Minutes after Democrat Ron Barber won the special election in Arizona to replace his wounded former boss Gabrielle Giffords, the campaign was underway to determine how long he gets to stay.
At 12:36 this morning (Eastern time), the Associated Press sent a bulletin announcing that Barber had beaten Republican challenger Jesse Kelly. Here's the Arizona Republic story about the results.
Within minutes, national Democratic leaders were declaring the race a harbinger for the fall and Republicans were warning that Barber and others in his party will face a tough reelection battle in November. Barber's victory last night was only to fill the remainder of Giffords' term this year.
First out of the gate were the Democrats. At 12:41, Rep. Steve Israel, who runs the Democratic committee that funds House campaigns, said in an e-mail, "Ron Barber's strong campaign made this a referendum on the Republican plans to drastically cut Medicare and privatize Social Security, while giving massive tax breaks to millionaires, Big Oil and corporations that ship jobs overseas. The Republican plan lost."
Israel said the campaign "previewed the message fight that will play out across the country in November" -- essentially that Democrats support the middle class and Republicans support the wealthy.
The committee's press office followed up with a detailed memo explaining how Barber's victory is a blueprint for broader Democratic gains in November.
Next up, at 12:44, was the House Majoirty PAC, a Democratic group that spent nearly $500,000 on television ads in support of Barber's campaign. Executive Director Alixandria Lapp said the result was based on Kelly's statements favoring privatization of Medicare and cutting the minimum wage. "All across the country, House Republicans have backed plans to end Medicare as we know it and gut the social safety net - and the results in Arizona should put them on notice," she said.
Republicans did not wait long to fire back. At 12:51, the Rep. Pete Sessions, Israel's Republican counterpart, issued a statment explaing that the Arizona race was a unique - and temporary - victory for Democrats.
"It is clear that Ron Barber knew that voters in this district would never accept his true positions on President Obama's agenda which have made a bad economy worse in this state. That explains why he did his best to conceal his support for so much of that agenda," Sessions said. "Barber will not have that advantage in November when he will be on the ballot with President Obama, nor will any of his House Democrat colleagues."
In his concession speech, Kelly, who also narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010, said he would "most likley" challenge Barber again in the fall.
So before he takes the oath of office, Rep.-elect Ron Barber wakes up Wednesday morning in the middle of a heated re-election battle.