Gosar move to 4th District sets up primary fight

PHOENIX - An incumbent Republican U.S. House representative announced Saturday plans to seek election in a new district, setting up a primary fight related to recently redrawn legislative maps.

First-term Rep. Paul Gosar will seek office in rural western Arizona's 4th Congressional District instead of his Flagstaff-based 1st District, creating a showdown against a well-known sheriff -- and both potentially could face a high-profile gun rights advocate from the state Senate.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has already announced his intent to run for the seat. And Republican state Sen. Ron Gould is considering a run and is expected to announce his decision soon.

The new 4th District runs from western Arizona through Prescott and south to take in parts of Pinal County south of Phoenix. It is heavily Republican.

The 1st District now includes Flagstaff, the Navajo and Hopi reservations and Graham, Greeley and part of Pinal County. Democrats have a slight majority.

"It's no wonder Gosar jumped into an easier district," said Carmen Gallus, campaign manager for former Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, whom Gosar defeated in 2010.

Kirkpatrick has been fundraising for months to win back her 1st District seat. Gallus said that Kirkpatrick's campaign has been going well, meaning "bad news" for Gosar "or any Republican who jumps into this race."

The new maps drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission include nine congressional districts, rather than eight, a change required to reflect population growth shown in the 2010 Census. The maps have not yet been made final, but a commission spokesman says no major changes are expected.

The newly drawn districts could set up another high-profile Republican battle, this one in suburban Phoenix between Reps. Ben Quayle and David Schweikert.

Gosar will not move from Flagstaff immediately because his oldest child is still in high school there, said spokeswoman Apryl Marie Fogel. Gosar will seek property in Prescott and his wife considering expanding her Flagstaff antiques business to the old territorial Capitol in Prescott, where he announced his intentions at a Republican Party meeting Saturday.

Fogel said that the area "feels like home" to the Gosars.

Chris DeRose, who leads Babeu's campaign, said the sheriff would not be commenting because Sunday marks one year since the shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

"What I can't understand is after all the dithering and indecisiveness on Gosar's part about an announcement, why he had to announce on the weekend of such an important anniversary," DeRose said.

Gosar rode the tea party wave in 2010 to defeat Kirkpatrick. Backed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, he's pushed fiscal conservatism and hammered the Obama administration, saying the gun-running investigation based in Phoenix, known as "Fast and Furious" has been a failure.

Gosar also has dealt with infighting. According to Politico, several staffers have defected and top Republicans worried that Gosar's office was in major disarray.

Also, a pair of Republicans incumbents could end up in a primary battle as first-term Rep. Quayle is considering a move to seek election in the 6th Congressional District instead of the 9th District, where his home ended up, because he believes his base is in the north Phoenix suburbs, according to a spokesman.

Such a move would pit him against fellow first-term Rep. Schweikert, who also considers Scottsdale and Fountain Hills to be his home base.