Last election, in 2012, Ron Barber won a slim victory over the Republican candidate, Martha McSally. This November, this House seat was listed in National Journal's top 10 of most likely to flip from one party to another. Arizona's second congressional district is located in the south east corner of the state. It contains about two thirds of Tucson and reaches down into more conservative parts like Cochise County. As such, its roughly divided equally between Democrats and Republicans and has always been a "swing-district."
Female candidates often have the advantage when voters, exasperated with the current
political incumbents, chose women, whom they perceived as more honest and
concerned about the public good. McSally, however,is not the typical woman. She is the first female fighter squadron commander and the first female to fly in combat. Not only that, but she took on the Pentagon to overturn a regulation requiring U.S. service women to wear traditional Muslim garb. The image she presents is that of a fighter. Not exactly the women who, traditionally in politics, have been affiliated with softer domestic affairs such as health or education and less so with business or foreign policies, which are fall under the "masculine" sphere.
As part of my project, I am looking into whether she plays up the fighter pilot, or the woman "honest and concerned about the public good" and how she achieves a balance between the two.
