 During the campaign he received organizational and fundraising support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a member of the Red to Blue program.Ashford was also endorsed by Giffords, a gun control advocacy organization that was founded by former Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly.However, in the Democratic primary he was narrowly defeated by Kara Eastman, who criticized him for having been a member of the Republican Party in the past, despite having outraised her with $571,000 to her $356,000.