SIERRA VISTA — During the primary season, the Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. Congressional District 8 seat have been focused on the general election in November.

Neither Democratic incumbent Gabrielle Giffords nor her Republican opponent, State Senate President Tim Bee, had any party opposition in Tuesday’s primary elections.

Statistics compiled from the Cochise County Elections Office and the Secretary of State’s Office. All of the results are unofficial. * Denotes not all precincts are reporting in race.

Overall in the district, the unoffical tally had Bee with 34,178 votes and Giffords with 31,196 votes, as of press time. Only 29.8 percent of district precincts were reporting, as many votes in Pima County were still to be tallied.

In Cochise County, with 100 percent of the vote in, Bee garnered 6,640 votes and Giffords had 5,925 county votes.

All of Cochise County is in District 8.

Bee’s goal is to defeat first-term congresswoman Giffords. The seat was once held for 22 years by Republican Jim Kolbe. He announced his retirement in late 2005 opening the position up

for a wide open race. There were a number of Republicans and Democrats seeking their parties’ nod in the 2006. The Republicans chose Randy Graf, and the Democrats chose Giffords.

Ultimately, Giffords won the seat.

Although Bee brought in President George W Bush for a private fund-raising event in Tucson recently and reportedly raised a half-million dollars from the event for his campaign, Giffords still has more money in her coffers than Bee by about a 3-to-1 margin. At the last federal report, Bee listed about $600,000 cash on hand, while Giffords had more than $2 million available.

Both candidates are considered moderates and have some similar views on some issues, such as energy, and both tout their capabilities to cross the political aisle to work with those in the opposing parties to accomplish legislative goals.

As president of the Arizona Senate, Bee has claimed a number of victories in which Democrats were important to accomplishing legislation, such as ensuring the Fort Huachuca Accommodation Schools could use federal funds for education.

Giffords also claims success noting her extensive work on military issues, which has led to a number of bipartisan successes, especially in the area of supporting veterans who received wounds while in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

 A debate between the two is scheduled for Sierra Vista on Oct. 7 at Buena High School.