Contact Information
Candidate Background
Candidacy
Undergraduate education: University of Arizona
Graduate education: University of Arizona
Ann Kirkpatrick was born in McNary, Ariz., and currently lives in Flagstaff. She earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree from the University of Arizona.
Kirkpatrick spent the early part of her career prosecuting drug-related cases for the Coconino County attorney's office before going into private practice. She also served as city attorney in Sedona.
She was elected to the Arizona House in 2004 and won re-election in 2006.
She was elected to the U.S. House in 2008.
Kirkpatrick married Roger Curley in 2009. She has two daughters from a previous marriage.
Profile
Ann Kirkpatrick has spent her first term in Congress working on generally conservative issues in her district, including pushing a swap of federal land so a new copper mine can be developed, a large logging and forest restoration project and border security legislation.
Kirkpatrick has broken with her party on occasion, voting against extensions of some stimulus bills and against cap-and-trade environmental legislation. She introduced legislation in 2010 to cut lawmakers' pay by 5 percent and voluntarily began returning that amount of her own pay to the treasury.
But she's also voted for health care reform, and was the subject of some derision in 2009 when she left an informal constituent meeting in a grocery store foyer after being shouted down by constituents demanding she hold a town hall-style meeting.
Kirkpatrick became involved in politics at an early age, campaigning for her uncle who served in the Arizona Legislature and her father's run for the school board. She worked on former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano's campaign for state attorney general and has remained active in the Democratic Party.
When she ran for Congress in 2008, Kirkpatrick campaigned on a platform that included providing tax cuts for the middle class and job growth, particularly by encouraging green energy industry growth. She supported improving access to affordable health care by expanding State Children's Health Insurance Program, closing the Medicare Part D prescription drug 'donut hole,' and ending insurance company abuses like denials of coverage based on pre-existing conditions; and protecting Social Security against privatization schemes.
She has focused much of her energy on measures to create new jobs for middle-class families as a representative in Congress. She voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was expected to create 8,100 jobs in the sprawling district she represents.
Kirkpatrick also has advocated heavily for American Indian tribes, which she represented during her time in the Arizona Legislature. Her first words were in the Apache language. She sponsored a bill in February 2009 to resolve the water rights claims of the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
Kirkpatrick sponsored a bill in March 2009 to increase the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-related disabilities.
Campaigns
Ann Kirkpatrick will have a challenging re-election effort because her district is Republican-leaning. She is facing a tea party candidate, Paul Gosar, in the November 2010 general election.
Kirkpatrick defeated Sydney Hay in 2008 with 56 percent of the vote to win the House seat vacated by Republican Rick Renzi.
She announced her candidacy in July 2007 and gained the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which reserved $1.7 million in advertising for the general election. Kirkpatrick easily clinched the Democratic nomination in the 2008 primary.
Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Kirkpatrick was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004 and won a second term in 2006, garnering 38 percent and 45 percent of the vote, respectively.
(Last updated by Bob Christie on September 11, 2010.)
