Jerry Lewis (file)By PAUL DAVENPORT
Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) -- A Republican state senator from Mesa whose victory in a 2011 recall election ousted former Senate President Russell Pearce from office won't return to the Arizona Legislature.
Jerry Lewis lost to Democratic Rep. Ed Ableser of Tempe in Tuesday's general election for the Legislative District 26 Senate seat.
Lewis's successful challenge to Pearce in the recall put Lewis in office for the second half of Peace's two-year term.
Pearce was Arizona's most prominent advocate of legislation against illegal immigration, and Lewis argued that lawmakers needed to pay more attention to broader matters such as the economy and education.
Pearce represented a Republican-leaning district in Mesa, but redistricting put Lewis in a Democratic-leaning district centered on Tempe.
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