Ron Barber

Ronald Sylvester Barber (born August 25, 1945) is an American politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2012 to 2015. Barber, a member of the Democratic Party from Arizona, served as district director for U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords before Giffords resigned her seat due to the severe injuries she sustained in an assassination attempt, during which Barber was also injured. He won the Democratic nomination for the special election to finish Giffords's term and was sworn into office on June 19, 2012. In the 2012 general election, he was elected to a full term. His district—numbered as the 8th district in 2012, and as the 2nd district since 2013—includes the eastern two-thirds of Tucson, as well as the southeastern corner of Arizona. Barber lost his 2014 re-election bid to Martha McSally by 161 votes. Barber was born in Wakefield, England, during World War II. His father was an airman stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Barber graduated from Tucson's Rincon High School in 1963, and earned a B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1967. Barber worked as director and program manager of the Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities in Pima County from 1974 to 2006. Barber worked as Giffords' district director beginning in 2007. On January 8, 2011, Barber was shot in the thigh and face during an attempt on Giffords' life, in which Giffords was badly injured and six people were killed. 2012 special election 2012 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election In 2012, following the resignation of Giffords, Barber decided to seek election to the seat. On June 12, 2012, he defeated Jesse Kelly, an Iraq War veteran, in a special election. 2012 regular election 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona#District 2 On March 19, 2012, Barber announced that he would run for a full term in the district, which had been renumbered as the 2nd District, in the 2012 general election. The district was, at least on paper, slightly more Democratic than its predecessor.