ALEX CHADWICK, host:
This DAY TO DAY.
I'm Alex Chadwick.
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
And I'm Madeleine Brand.
In a few minutes a pair of bird stories. The search for a rare Mexican spotted owl, and the rescue of a common urban pigeon.
CHADWICK: First, if you needed proof that many congressional races this year are closer than anyone expected, look no further than Arizona's 5th Congressional District.
BRAND: A year ago, it was assumed that incumbent Republican J.D. Hayworth, would cruise to his seventh victory. Thanks to his frequent appearances on cable news and AM radio, Hayworth was well funded and well known.
CHADWICK: But the Democrats have fielded a strong candidate of their own here.
NPR's Mike Pesca reports.
MIKE PESCA reporting:
Here stands the former local TV sportscaster J.D. Hayworth, wearing a navy blazer in a room full of golf shirts, throwing his arm around the shoulder of every John and Jane Q. Scottsdale he encounters.
The event isn't a fundraiser, nor a TV opportunity, but a talk - arranged by one dedicated Republican woman, who paid for the keyboardist, the fruit and cheese spread, and the American Flags on all twelve tables.
Hayworth warms up the crowd with an anecdote about Ronald Reagan, and then segues on into the issues of immigration and security, which he's adroitly linked.
Representative J. D. HAYWORTH (Republican, Arizona): The director of the FBI testified in front of a congressional subcommittee, that we are now apprehending illegals from nation states, exporting Islamofascism. And among those picked up are several who changed their names to Hispanic aliases and who attempt to acquire a working knowledge of Spanish so to blend in with the masses coming northward from Mexico.
Should we not understand as Americans - not Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans - shouldn't we at long last understand that border security is national security?
(Soundbite of Clapping)
Mr. HAYWORTH: That is what…
PESCA: If Hayworth's style is Fox news - and in fact before this election it was rumored he might take a job there - his Democratic opponent, Harry Mitchell, is pure PBS. The former Tempe mayor's stance on the immigration issue is underlined by the word reasonable.
Arizona State Senator HARRY MITCHELL (Democrat): Immigration is one those issues that cuts across party lines, ethnic lines, all kinds of lines. It's pretty hard to categorize it. But I think people want a reasonable solution to this, they want a rational solution to this, and I think they want one that is compassionate.
PESCA: Mitchell is the beloved former mayor or Tempe. In fact there is a statue of him outside City Hall, which is technically called the Harry E. Mitchell Government Complex.
Aside from being a former mayor, state legislator, and city councilman, he was high school civics teacher for 28 years - classes in the morning, ribbon cuttings in the afternoons.
One Tempe voter, Eric, explained while he still backs Mitchell.
Mr. ERIC (Voter): I think that Harry Mitchell has - does have good name recognition. And I think Harry Mitchell is not, he's not a extreme liberal. He's not - he's a pretty average guy that has a widespread appeal. I think he stands a chance.
PESCA: Though Mitchell is expected to do well it Tempe, the vast majority of Arizona's 5th Congressional District lies outside city boundaries. Overall, registration in the district is three to two Republican. But the latest polls show Mitchell within five points of Hayworth.
Arizona State Political Science Professor, Patrick Kennedy, says the race still leans towards the Republican.
Mr. PATRICK KENNEDY (Arizona State Political Science Professor): It is just hard for Democrats to win in this district, that's all there is to it. It's going to have be a ‘94 kind of year.
Now you do have a quality challenger. So even though if it was a '94 year and we didn't have a quality challenger, Hayworth would still win. But you do have a quality challenger, if he gets enough money and it's Democratic year, it could happen.
PESCA: Kennedy says that for Mitchell to win, he'd have to ride the national Democratic wave like the Republicans did in 1994. In fact, Mitchell sounds like a national Democrat in his choice of talking points. There is the war -Hayworth is a vocal supporter. There is lobbyist Jack Abramoff - Hayworth accepted money from his clients.
Now like every issue in this election, that cuts both ways. Politicians here are expected to back Indian tribes. But Mitchell criticizes Hayworth for keeping the money and says he wouldn't have taken it. Mitchell sights local polling on immigration, which says Arizonians want a guest-worker program. Hayworth looks at the same poll and says Arizonians want a fence and increased security.
This November, voters will choose one path and one candidate, and send the other - either back into retirement or onto talk show prominence.
Mike Pesca NPR News.
CHADWICK: You can find more analysis of Arizona's 5th District Race, and an interactive map of upcoming elections across the entire country. That's at our Web Site NPR.org.
And there is more coming up on DAY TO DAY from NPR News.
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