Political Campaign
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
One national news organization put Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s 2014 re-election chances at 12 percent.
“Her rival, state Speaker Andy Tobin, was a top recruit for national Republicans. The party went all in for him, spending millions against Kirkpatrick on television,” Roll Call explained. “But as House Democrats fell across the country on Nov. 4, Kirkpatrick didn’t just win re-election. She expanded her margin from 2012.”
“[I]t was one Kirkpatrick ad in particular that caught on. The spot showed a pair of cowboy boots she bought as an 18-year-old waitress. The congresswoman stamped her boots in dirt as she named unpopular government policies that she disagreed with,” Roll Call continued.
“The cowboy boot image became the symbol of her campaign. Staffers posted images of boots as their social media avatars, the campaign built parade floats with boot themes and it flooded the Internet with photos of Kirkpatrick and supporters — often Native American voters — brandishing the footwear,” the newspaper wrote.
