Five House Races Still Too Close to Call, Including Giffords's Old Seat

The winner of one of the six House races in the undetermined category was finally decided today, but five others remain uncertain, including the Tucson, Arizona district once represented by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Giffords resigned earlier this year when it became clear that her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head in January 2011 would take longer than hoped.  Giffords is married to former astronaut Mark Kelly, and chaired the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee in the 111th Congress. Her district director, Ron Barber, was elected in a June special election to fill out the remainder of her term.   He is vying to be the new representative from the 2nd district in the 113th Congress, but the race is still too close to call nearly a week after the election.  Barber holds a very slim lead over his Republican opponent, Martha McSally, 50.1% to 49.9%, according to Politico. 

The race that now has been decided is in Arizona’s 9th district, a newly created Phoenix-area district, where Democrat Kyrsten Sinema won over her Republican opponent Vernon Parker 48.2% to 45.4%.

The other four undetermined races are:

• Florida’s 18th District:  Patrick Murphy (D) v Allen West (R – incumbent) — Florida certified Murphy as the winner on Saturday, but West is contesting the results
• North Carolina’s 7th District:  Mike McIntyre (D-incumbent) v David Rouzer (R)
• Calfiornia’s 7th District:   Ami Bera (D) v Dan Lungren (R – incumbent)
• California’s 52nd District:  Scott Peters (D) v Brian Bilray (R – incumbent)