More Election News

• OH: GOP Has Edge in Small Donations
• TX: White Promises to Move to Trailer if Elected
• IL: Quinn, Brady Spar Over Minority Issues, Social Issues and Ethics
• FL-8: Grayson Seen as Folk Hero by Some, as Tyrant by Others
• CT: McMahon Spends $40 Million but Lags in Race
• MA-4: Tea Party Revels in Barney Frank's Money Woes
• PA: Giuliani to Campaign for Toomey
• ME: LePage Says Dem Opponent Is "Married" to Unions
• AZ-7: Grijalva, McClung Reveal Sharp Split in Debate
• CO: Buck Vows No Compromising
• RI: No Endorsement Yet From Obama in Race
• NJ-3: Adler Keeps His Cool
• DE: O'Donnell Stands Her Ground on First Amendment Statement

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For Republican House candidate David Schweikert, the difference in the political environment he faced when trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell in 2008 and the one he enjoys in the rematch in 2010 was best encapsulated by his visits to the same south Scottsdale home in each year.

In 2008, he knocked on the independent voter's home, introduced himself as someone who grew up in the area and asked the man who greeted him to sign his nominating petition.

"You're a Republican, aren't you?" the man asked, before knocking the clipboard out of Schweikert's hands and slamming the door on him.

In February of this year, Schweikert said he returned to the same home and was greeted by the same man, but there was no violent reaction this time around. Instead, the voter grabbed Schweikert's clipboard, signed the nominating petition along with his wife, and asked if he could put a sign in his yard.

"Have you ever had one of those things where you walk away and say to yourself, ‘This is different?'" Schweikert asked rhetorically in an interview with RealClearPolitics on Tuesday.

Schweikert lost to Mitchell by nine percent in 2008, but things are looking up for the Republican in his rematch this year. RealClearPolitics rates the 5th District race as "leans Republican," although it remains one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds in the country.

Mitchell narrowly defeated Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth to win the seat in the Democratic wave of 2006, but the Republican-leaning district voted for President Bush twice and for Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2008. Still, Schweikert is far from complacent.

In the middle of Tuesday's interview, he took a fundraising call on his cell phone and successfully requested that a donor max out his contribution limit to his campaign by supplying an additional $1,400 in advance of a new spate of TV ads that Schweikert was set to launch on Wednesday.

Schweikert noted that the Phoenix market was an expensive one and lamented that while the NRCC has been heavily invested in the race, his campaign has not received outside funding from groups like American Crossroads.

"I must tell you I'm a little surprised just because of the profile and type of candidate I am, but as you know, there's nothing you can do about it," Schweikert said.

Schweikert has received a groundswell of support from tea party-aligned groups, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin targeted his race in her effort to flip House seats currently held by Democrats in districts that voted for McCain in 2008.

"I think we're on her Web site, but she hasn't sent money," Schweikert said. "If you're going to come out for me, send money. It is what it is."

Mitchell also portrayed himself as the scrappy underdog in a phone interview on Tuesday.

"In every race I've ever been in, I've always been a Democrat in a Republican district," Mitchell said. "I've never had an easy one."

Mitchell has been one of the more conservative Democratic voices in the House, but he voted for health care reform. The Democrat received the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce, which he touted nearly a dozen times in Tuesday's interview.

"Every bill I've introduced has been with a Republican cosponsor," Mitchell said, adding that he differs with other members of his party with his focus on tax cuts.

Schweikert, who says he has been a "debt hawk for a very long time," emphasizes his own fiscal credentials and his background as a former county treasurer.

"My great dream, if I'm blessed to be elected, is I want to be the guy you give the calculator to," Schweikert said. "I know that's not particularly glamorous, but someone's got to do it because we seem to have elected lots of great communicators but not someone who's comfortable doing fiscal policy."

Another factor in this year's contest pitting Mitchell and Schweikert is the endorsement of the major newspaper in the district: The Arizona Republic. In 2008, the Republic endorsed Mitchell, but the editorial board changed course this year and lent its support to Schweikert.

The Republic's endorsement was hanging prominently on a wall inside Schweikert's Scottsdale campaign headquarters on Tuesday, and the Republican was clearly enthusiastic about receiving the newspaper's support.

"The Republican base looks like they're with us, but if you're an independent who wasn't really paying attention and didn't really care, and then you see these ads just ripping us apart, and then the newspaper comes out and says, ‘Hey, he's ok,' it's a third-party testimonial," Schweikert said.

Indeed, unlike other tea party-backed candidates, Schweikert has chosen to embrace the mainstream media, rather than antagonizing it.

"I'm not one of the guys who's ever gonna beat ‘em up because in today's world, I don't know how the media business works," Schweikert said. "Maybe I have a sense of reality of, for a lot of these things, it's their job. It's less about ideology, it's just their job."