by a 54% to 42% margin in 2006. Bush narrowly won here with 52% to 47% for John Kerry in 2004. Giffords attracted a lot of attention in late May and June due to the shuttle flight of her husband Mark E. Kelly, who served as commander of the space shuttle's STS-124 mission. Bee's campaign generated state and national press coverage when his campaign co-chair, former Congressman Jim Kolbe, resigned and withdrew his support in early July. Kolbe had held the seat for 22 years until Giffords took office in 2007. On July 13, The Arizona Republic summarized the race: "Giffords has proved adept at fundraising and is considered a rising star in Democratic circles. But Bee is one of the state's highest-profile political figures and has enlisted the support of some heavy-hitters, including President Bush, the headliner of a Tucson fundraiser planned for later this month." Giffords has the "advantages of incumbency. Plus, Bee is just off a tough legislative term in which he drew heavy criticism for his role in a state budget deal and the referral of an anti-gay-marriage proposal to the November ballot. Bee remains a popular political figure, and registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 14,000 in the district." On July 16, The Arizona Republic reported that freshman Congresswoman Giffords "has proved to be the most successful fundraiser among the state's House delegation and now has more than $2 million in her campaign coffers." Race ranking and details from CQ Politics Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets Bee (R) vs Giffords (D-i) graph of collected poll results from Pollster.com Results Incumbent Gabrielle Giffords held her seat with about 55% of the vote. {{Infobox election | election_name = U.S. House of Representatives | country = Arizona | type = presidential | ongoing = no | previous_election = United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2006 | previous_year = 2006 | next_election = United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2010 | next_year = 2010 | election_date = November 4, 2008 | image1 = | nominee1 = Gabby Giffords | running_mate1 = | party1 = Democratic Party (United States) | popular_vote1 = 179,629 | percentage1 = '54.72% | image2 = | nominee2 = Tim Bee | running_mate2 = | party2 = Republican Party (United States) | popular_vote2 = 140,553 | percentage2 = 42.82% | map_image = | map_size = | map_caption = | title = U.S.