By Tom Blodgett
Mail |
X: @sp_blodgett

Congressional District 5 covers an area seen as strongly Republican with one of the most visible members of the House Freedom Caucus holding the seat.

But that has not stopped a newcomer from entering the fray.

Incumbent Andy Biggs faces no primary challenge but figures to see Katrina Schaffner in the Nov. 5 general election. Schaffner also has no opposition in the Democratic primary July 30.

Here are their biographies.

Andy Biggs

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona

U.S. House of Representatives

Andy Biggs is a Republican member of the U.S. House, representing Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, serving since 2017.

Biggs previously worked as an attorney with a license to practice in Arizona, Washington and New Mexico.

Biggs served in the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 22 from 2003 to 2011. He then represented District 12 in the Senate from 2011 to 2017. He was Senate majority leader in 2011-12 and then Senate president from 2013 to 2017.

He was elected to Congress representing District 5 in 2016 by 27 votes. In September 2019, Biggs was selected to serve as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, which he did for two years. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Fun fact: Biggs won a $10 million American Family Publishers sweepstakes in 1993.

Katrina Schaffner

Katrina Schaffner, Democratic candidates for Arizona Congressional District 5 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives

Courtesy Katrina Schaffner

Democrat Katrina Schaffner is a Ukranian-American who is a stay-at-home mom, an activist and a former salon stylist with a business background.

She was born in Chicago into a blue collar family. Her grandparents came to America as refugees after surviving forced labor camps in Nazi Germany. Her father was a carpenter, and she grew up learning the ins and outs of a construction business. In high school she began working full time on nights and weekends while keeping up with her studies and supporting her family as needed.

After graduating high school, she went to community college. Unable to pay for higher education, she went to trade school for her cosmetology license. During this time, she worked in a corporate setting, learning customer service skills, leadership skills, and organization.

After the company got bought out, she worked at a salon and grew her cosmetology business. She is running for the District 5 Congressional seat as a Democrat.

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).