Incoming Dems embrace populism; Mitchell still leads Hayworth

Hat tip to AZ Congress Watch for these two links:

1. Mitchell still leads Hayworth by wide margin in the vote counts.

As of Sunday's reporting, "Mitchell had a total of 85,318 votes, or 50 percent. Hayworth, a 12-year incumbent, had 79,792 votes, or 46.8 percent. Libertarian Warren Severin had 5,412 votes, or about 3.2 percent."

2. Incoming Dems more populist than partisan

Populism may trump ideology
Incoming Democrats say they prefer consensus to a hard line

...In general, they set themselves an extraordinary (veterans might say impossible) task: to avoid the ideological wars that have so dominated Congress in recent years, to be pragmatists, and to change the tone in Washington after a sharply partisan campaign.

"I see myself, hopefully, as a bridge builder, a consensus person," said Harry Mitchell, a longtime state senator and former mayor of Tempe, Arizona, who defeated Representative J.D. Hayworth, an emblematic member of the class of 1994. "I can't be a rabid partisan Democrat and represent this district."

As a dyed-in-the-wool, common-sense pragmatist, myself, I'm encouraged by this. It will be a challenge, but if they can remain results-oriented problem solvers, then our country will benefit greatly.