Energized, effective volunteer team led a district-wide grassroots effort that netted the most signatures ever collected by a congressional candidate in Arizona.

Today, Giffords for Congress turned in a record-breaking 13,194 petition signatures to qualify Gabrielle Giffords for the ballot, demonstrating how Gabrielle’s work sending National Guard troops to the border, creating solar jobs in Southern Arizona and cutting middle class taxes is energizing voters more than ever.

Since 2006, Giffords for Congress has had one of the strongest grassroots volunteer networks in Arizona. The volume and geographic diversity of the signatures to be turned in today shows how this grassroots team continues to translate voter enthusiasm for Gabrielle into on-the-ground results throughout the district.

“Voters from across Southern Arizona are enthusiastic about Gabrielle’s work for our district and they are standing up to support her in overwhelming numbers,” said Giffords for Congress campaign chair Michael McNulty. “She has a record of challenging ‘politics as usual’ in Washington and standing up for what is best for Southern Arizona. District 8 has chosen its representatives based on who they felt would provide the strongest leadership and best service for Southern Arizona, and they are saying clearly that Gabrielle is that leader.”

Gabrielle’s petitions were dropped off at the Arizona Secretary of State’s Tucson office today by Ross Hazlett, of Catalina; David Hosea, of Green Valley; and Roger Salzgeber, of Tucson, the three top signature gatherers for Gabrielle this year. Each collected hundreds of signatures to put the congresswoman on the ballot this fall.

Additional Information

• Giffords turned in nearly 19 times the 696 signatures required for a Democrat to qualify for the ballot in CD-08.
• For the third cycle in a row, Giffords set a record for the number of petition signatures collected by a congressional candidate in Arizona. The campaign collected 7,026 signatures in 2006 and 11,724 in 2008.
• More than 400 volunteer neighborhood organizers drove this overwhelming collection effort from every corner of Arizona’s 8^th District.
• For the third cycle in a row, volunteers collected signatures from each of the four counties, five legislative districts and 351 precincts that comprise the 9,000 square miles of District 8.