Article snippet: Republican groups are dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Arizona in the hopes of keeping any prospect of another Democratic upset in next month's special election at bay. The GOP says it's confident that the party will keep control of the seat last held by ex-GOP Rep. MORE, which represents a historically Republican area with a strong core of reliable GOP voters and retirees. Still, national Republican groups have recently committed more than a half-million dollars to retain what should be a safe seat, which MORE won by 21 points in 2016. “I’m skeptical the Democrats can actually win, [but] the more activity there is on the Republican side, the more indication it is actually competitive, because the parties are the ones with the best numbers,” said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst with the University of Virginia. “Losing Pennsylvania 18 was pretty embarrassing for Republicans. This would be worse.” The April 24 election. Franks resigned from the seat in December after allegedly discussing paying a staffer to carry his child. Lesko served in the state legislature for nearly a decade, building relationships in the district. By comparison, Tipirneni is a political newcomer who will need to scramble to build up her name recognition. But strategists on both sides of the aisle believe Tipirneni is a top-notch candidate, particularly after Democrats neglected to recruit challengers in the past two cycles. With early voting kicking off Wednesday, Republica... Link to the full article to read more