Former Arizona state senator Debbie Lesko has defeated Democratic first-time candidate Hiral Tipirneni in the state’s special congressional election, keeping the House seat vacated by disgraced former congressman Trent Franks under Republican control. Republican groups had rallied together and poured more than $1 million into Lesko’s campaign, apparently determined to prevent a Democratic upset in the heavily conservative district. With more than 75 percent of the votes tallied late Tuesday, however, it appeared the race was tighter than expected for the Republican stronghold, with a surprisingly small margin of only 6 percentage points. Early results showed Lesko won with 53 percent of the vote compared to Tipirneni’s 47 percent.
