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Former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber wins election to finish her term - CBS News

From left: Mark Kelly, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and Ron Barber gather during a get-out-the-vote rally at the Rialto Theater in downtown Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, June 9, 2012. (AP Photo)

(CBS/AP) Democrat Ron Barber has won a special House election in southern Arizona to finish the term of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Giffords resigned a year after she was shot in the head while meeting with constituents at a Tucson shopping center.
Barber defeated Republican Jesse Kelly, a former Marine who narrowly lost a House race to Giffords in 2010.
The 66-year-old Barber was seriously injured in the same rampage in which Giffords was shot. Six others were killed.
Holding onto the seat has been a priority for Democrats as they seek to regain control of the House in November.
Republicans tried to make the race a referendum on President Barack Obama, a strategy they'll continue to follow in other swing districts in this fall's congressional elections.
More than 58 percent of eligible voters requested early ballots and those have already been returned in record numbers, reports CBS affiliate KOLD-TV in Tucson.