Arizona's 2nd congressional district
| Arizona's 2nd congressional district | |
|---|---|
Arizona's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2013.
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| Current Representative | Martha McSally (R–Tucson) |
| Area | 20,219 sq mi (52,370 km2) |
| Distribution |
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| Population (2015) | 713,631 |
| Median income | 42,432 |
| Ethnicity |
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| Cook PVI | R+1 |
Arizona's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It contains the southeastern corner of the state, including roughly two-thirds of Tucson.
After the 2012 census, the bulk of the Maricopa County portion of the old 2nd became the 8th District, while the new 2nd District took in most of the territory of the old 8th district.
One of the characters from House of Cards, Bob Birch, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and the current Minority Leader, is depicted as being a congressman from this district.
From 2003 to 2013, the district contained the northwestern corner of the state and most of the western suburbs of Phoenix as well as a small portion of the city itself. It consisted of all of Peoria (within the exception of the portion of that city within Yavapai County) and Surprise, most of Glendale and much of western Phoenix in Maricopa County, all of Mohave County, and the Hopi Nation in Navajo and Coconino counties. Despite the size and diversity of the district (it included nearly all of the northwestern portion of the state), over 90 percent of its population lived in the strongly conservative western suburbs of Phoenix (known as the West Valley), historically a fairly safe Republican area.
The odd shape of the district was indicative of the use of gerrymandering in its construction. The unusual division was not, however, drawn to favor politicians. Owing to historic tensions between the Hopi and the Navajo Native American tribes and since tribal boundary disputes are a federal matter, it was long believed inappropriate to include both tribes' reservations in the same congressional district. However, the Hopi reservation is completely surrounded by the Navajo reservation. In order to comply with current Arizona redistricting laws, some means of connection was required that avoided including large portions of Navajo land, hence the narrow riverine connection.
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