Arizona's 2nd congressional district

Arizona's 2nd congressional district
Current Representative		Trent Franks (R)
Area	20,219 mi²
Distribution	89% urban, 11% rural
Population (2000)	641,329
Median income	$42,432
Ethnicity	85.5% White, 2.2% Black, 1.7% Asian, 14.2% Hispanic, 2.2% Native American, 6% other
Cook PVI	R+13

Arizona's 2nd congressional district contains the northwestern corner of the state and most of the western suburbs of Phoenix as well as a small portion of the city itself.

The odd shape of the district is indicative of the use of gerrymandering in its construction. The unusual division was not, however, drawn to favor politicians. Owing to historic tensions between the Hopi and the Navajo Native American tribes and since tribal boundary disputes are a federal matter, it was thought inappropriate that both tribes should be represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by the same member. Since the Hopi reservation is completely surrounded by the Navajo reservation, and in order to comply with current Arizona redistricting laws, some means of connection was required that avoided including large portions of Navajo land, hence the narrow riverine connection.

The district is currently represented by Republican Trent Franks.

Competitiveness

The district consists of all of Peoria and Surprise and portions of Glendale in Maricopa County, all of Mohave County, and the Hopi Nation in Navajo and Coconino counties. Despite the size and diversity of the district, the wide majority of its population lives in the strongly conservative western suburbs of Phoenix, making this a fairly safe Republican seat.

George W. Bush carried the district in 2004 with 61% of the vote. Native son John McCain won the district in 2008 with 60.75% of the vote while Barack Obama received 38.07%.

During the Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008 Arizona Democratic Primary, the district was won by Hillary Rodham Clinton with 54.52% of the vote while Barack Obama received 35.62% and John Edwards took in 7.43%. In the Arizona Republican Primary, the 2nd District was won by favorite son John McCain with 49.51% while Mitt Romney received 29.51% and Mike Huckabee took in 10.46% of the vote in the district.

Voting

Representatives

Recent results

Prior to 2002, nearly all of the territory now in the 2nd District was the 3rd District. Most of what was the 2nd District prior to 2002 is now Arizona's 7th Congressional District.

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

References

1. Demographic data from census.gov
2. 2004 Election data from CNN.com
3. 2002 Election data from CBSNews.com
4. 2000 Election data from CNN.com
5. 1998 Election data from CNN.com