Arizona politician who survived shooting works to defend democracy

An immigrant who cast his first vote as a naturalized citizen in the 1990s, Barber survived a political shooting that stunned the nation. He knows how it feels to win — and narrowly lose — one of the country’s most hotly contested congressional seats. 

Now, as the consequential midterm election looms, Barber is devoting his time to protecting democracy and calling out political violence.

Barber leads the Arizona Democracy Resilience Network with Don Henninger, the former Phoenix Business Journal editor-in-chief who also previously served as managing editor of the Arizona Republic.

The group aims to protect election workers, condemn acts of political violence and encourage candidates to behave with civility, honesty and transparency. It’s part of the Carter Center, the nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by late President Jimmy Carter.

Barber spoke to The Republic at his Tucson, Arizona, home while recovering from surgery. Fifteen years on, Barber still suffers from nerve pain in his back that was caused by the leg injury he suffered in the 2011 shooting, which also injured then-U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six.

He’s trying to turn down the political temperature.

“He's not one to walk away when the needs are there,” Henninger said. “This is not the time to be apathetic. This is not the time to stay silent. This is the time to do whatever we can, one step at a time, one act at a time, to restore faith in our institutions, and Ron is deeply committed to that.” 

Incidents highlight need for change

Political violence is still rare in the United States, but a string of high-profile attacks has shaken the nation over the past two years. 

President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts while on the 2024 campaign trail. Phoenix conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in September. Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were slain last June. 

Most recently, a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ dinner in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors allege he did it with the intent to kill the president. 

There are other pressures on Barber’s mind, too. Election officials have had higher turnover amid Trump’s 2020 election denialism, according to a study from the political reform group Issue One. 

And more broadly, local officials nationwide have faced numerous threats in the past year, according to research from Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative. 

Still, Barber said he’s optimistic about his work. 

“This is really a great country, not only beautiful and diverse, but this is a country that lives by some very solid moral values. I'm working hard, in my own way, to restore that,” Barber said. 

How Barber came into politics

Barber grew up in London and moved to the U.S. when his mother married an American airman.

Barber became a naturalized citizen in the 1990s. His first vote felt like a huge privilege, he said, and he recalled tearing up in the booth.

He entered the political arena in 2005, when he started working for Giffords.

Tragedy struck six years later in January 2011. 

A gunman opened fire on a “Congress on Your Corner” event that Giffords hosted in a grocery store parking lot. Six people were killed and 13 were wounded by the gunfire. 

Barber was shot in the face and in the leg. He said he thought about his family and tried to keep his eyes open until he made it to the trauma center that saved his life. 

Giffords, who was shot in the head, stepped down from Congress to focus on her recovery, and Barber ran in the special election to fill her seat. He won a full term that fall. 

In Washington, Barber sat on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.

Two years later, he lost reelection to former Rep. Martha McSally, R-Arizona. They were separated by just 161 votes in that 2014 contest. 

“He accepted defeat and he moved on, and that's the way our system's supposed to work,” Henninger said. “He's lived through that experience, and I think that makes him even more qualified to be a spokesman for people that speak up for our democracy now.”

Need for Democracy Resilience Network

Barber was getting ready to retire from his job as director for Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, when he got a call from the Carter Center. 

Beleaguered by Trump’s baseless denial of the 2020 election results, election workers in battleground states like Arizona and Georgia were facing threats. Barber was invited to work on a democracy initiative, and he brought Henninger on to help.

They are an unlikely pair in today’s America — Barber is a Tucson Democrat and Henninger a Phoenix Republican. Together, they try to push back on partisanship. 

“We can disagree on a lot of different things, but it doesn't really matter because we're still united at our core,” Henninger said. “Part of what we hope to do is maybe model that.”

Nationwide, polls show that Americans of different partisan stripes are concerned about the political climate, said Erica Frantz, a political science professor at Michigan State University.

"People feel like the country is polarized, they don’t trust our political institutions, and they see political violence as a serious problem. Their partisanship influences who they think is to blame for these developments, but the general sentiment among citizens is that the country is not doing well," Frantz said.

Barber said there’s still common ground to be found. 

The Arizona Democracy Resilience Network sends messaging to its 350-person network in Arizona, holds meetings and gives awards to those it deems “civic champions.” 

“I'm an optimist, even in the worst of times,” Barber said. “I believe that this country will come back, but I'm very concerned about the attacks on our democratic principles.”