Dem Candidate Unsure About Voting for ObamaCare

Voters in Arizona's 8th congressional district will start casting ballots today while the candidates looking to fill the seat vacated by now-retired Democratic Rep. Gabriele Giffords spent a spirited hour Wednesday night -- including dueling accusations of lying --in their only televised debate talking about the future of ObamaCare, Medicare and Social Security.

Symbolically and practically Democrat Ron Barber is looking to follow in the footsteps of his former boss. "In 2006, I began working with Gabrielle Giffords, and was honored to be named her district director in 2007," Barber writes on his campaign website. "I am eager to continue all this work in Congress."

But on Wednesday night Barber, who's been attacked for supporting ObamaCare, refused to say whether he would have voted for the controversial measure had he been in office. "I really can't respond to a hypothetical question like that," Barber told the debate moderators from Arizona Public Media. Later in the debate he said he's in favor of making changes to the law. Giffords voted for President Obama's signature domestic legislation. (read more)

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had what was described as an intense encounter on the tarmac after the president arrived in the Grand Canyon state on Wednesday.

Brewer greeted the president as he arrived off Air Force One, as governors often do when the president visits a state, and handed him a letter that she described as a “welcome” note to the state, and an invitation to talk about a comeback for her state.

"He immediately took umbrage, if you will with my book, 'Scorpions for Breakfast,' and was somewhat disgruntled, if you will, by the way he was portrayed," Brewer later told Fox News in an interview with Greta Van Susteren. "He's very thin-skinned."

In the tome, Brewer wrote that the president was “patronizing” in a one-on-one meeting about border security.

At the time, in media interviews she described it in a more positive light, and she told Fox News on Wednesday that she thought the two had simply agreed to disagree. 

Obama, however, disagrees with her portrayal of their interactions and the impression that he didn’t treat her cordially. (read more)

A Democratic official told Fox News on Sunday that he’s confident the party will hold the seat being vacated by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who announced her resignation from Congress effective this week.

But out of deference to the congresswoman, the official and another Democratic official in Washington each refused to speculate on names that would be put up for either the special election to be held in the spring or the regular November general election. Each said that process would move quickly in the days ahead.

One Democratic name that keeps popping up, however, is Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Kelly has said on more than one occasion that he's not interested in the seat, and is focused on Giffords' recovery.

Kelly has been a vocal advocate of Giffords' continuing her public service after she recovers from a gunshot wound that injured her more than a year ago while she was conducting a town hall in Tucson. Six people, including Giffords' aide, were killed and 13 were injured. (read more)

With Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announcing her resignation from Congress, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will call a special election to fill the seat.

Giffords is sending her resignation letter to House Speaker John Boehner, but the law dictates that representatives actually resign to their governors.

The U.S. Constitution does not allow appointments to the House. A lawmaker must be elected so if Giffords resigns this week, Brewer would presumably establish the dates of the primary and the special general election by next weekend.

According to state law, if the vacancy of a seat is more than six months from the general election, a special primary and general election must be held.

Once the governor declares the seat vacant, Brewer has three days to establish when she will hold the special election.

"Upon the congresswoman's office being officially declared vacant, I will call a special primary and general election in order to fill the 8th Congressional District vacancy, in accordance with Arizona law. The winner will complete the remainder of Congresswoman Giffords' term, which expires at the end of 2012," Brewer said in a statement Sunday.

"Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been a noble public servant to the state of Arizona, and a model of what can be accomplished with persistence and determination. Her remarkable recovery over the last year is an inspiration to us all," she said.

Arizona law says the primary must be held 80-90 days after the declared vacancy and the general election 50-60 days after that.

That would put the primary around the end of April and the special general election around the end of June. (read more)

WASHINGTON, DC-  Former Vice President, and 2000 Republican presidential candidate, Dan Quayle will endorse GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney for President at a campaign event in Arizona on Tuesday, according to Republican sources.

Quayle, a former U.S. Senator from Indiana, served as Vice President under President George H.W. Bush. Romney will be campaigning in Paradise Valley, AZ where Quayle owns a home.

His son, U.S. Representative Ben Quayle, represents the 3rd Congressional district of Arizona.

Sheriff Paul Babeu, an Arizona lawman known nationally for his criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the "Fast and Furious" scandal, has decided to support Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney, and will serve as co-chair for Romney's Arizona campaign, FOX has learned.

