Arizona Tea Party candidate, Jesse Kelly, got shot down yesterday as the Democratic contender, Ron Barber defies gravity in Arizona's eighth district and brings home win in the special election to fill Gabrielle Gifford's vacant seat.

With the odds stacked against him in a Republican leaning district, Barber’s surmounted the 26,000 voter disadvantage. Many believe that his win came from making this special election about a referedum on the Republican plans to cut Medicare and privatizing Social Security, as well as millionaire tax breaks and big oil.

While Republicans rebuked Barber for distancing himself from President Obama and his policies, saying that if he showed his true positions, he would have lost the race, Barber re-affirmed his support for Obama the night prior to the elections.

Republican Pete Sessions said of the outcome, “It is clear that Ron Barber knew that voters in this district would never accept his true positions on President Obama’s agenda which have made a bad economy worse in this state. That explains why he did his best to conceal his support for so much of that agenda.” Sessions says that it won’t play out that way in November when that seat expires and comes into play again.

During his concession speech, Republican candidate Jesse Kelly says that he will challenge Barber again this fall. Kelly’s agenda of Medicare cuts and privatization did not fare well with the constantly increasing retiree population of the district. It remains to be seen if he will continue on that tack as he gears up for the November ballot.

Even before Barber is sworn in, he must begin looking at retaining his seat, the Arizona primary for that race is on August 28th. This next time around, Barber will have to sell his message to a new crowd, due to redistricting, most of the eighth district will be incorporated into the second district where, in addition to Kelly, Barber will have additional competitors.