Navy SEAL Flips Dem Congressional Seat to Red in Battleground State
Former Navy SEAL Eli Crane has defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, according to new reports.
As of 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, Bloomberg, citing ABC and NBC, announced that Crane was the winner. CNN has also projected that Crane will be the winner.
According to The New York Times, Crane had 137,329 votes against 118,623 for O’Halleran with 78 percent of the districts reporting, giving Crane 53.7 percent of the votes against 46.3 percent for O’Halleran.
BREAKING: Republican Eli Crane wins the House race in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district, defeating Rep. Tom O’Halleran and flipping the seat https://t.co/r8Lg3cda71 pic.twitter.com/f081Hz0PpD
— Bloomberg (@business) November 9, 2022
Crane is one of at least three Republican veterans to have flipped congressional seats. Republican Anna Paulina Luna, a 33-year-old Air Force veteran, won the contest in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Eric Lynn. Navy veteran and Republican Jen Kiggans defeated Democrat Elaine Luria in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
O’Halleran was seeking his fourth term, but faced a redrawn district this year, according to The Arizona Republic.
Crane was supported by former President Donald Trump.
“The America First movement has sent a clear message tonight to the people of Arizona,” Crane said in a statement after winning the Republican primary for the seat in August, according to The Arizona Republic. “We will not let up until we have taken Arizona and our country back.”
FLIP ALERT: Navy Seal Veteran — Eli Crane (R) defeats Tom O’Halleran (D-inc) in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District
⦿ This seat is flipped from 🔵➡️🔴 pic.twitter.com/UjMVdoK6yR
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) November 9, 2022
Crane’s campaign website describes him as “a combat veteran, small-business owner, husband, father and native Arizonan.”
The site states Crane is a “faith-oriented, family man and is pro-life, pro-second amendment, and unafraid to take a stand against cancel culture and the radical left”
According to the site, Crane had “five war time deployments, three of them to the Middle East with SEAL Team 3 and served our country for 13 years – protecting and defending America’s freedom, way of life, and Constitution.”
Crane’s site noted that his position on elections was that “Arizona and America must reinstate Election Day voting, bolster polling sites, end unregulated mail-out balloting and enact stronger voter ID laws and stiffer penalties for anyone caught harvesting ballots or found guilty of voter fraud.”
“As a Navy SEAL in Iraq, Eli stopped terrorists from wreaking havoc. As your Congressman, he will work tirelessly to stop human traffickers, cartel drug dealers and terrorists from entering our southern border,” the site states.
“There is an invasion on our southern border. Eli believes it’s time we gained operational control of our borders and empower border patrol agents.”
As shocking as this number is it doesn’t paint the full picture for the fentanyl, drugs, MS-13 gang members, members on the terror watch list, and sex trafficking coming in.
Exclusive: Biden Welcoming 6.2K Illegal Aliens into U.S. Daily at Border https://t.co/rKHluOdlHz
— Eli Crane (@EliCrane_CEO) November 7, 2022
According to the site, Crane “believes it is every citizen’s personal freedom to decide if they want to get vaccinated. This is fundamental to preserving liberty in the face of tyranny.”
Crane also promised on the site to “fight to ban Critical Race Theory in Arizona’s schools. Our kids should be educated, not indoctrinated” and “fight back against Big Tech’s rampant censorship of free speech.”
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