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When Paul Babeu first tried to run for Congress in 2012, his exploratory campaign was rocked by allegations by a 34-year-old man that the Arizona sheriff threatened to have him deported if their relationship was publicly revealed. But even though he was eventually cleared of criminal wrongdoing, Babeu's campaign did not make it out of the gate.  

The spectacle surrounding the conservative Republican’s relationship overshadowed another issue that had risen for Babeu. A 2000 investigation by the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services found what it deemed "abusive" disciplinary practices being used on students at a private school he once led for troubled youth had begun to circulate in Arizona . And while the story got some attention in the Arizona press at the time, he denied any personal wrongdoing, said he was never named in any lawsuit against the school and was easily re-elected sheriff that same year.  

Nearly every member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program for vulnerable members voted Thursday for a Republican bill that would add bureaucratic security checks for Syrians and Iraqis hoping to enter the U.S. as refugees.  

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, Democratic strategists say the vote was good politics for those 13 Democratic incumbents, who represent competitive districts of varying degrees. The vote gave them an opportunity to appear tough on national security, an issue they often struggle with.  

Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu said Monday he will run for Congress in the state’s open 1st District, just hours before state Speaker David Gowan announced he too would run.  

The two join a field that could get crowded in this Republican-heavy district that is now represented by Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat who is challenging Republican Sen. John McCain next year.  In a statement, Babeu, the second-term Pinal County sheriff who has been a crusader against the federal government’s immigration policies, said “now it’s time to bring the fight directly to our nation’s capital.”  

In Arizona’s 1st District, Democrats may turn to a former Republican as they try to hold on to outgoing Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s seat.  

Former state Sen. Tom O’Halleran, 69, on Tuesday said he would seek the party's nomination, becoming the first Democratic candidate to enter the race. Kirkpatrick is vacating her seat to run for the Senate.  

Arizona State Sen. Barbara McGuire, a Democrat, said Monday she is considering a run for the Democratic nomination in the state’s 1st Congressional District.

In a statement, McGuire stopped short of declaring her candidacy. Instead, she said she plans to “take the next few weeks to discuss the possibility” with people she knows and her constituents.

Updated, 2:05 p.m. | Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick will challenge Republican Sen. John McCain, according to a source with knowledge of Kirkpatrick's plans, giving Democrats a top recruit and a potential pickup opportunity.  

Kirkpatrick made calls Monday to inform people of her plans, the source told CQ Roll Call. Her bid also opens up Arizona's 1st District, a GOP-leaning seat spanning the northeast quadrant of the state.  

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will announce Thursday the first 14 members who will join its Frontline program for the party's most vulnerable incumbents, according to an early copy of a news release obtained by CQ Roll Call.  

The incumbents represent competitive districts, making them likely GOP targets in 2016 . The Frontline program,which Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., is chairman of,   provides these members with fundraising and organizational support for their re-elections.  

Republican operatives called her race "cooked." One national news organization put her chances at victory of 12 percent. After all, voters in Arizona's 1st District had already fired Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick once before — in a toxic climate in 2010.  

But as House Democrats fell across the country on Nov. 4, Kirkpatrick didn't just win re-election. She expanded her margin from 2012, proving naysayers wrong thanks to one, simple political maxim: To win, a candidate has to be better than his or her opponent.  

House Democrats are bracing for losses on Election Day, but just how bad of a night will it be?  

A few races will serve as cues throughout the evening, as polls close across the country. They will be harbingers for House Republicans, who are looking at gains anywhere from six to a dozen seats.  

Think being a Washington politician gets a bum rap? It's not so easy being a politician from Phoenix, Springfield, Des Moines, Lincoln or Raleigh, either. Just ask Arizona Speaker Andy Tobin, Illinois state Rep. Mike Bost, Iowa House Rep. Pat Murphy, Nebraska state Sen. Brad Ashford or North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis.

With extensive voting records, state legislators hoping to capture national offices have seen their records used against them in close races, as their opponents use their votes to paint them with the same brush any incumbent is accustomed to.