"It is an honor to have the support of Sheriff Babeu," Romney said in a statement. "His efforts working to protect our border are critical to lowering crime, reducing illegal immigration, and stopping both drug and human trafficking. Sheriff Babeu has been a leader in the call for the federal government to secure the border. As president, I will work with leaders like Sheriff Babeu to protect our southern border, provide the required assistance from the federal government, and put an end to the magnets that cause illegal immigration."

" Securing our border is an important part of our national security - Mitt Romney understands this. He also understands that magnets like in-state tuition for illegal immigrants don't stop illegal immigration, they only make it worse." Babeu said in an apparent direct hit at Romney's GOP rival Rick Perry. " Of all the candidates, Mitt Romney has shown that he is the most committed to securing the border and I look forward to working with him to do this." (read more)

The dust has barely settled around the state recall election in Wisconsin where Democrats were only able to claim two of the six seats, but already national attention is turning to another heated recall in Arizona.

While Wisconsin instigated states across the country to try to change the way public employees could engage in collective bargaining, Arizona's recall could put comprehensive immigration reform back in the political spotlight ahead of the 2012 election.

The author of the controversial immigration law Arizona SB 1070- widely considered to be anti-immigrant and very strict - Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, will face the first recall election of a state legislator there in history this November. It's a first for Arizona, but Pearce will be the ninth state legislator nationally to face a recall this year.

So far at least three people have decided to challenge the senator. And this week a Maricopa Co. judge is expected to rule on a petition to throw the entire recall out based on what supporters say was a flawed process.

Pearce was propelled onto the national stage as a champion of conservative and Tea Party polices with the passage of 1070. It requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of people they lawfully stop and whom they suspect to be in the country illegally. (read more)

As debate intensifies over a new Arizona proposal requiring hospital patrons to show proof of legal U.S. residency, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the controversial measure is just one piece of a larger effort to curb illegal immigration.

"These admission medical facilities are being flooded with people, and the public here is outraged that they have to wait in the back of the line, insurance rates go up-they want something done about it, and that's just one piece of the puzzle," Arpaio said on America's News HQ Sunday.

"What's wrong with asking for someone's identification?" Arpaio asked. "I don't see any problem to see if someone's here legally or illegally."

Others do. Dr. George Pauk, former co-chair of the Arizona Coalition for a State and National Health Plan, said the state measure not only addresses a nonissue, but it also adds an unnecessary burden on health workers.

"It'd be a disaster for the people of Arizona to enact [this bill]," Pauk said. "It would criminalize health care workers like nurses, doctors--make them work as immigration officers to investigate patients and to report them to immigration authorities. It is completely unethical for us to do that." (read more)

Arizona is at the center of the national debate on immigration, and state legislators are drawing more fire this week for a proposal that would require hospital workers to check whether patients are in the country illegally.

The first of its kind in the country, the proposal would require hospital personnel to report illegal immigrants to federal officials. Emergency patients would be allowed to receive care before their immigration status is checked, but critics say the measure is cruel to immigrants who might avoid hospitals for fear of being deported.

"It's in the federal law that we are required to take emergencies and stabilize them. Nobody is going to turn these folks down, we agree with that," says Mesa Republican and Senate President Russell Pearce, who was also the primary sponsor of the controversial immigration law now tied up in federal court. "But I get calls from doctors and nurses every day that work in the emergency room, talking about the abuse, the millions of dollars spent for folks who come in for pregnancy tests, sniffles - they use emergency room services as their primary care," he says. "When do we stand up for the taxpayers?"

The bill was pulled from a scheduled Arizona Senate Judiciary committee hearing Monday after sponsors determined it wouldn't garner enough votes, but it is expected to resurface in another committee at a later date.

And detractors of the bill say that if it is successful, it could not only endanger illegal immigrants, but also their communities. (read more)

Controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio may be considering a run in 2012 for the Grand Canyon State's open Senate seat. Republican Senator Jon Kyl announced his retirement last week.

"If I announce to run, I would have to resign and they would appoint a sheriff so that has been the history why I refuse to run for governor or other positions but maybe this time I may have a different attitude and philosophy," Arpaio said in an interview with FOX News.

Arpaio, the 78 year-old Maricopa County sheriff, may best be known for his aggressive approach toward crime and immigration, calling himself "America's Toughest Sheriff."

The Arizona Sheriff has also attracted attention for building tent cities for inmates, for instituting chain gangs and for making prisoners wear pink underwear.

Arpaio defends the tactics saying, " I don't report to any politician or bureaucrat. I report to four million people. They are my concern."

Several other prominent state Republicans are believed to be considering bids for Arizona's open seat, including U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake and Ben Quayle, former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth and state Rep. Trent Franks.