Lord believes he can unseat Shadegg in 3rd Dist.

On foreign policy, social and energy issues, voters in the northeast Valley's 3rd Congressional District have a clear choice this fall between Republican Rep. John Shadegg and Democratic challenger Bob Lord.

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The question becomes, what kind of voters are they?

Bob Lord

Shadegg, an attorney born and raised in Phoenix, faces his first real challenge since being swept into office with a raft of Republicans in the 1994 elections that saw dozens of Democratic seats fall.

He says voters support his conservative positions on everything from outlawing abortions to reining in spending, and they appreciate his experience.

"I think Bob Lord and I are polar opposites on almost every issue," he said. "I think he's going to try to minimize those differences."

To the contrary, Lord appears to embrace them.

"He's out of step with a very moderate district," Lord said. "Choice, stem-cell research, climate change. All down the line, he's out of step with this district."

Lord's candidacy in the sprawling district, which stretches from Thomas Road north through Carefree and Cave Creek, has attracted national attention. The district has a solid Republican registration advantage (44 percent GOP to 29 percent Democrat), but another 26 percent are independent.

In June, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee anointed the 3rd District as a "Red to Blue" race, bringing significant financial, strategic and communications support Lord's way.

Still, Shadegg has raised significantly more money, with $1.3 million on hand as of Aug. 13 to Lord's $657,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.

John Shadegg

Neither candidate has a primary opponent.

Lord, a 20-year Valley resident and tax attorney, emphasizes his experience working with hundreds of businesses and his lack of experience with partisan bickering and Washington machinations.

"He's absolutely polarizing," Lord said of Shadegg. "He has engaged in behavior that makes it impossible for him to have a working relationship with (Democrats)."

Lord wants to invest in education, including expanding the Pell grant program, push renewable energy and get the troops out of Iraq in 18 months. He supports stem-cell research, universal health care and abortion rights.

"Education is an investment in human capital," he said. "It's an investment that's going to pay us back over and over again."

Shadegg, who announced his retirement in February, changed his mind days later after 130 congressional colleagues signed a letter urging him to reconsider.

The former assistant state attorney general has a consistently conservative voting record, supporting President Bush's tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war and health-savings accounts, while opposing stem-cell research, abortion, expanded government health care and most spending proposals.

On energy, Shadegg supports the "all of the above" strategy backed by many of his GOP colleagues - pursuing off-shore and Arctic drilling while encouraging development of renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and green algae oil.

"What we're doing is we're buying that oil from our enemies," Shadegg said, shortly before he left Phoenix for a trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with three other House Republicans. "We're putting people in other economies to work while we're laying off people in this country."

Political observers say Lord needs to capitalize on Shadegg's lack of visibility in the district, even after 14 years. But they say the incumbent's lack of missteps may be enough since he hasn't given voters a reason to "fire" him.

The candidates have tentatively agreed to a series of debates, but no details have been worked out.