Fountain Hills Congressman David Schweikert addressed the Fountain Hills Republican Club at its recent monthly meeting.

Schweikert was reelected in the new Congressional District One in November and is beginning his second term on the House Ways and Means Committee. He first came to the House in 2011 following his tenure in the Arizona House of Representatives in 1991 where, in his second term, he became majority whip.

Schweikert and his wife Joyce are residents of Fountain Hills and parents again with the arrival of a baby boy to join his big sister who, at seven, “has likely been to more political meetings than many seasoned elected officials,” FHRC spokesperson Nancy Plencner joked.

The regular meeting focused on changes in the political makeup of Arizona voters, which club leadership said are now evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Schweikert’s newly configured Congressional District stretches from Las Sendas in Mesa to the West Side, to Cave Creek and into central Phoenix and Sunnyslope.

“The Congressman is well known for his math skills, which he adroitly applies to politics,” Plencner said. “For instance, his polling expertise allowed him to come within a thousand votes of predicting where his reelection campaign would come out. It's fair to say he can tell you what's on the minds of constituents down to the precinct level.”

“Arizona is unique,”

Plencner continued. “With so much land held by the state, federal and tribal governments, land for the private sector is limited. That's why 64% of the state's population is clustered in Maricopa County, and 20% in Tucson. The remainder are scattered around the state.

After taking questions from the audience, Schweikert concluded his remarks with concerns about the national debt limit.

The Fountain Hills Republican Club meets the third Saturday of each month at the Fountain Hills Community Center. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. For more information visit the club's website at fountainhillsrepublicanclub.com.