In terms of voter registration, the district is competitive, with a slight D lean - 43146 Democrats, 38065 Republicans, and 34988 Independents. The 2012 figures were similar.
As a result of the 2012 elections, the district is one of three districts in the state to send a delegation to the state capitol that has a partisan split. Democrat Steve Farley is the state senator from LD9, while Democrat Victoria Steele and Republican Ethan Orr are the state representatives from the district.
Other district-related data, relating to the 2012 elections (general election; primary election):
- In the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama won the district by slightly more than 8% of the vote; he lost the state by slightly more than 9%.
- In the 2012 US Senate race, Richard Carmona won the district by more than 15%; he lost the state by slightly more than 3%.
- In the 2012 AZ House race, Steele received 44609 votes and Orr received 42626, winning the two House seats; Democrat Mohur Sidwa received 40034 to end up in third place. In the primaries, Orr was the only candidate on the ballot in the R primary while in the D primary, Steele (11661 votes) and Sidwa (11490) won the Democratic nominations, with Dustin Cox coming in third place with 9500 votes.
-,In the 2012 AZ Senate race, Farley received 49818 votes to Republican Tyler Mott's total of 39562. Each candidate was unopposed in their respective party primaries.
Orr is one of the Republicans who voted for Medicaid restoration in this year's budget, but it doesn't look as if he is being targeted for a primary challenge yet (though the threats are there). Just the opposite, in fact; Republicans are running away from the district as fast as they can find a district where the general election is decided in the Republican primary.
To whit: former legislator Terri Proud, once a resident of LD9, has picked up her carpetbags and moved over to LD11 in her effort to return to the lege.
Evan Wyloge and Hank Stephenson of the Arizona Capitol Times have a more focused piece, on the website of the Arizona Center for Investigative Media.
