Democrat Sinema wins Arizona House race

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Republican Vernon Parker in Arizona's 9th District, The Associated Press is reporting.

The race for that seat has been one of the closest in the nation, and both parties were heavily invested in its outcome. Sinema has a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Parker, according to the AP, and, with her win, she becomes the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress.

Republicans believed Sinema to be too liberal for the newly created district, and attempted to portray her as such by highlighting controversial comments she had made about stay-at-home moms and drawing attention to her policy positions.

Democrats portrayed Parker as in lockstep with the Tea Party, and alleged that he would hurt children and families by cutting funding for the Department of Education.

One race in Arizona, that between Rep. Ron Barber (D) and Martha McSally, remains uncalled as of Monday afternoon, though Barber leads his Republican opponent by nearly 300 votes.

Other contests that have yet to be called are for Reps. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) and Mike McInytre (D-N.C.).

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