Politics, Arizona Style: Republican Lawmakers Mend a Fence

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By: AZLatinos.com Staff

Most citizens pay little attention to the inner gears of the legislative process, such as leadership contests. A recent development, or at least announcement, about who will replace Rep. Andy Tobin as speaker tells us a little about how Republicans there will treat each other next year.

Rep. Dave Gowan, a Sierra Vista Republican, tells the Arizona Capitol Times that he has the votes to win the job and that – here’s the key part – he did so by corralling the support of moderate Republicans. They were the ones who supported Gov. Jan Brewer’s restoration and expansion of Medicare, the new education standards that further right Republicans hate and either opposed or quickly switched sides on the unpopular Senate Bill 1062 that rallied gay rights advocates.

Part of the reported deal has Chandler Rep. Bob Robson, one of the moderates, getting the speaker pro tem position in leadership.

What that could mean is that Arizona Republican conservatives and moderates will be mending fences (or at least attempting to) after the election, which means less influence for the Democrats who teamed with the moderate Republicans and Gov. Brewer on a short list of big issues. (Democrats get to vote for leadership positions – all lawmakers do – but a unified majority caucus can still pick the leadership  regardless of minority votes.)