Despite being heavily outspent during her campaign, English won her 1992 General Election race against RepublicanDoug Wead after being endorsed by former U.S. SenatorBarry Goldwater. Goldwater said he thought Wead was out of touch with Arizona because of his relatively brief residency in the state—two years to English's 22. Wead countered that Goldwater's support of abortion rights spurred the unexpected crossing of party lines.[1] English may have also benefited from Democratic Party momentum in 1992, which was the year of Bill Clinton's first presidential election victory. Clinton came within a few percentage points of winning Arizona, and two other Democratic Representatives (Ed Pastor and Sam Coppersmith) were elected along with English to give Democrats the majority of the state's House delegation.
She was the second woman to represent Arizona in Congress, with Isabella Selmes Greenway (1933–1937) being the first.[2]
After serving a single term in Congress, English was defeated by Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth in 1994.