Contents

Arizona's 8th congressional district

Arizona's 8th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative	Debbie Lesko R–Peoria
Area	9,057 sq mi (23,460 km2)
Distribution	87.3% urban 12.7% rural
Population (2022)	811,500[1]
Median household income	$79,042[2]
Ethnicity	64.3% White 21.1% Hispanic 4.5% Asian 4.5% Black 4.0% Two or more races 1.1% Native American 0.5% other
Cook PVI	R+10[3]

Arizona's 8th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It includes many of the suburbs north and west of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona. The district includes several high-income retirement communities, including Sun City West.

After redistricting for the 2012 general election, the new 8th district encompasses most of the Maricopa County portion of the old 2nd district, while most of the former 8th district became the 2nd congressional district.^[4] It is the geographic and demographic successor of the old 2nd; while the 4th district contains most of the old 2nd's land, more than 92 percent of the old 2nd's constituents were drawn into the 8th.^[5]

This seat was vacated by Representative Trent Franks on December 8, 2017. A special election was held on April 24, 2018, and won by Republican Debbie Lesko.

History[edit]

Arizona picked up an eighth congressional district after the 2000 census. It originally encompassed the extreme southeastern part of the state. It included all of Cochise County and parts of Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties. For all intents and purposes, it was the successor to what had been the 5th district from 1983 to 2003.

Longtime Republican Jim Kolbe retired in 2007, and was succeeded by Democrat Gabby Giffords, who was shot and severely wounded at a public event on January 8, 2011. Giffords resigned her seat in January 2012. A special election that was on June 12, 2012, elected Ron Barber as the new congressman.^[6]

For the 2012 election, Barber was redistricted to the 2nd district, which includes the bulk of the old 8th district. The 8th was redrawn to include nearly all of the Maricopa County portion of the old 2nd district–as mentioned above, more than 92 percent of the old 2nd's population. The district had previously been the 3rd district from 1963 to 2003. That district's congressman, Republican Trent Franks, won the election for the new 8th.

Composition[edit]

Cities of 10,000 people or more[edit]

• Phoenix – 1,624,569
• Glendale – 248,325
• Peoria – 190,985
• Surprise – 143,148
• Sun City – 39,931
• Sun City West – 25,806
• Anthem – 23,190
• New River – 17,290

Voting[edit]

John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee, was also a resident of Arizona and one of the state's two United States Senators.

List of members representing the district[edit]

Arizona began sending an eighth member to the House after the 2000 Census. Prior to this time, most of the 8th's current territory was in the 5th district.

Member (Residence)	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location[7][8][9]
District created January 3, 2003
Jim Kolbe (Tucson)	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007	108th 109th	Redistricted from the 5th district. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Retired.	2003–2013 Cochise; parts of Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz
Gabby Giffords (Tucson)	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – January 25, 2012	110th 111th 112th	Elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Resigned.
Vacant		January 25, 2012 – June 19, 2012	112th
Ron Barber (Tucson)	Democratic	June 19, 2012 – January 3, 2013		Elected to finish Giffords's term. Redistricted to the 2nd district.
Trent Franks (Glendale)	Republican	January 3, 2013 – December 8, 2017	113th 114th 115th	Redistricted from the 2nd district. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Resigned.	2013–2023 Part of Maricopa
Vacant		December 8, 2017 – May 7, 2018	115th
Debbie Lesko (Peoria)	Republican	May 7, 2018 – present	115th 116th 117th 118th	Elected to finish Franks's term. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Retiring at end of term.
					2023–present: Part of Maricopa

Complete election results[edit]

2002[edit]

2004[edit]

2006[edit]

2008[edit]

2010[edit]

2012 (special)[edit]

2012[edit]

2014[edit]

2016[edit]

2018 (special)[edit]

2018[edit]

2020[edit]

2022[edit]

See also[edit]

• Arizona's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts
• 2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Demographic information at census.gov
• 2004 Election data at CNN.com
• 2002 Election data from CBSNews.com
• Maps of Congressional Districts first in effect for the 2002 election
• Maps for the 2012 election
• Rose Institute of State and Local Government, "Arizona: 2010 Redistricting Changes: Eighth District", Redistricting by State, Claremont, CA: Claremont McKenna College, archived from the original on September 15, 2020

33°41′44″N 112°17′59″W / 33.69556°N 112.29972°W / 33.69556; -112.29972