(JTA) — Rep. Ron Barber, a former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was injured in the 2011 shooting that caused the Arizona Democrat to step down, was named the victor in a close congressional race.
Barber, 67, also a Democrat, on Saturday won his first full term in Congress. Republican Martha McSally conceded after the provisional ballots were counted.
He had won a special election in June to finish Giffords’ term and was endorsed by his predecessor, the first Jewish woman to be elected to a statewide office in Arizona.
Earlier this month, Jared Loughner, the gunman who seriously wounded Giffords and killed six in a shooting spree in Tucson in January 2011, was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences and 140 years.
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