Democrats just gathered another strong pickup opportunity, as a strong challenger announced he was jumping into the race against the ethically-deficient (and Abramoff-linked) JD Hayworth.
Jump below the fold for a bit from a Roll Call story entitled AZ 5: Challenge to Hayworth Makes for a `Highly Competitive' Race.
Arizona Democrat Harry Mitchell, a state senator who also is chairman of the state Democratic Party, will challenge Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth in the state's 5th District, giving Democrats a strong challenger to an incumbent they see as hampered by ethics questions.Mitchell, who previously served more than 20 years as a mayor and city councilman in the 5th District city of Tempe, plans to formally announce his candidacy next month and is not likely to face Democratic opposition in the Sept. 12 primary.
As a result of Mitchell's planned candidacy, CQ is changing its rating of the Arizona 5 race to Leans Republican from Safe Republican. The new rating means that Hayworth is still favored but that the race is expected to be highly competitive.
Good news. I don't know AZ politics, so I don't know Mitchell, but he's got a strong history in the district, and Hayworth's definitely got a pretty good-sized taint. And CQ certainly thinks this is a viable opportunity.
I don't think this was on any list of potential pickups a few months ago, so expanding the playing field in this way ... muy bueno.
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