Congratulations To Ron Barber

... former aide to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who won a special election yesterday to finish her unexpired term in the House. MSNBC.com's Michael O'Brien had this to say about the race:

The race evolved into a bruising battle between [Jesse] Kelly and Barber, fueled by hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside spending in the campaign. The district will be redrawn for this fall’s election, slightly in Democrats’ favor. But Giffords first won accolades for her political resiliency in a district that Republicans have won in the previous three presidential elections.

Democrats focused their resources on painting Kelly as an extremist who would seek radical changes to Medicare and Social Security even well beyond what most House Republicans had voted for in Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budgets the past two years.

Look quickly: this may be the last time the GOP fails to buy an open seat. The notion that a Democratic representative was nearly killed... murdered... to render the seat open, and that just maybe a Democrat should finish out her term, never entered their mind. Next time, you can be sure the GOPers will spend more money, run more and meaner attack ads, etc. Citizens United changed everything.

(H/T Mustang Bobby for the link.)