Friday, June 15, 2012

CD8: The Calexico Bump

Posted By on Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 4:45 PM

In all the post-election analysis of Democrat Ron Barber's 7-percentage-point victory over Republican Jesse Kelly, one important factor has been overlooked: The Calexico Bump.

Calexico has done concerts for Gabby Giffords in 2008 and 2010—and in both races. Giffords came out on top. They performed at a get-out-the-vote rally and concert for Barber last Saturday, June 9.

On Election Night, Barber said he couldn't pinpoint how much of an impact the Calexico concert had on the final outcome.

"I don’t know," said Barber. "I love Joey Burns and I love Calexico. They may have given me a bump, but I love their music regardless. … And you have to figure in Sergio Mendoza and all those guys. So who knows? That could have been the election right there."

Via text message, Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod put the Calexico bump at 2 percentage points.

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