Arizona has some mighty funny congressional districts and the 1st is no exception. The district contains 5 complete counties (Apache, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, and Yavapai) and parts of 3 others (Coconino, Navajo, and Pinal). That’s 8 out of Arizona’s 15 counties! Not only that, but the 2nd district contains a portion of the 1st district’s territory in a way that can only be explained by referring you to the map . (The hashed areas on the map are Indian reservations.)

Our representative for the last several terms has been Republic Rick Renzi, who has been indicted on a number of fraud charges for a land deal (imagine that happening in Arizona . He did not run again, and the national Democrat congressional committee pumped millions of dollars to this district to run negative ads agains Republican Sydney Hay, who ended up losing handily to Ann Kirkpatrick, a liberal Democrat state lawmaker who masqueraded as a conservative to win in a generally Republican district (55.8%-39.6%)

The following list shows the % of total votes by county and the %margin for Hay (+ means pro-Republican) in the 1st district:
Apache 8.7% (-51.4%)
Coconino 17.9% (-34.8%)
Gila 7.9% (-9.1%)
Graham 4.3% (+10.4%)
Greenlee 1.0% (-23.1%)
Navajo 12.4% (-17.4%)
Pinal 13.5% (-22.2%)
Yavapai 34.3% (+0.5%)

As you can see, it was a bad cycle for the GOP. In Yavapai county, we generally go around 60-40 for Republican candidates, and that was true for John McCain (61.1-36.8). But Sydney Hay didn’t fare so well. That was probably due to her being outspent probably 8:1.

Yavapai County (Prescott) is very conservative, but Coconino County (Flagstaff) and the reservations are liberal strongholds. Immigration is a big issue here, but so are taxes and the environment. Party organization is pretty conventional, organized by counties with a few additional clubs. I will list below the contact info for what I’ve been able to find for each county in the district and for the state. I don’t know a lot about the financial or organizational state of the party outside of Yavapai County. However, I will be sworn in as a Precinct Committeeperson next month and will be getting more closely involved, so I will report more useful info later.

Arizona State GOP
3501 N 24th St., Phoenix 86016
602-957-7770 info@azgop.org
eLeader program allows you to insert a donation box for the Arizona GOP onto your web site

Yavapai County GOP
112-B Union St, Prescott 86301
928-776-4500 yavgop@cableone.net
Jan Smith, Chair

Republican Women of Prescott
Hwy 69 Republicans

Coconino County GOP
2101 N 4th St, Flagstaff 86001
928-255-0371
John Echols, Chair

Navajo County GOP
928-537-3084
Tom Ross, Chair

Apache County GOP
?

Gila County GOP
928-476-6560
Charlotte Mortensen, Chair

Greenlee County GOP
928-687-2330
Marshall Hagan, Chair

Pinal County GOP
520-825-4755
Tommy Tucker, Chair

Graham County GOP
928-428-3435
John Rhodes, Chair

Finally, on a personal note, Arizona’s 1st Congressional District is probably one of the most scenic in the nation. Prescott is “Everyone’s Hometown” and “Arizona’s Christmas City” and is surrounded by the world’s largest Ponderosa Pine forest; Flagstaff sits at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona’s tallest mountains and home of one of Arizona’s premier ski resorts; and the district is home to the Mogollon Rim and much of the Grand Canyon country. We’d love to have you visit or move here (there is much affordable housing on the market right now!).

UPDATE
Policy organizations

Goldwater Institute

The Goldwater Institute was established in 1988 as an independent, nonpartisan research and educational organization dedicated to the study of public policy in Arizona.

Contact Information
Starlee Rhoades
Vice President of Communications
srhoades@goldwaterinstitute.org

500 East Coronado Road
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: (602) 462-5000
Fax: (602) 256-7045

Arizona Free Enterprise Club

The mission of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club is to advance policies that promote economic growth, limited government, fiscal restraint, and lower taxes for all Arizonans. Some of the tactics the Club will use include media and issue advocacy campaigns, strategic grassroots communication and mobilization, and targeted lobbying.

Contact Information
Steve Voeller
President
steve@azfreeenterpriseclub.org

2425 East Camelback Road Suite 950
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: (602) 346-5061

Alliance Defense Fund

The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

Contact Information
Jordan Lorence
Senior Vice President
jlorence@telladf.org

15333 North Pima Road Suite 165
Scottsdale, AZ 85225
Phone: (480) 444-0020
Fax: (480) 444-0025

Americans for Prosperity – Arizona

The Arizona Federation of Taxpayers is a non-profit, public policy advocacy organization dedicated to fighting for lower taxes, reduced regulatory burdens, controlled government spending, and other policies that will expand overall economic growth and prosperity for the working people of Arizona.

AFT is now a state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s premier free-market grassroots organization.

Contact info
Thomas Jenney
Executive Director
vc@aztaxpayers.org

One East Camelback Road, Suite 550
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Phone: (602) 478-0146
Email: infoaz@afphq.org

Arizona HOPE

Arizona HOPE will stop local governments from using eminent domain to take private property for private development in order to generate more tax revenue.

Contact Information
Lori Klein
Executive Director
info@hopeforarizona.com

3431 W. Thunderbird #302
Phoenix, AZ 85053
Phone: (602) 315-1737