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick in the general election.
Tobin has been speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives for the last three years and is termed out in the Legislature. He lives in rural Paulden in Yavapai County, about 30 miles outside the boundary of the 1st Congressional District.
Kiehne, a rancher and developer from Eagar in the White Mountains, lives in the district. He had never run for office before.
With an undetermined but small number of votes remaining to be counted, Tobin had 18,481, or 35.6 percent, to Kiehne's 18,157, or 35.0 percent. Kwasman had 15,069 votes, or 29.0 percent.
The sprawling district includes Oro Valley on Pima County's northern edge and runs to the Utah state line. It encompasses all or parts of 11 of Arizona's 15 counties.
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