Ann Kirkpatrick

Ann Kirkpatrick
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Rick Renzi
Succeeded by	Paul Gosar
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 2nd district
In office 2005–2007
Preceded by	Sylvia Laughter[1]
Succeeded by	Christopher Clark Deschene[2]
Personal details
Born	(1950-03-24) March 24, 1950 (age 62) McNary, Arizona
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Flagstaff, Arizona
Alma mater	University of Arizona University of Arizona College of Law
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Ann Kirkpatrick (born March 24, 1950) is the former U.S. Representative for Arizona's 1st congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She earlier served in the Arizona House of Representatives. She was defeated by Republican Paul Gosar in the 2010 election. She has filed to run again in 2012.

Early life, education, and early political career

Kirkpatrick was born and raised on an Apache Indian reservation near McNary, Arizona.^[3] She is a graduate of Blue Ridge High School, the University of Arizona, and the University of Arizona College of Law.^[4]

In 1980 she became Coconino County’s first woman deputy county attorney, and she later served as city attorney for Sedona. She was a member of the Flagstaff Water Commission. In 2004, she taught Business Law and Ethics at Coconino Community College."^[5]

Arizona House of Representatives

Elections

In 2004, Kirkpatrick was elected to represent the 1st Legislative District and took office in January 2005. Kirkpatrick was elected to a second term in the state House in 2006.

Tenure

This district includes Flagstaff and the Hualapai, Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and San Juan Southern Paiute Nations. She helped pass voluntary all-day kindergarten and contribution limits to candidates for office and worked to crack down on meth dealers and cut taxes for veterans.

Committee assignments

Kirkpatrick served as the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Education K-12 Committee and Natural Resources Committee.^[5]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

On July 24, 2007, Kirkpatrick resigned from the state House to run for the Democratic nomination in Arizona's 1st congressional district. The seat was due to come open after three-term Republican incumbent Rick Renzi announced that he would not seek re-election in the face of a federal indictment on corruption charges. Kirkpatrick won a four-way primary by almost 15 points on September 2, 2008.

Kirkpatrick faced Republican Sydney Ann Hay, a conservative activist, in the general election. Despite the presence of Arizona senator John McCain atop the ticket, Kirkpatrick garnered 56 percent of the vote - a higher percentage than McCain in her district. Her victory gave the Democrats a majority of the state's House delegation for the first time in over half a century.

Kirkpatrick earned endorsements from leaders in government, education, tribal communities, first responders, and other groups. Among those endorsing her were: former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, U.S. Representative Harry Mitchell, the Arizona Education Association, the Arizona Police Association, the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs, the International Association of Firefighters, county sheriffs in Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo, and Pinal Counties, Navajo County School Superintendent Linda Morrow,Coconino County School Superintendent Cecilia Owen, Pinal County School Superintendent Orlenda Roberts, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Wendsler Nosie, White Mountain Apache Tribal Chairman Ronnie Lupe, former Navajo Nation president Peterson Zah, and many other tribal leaders.^[6] The Arizona Republic, the state's largest newspaper, and the White Mountain Independent and the Arizona Daily Sun, two of the most widely-read newspapers in the district, all endorsed her candidacy.

2010

Kirkpatrick was defeated for reelection by Republican nominee Paul Gosar. She had been endorsed by the Arizona Republic,^[7] the state's largest newspaper, as well as Coconino Supervisor Lena Fowler, Apache County Supervisor Tom White, Jr., Navajo County Supervisor Jesse Thompson, Apache County Superintendent Pauline Begay, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs, and the county sheriffs of Apache, Cononino, Gila, Greenlee, and Navajo counties.^[8]

2012

Kirkpatrick announced she would run again for her old congressional seat in 2012.^[9]

Tenure

Kirkpatrick ran on a platform of tax cuts for 86 million middle class families, making health care affordable and accessible to all, and encouraged renewable energy projects to end America's dependence on foreign energy and create jobs for rural Arizona. She supports increasing teacher salaries, expanding SCHIP, and adding a division to the army.

Kirkatrick opposed the Stupak Amendment restricting federal funding for abortions but voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which included the provision, on November 7, 2009. She voted for the Senate version of the health care bill in March 2010.^[10][11]

She supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She opposed the American Clean Energy and Security Act which, among other things, established a cap and trade system.^[12]

On behalf of Veterans, she has proposed 7 bills and successfully passed 5 bills during her short tenure, including H.R. 2879, which closes a donut hole for terminally ill veterans service members who want to collect their life insurance, and H.R. 3553, which removes disability payments as consideration of income under means-tested housing assistance.^[13]

Kirkpatrick has been actively trying to decrease the National debt. She was featured on Fox News for sponsoring bill H.R. 4720, Taking Responsibility for Congressional Pay Act, to lower the salaries of Congressional members.^[14]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment
  • Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Finance and Tax
  • Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

Electoral history

References

• "'Republic' endorses Ann Kirkpatrick for District 1"
• "The Independent Endorses Ann Kirkpatrick"
• "Make Ann Kirkpatrick of Flagstaff a bipartisan choice"
• [1]

External links

• Ann Kirkpatrick for U.S. Congress official campaign website
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Kirkpatrick and Harris Law Office
• Ann Kirkpatrick at the Open Directory Project