State lawmaker Frank Pratt of Casa Grande dies after illness
Arizona Rep. Frank Pratt, R-Casa Grande, has died following a long illness, the House of Representatives announced Tuesday. He was 79.
A swimming pool construction company owner and former rancher, Pratt was a solid conservative vote for the state’s Republican majority but joined bipartisan coalitions in 2013 and 2016 to expand Medicaid and extend a health-insurance program for children.
He served Legislative District 8, covering Pinal County and southern Gila County, with fellow House incumbent Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, and Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers called Pratt “irreplaceable.”
“The honor, integrity and high ethic by which he conducted himself in his service is incomparable,” said Bowers, R-Mesa. “He loved what he did and wouldn’t let anything stop him from doing it.”
Pratt didn’t miss much of the 2021 legislative session despite his illness, partly owing to the pandemic making remote participation more common, and few knew that he was even sick, said Shope, who called Pratt a friend and mentor.
“Many of us were hoping for the best, but it didn’t work out,” Shope said.
Shope said he wasn’t closer to anyone at the Arizona Legislature, and that he got to know Pratt well as they campaigned and drove across the expansive district together. He described Pratt as being from a different era, a “quiet” lawmaker who wanted to do his job and drive back home to Casa Grande at night.
Lawmaker worked across aisle
As Pratt’s online biography states, his family has lived in Arizona since the late 1800s, and his mother was born in Florence. He’s survived by his wife, Janice, and his son, Bryan, who helped run Pratt Pools with him.
Pratt put the same energy into his pool business as he did years ago in his ranching and farming work, Shope said. Even late in life, he’d be “out in 115-degree heat on a daily basis, building swimming pools with his son,” Shope said.
In 2010, Pratt made national news after he was bound and beaten by an intruder at his store, suffering bruises and a broken bone.
“Frank Pratt did it all,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement, “public servant, business owner, rancher, farmer and family man. He was one of the good guys, and we’re lucky he called Arizona home. He will be deeply missed.”
Ducey ordered the state’s flags lowered to half-staff in Pratt’s honor.
Social media filled with condolences for the longtime lawmaker, including praise for his ability to work across the political aisle.
Chris Kotterman, director of governmental relations for the Arizona School Boards Association, wrote on Twitter that Pratt “was always kind and receptive to me when I went to speak with him about education issues. A genuinely nice man whose presence at the Capitol was a welcome relief from some of the partisan rancor. May he rest in peace.”
Pratt’s death creates an opening in the Legislature to serve the rest of his two-year term.
Under Arizona law, the Board of Supervisors in his home county — Pinal — will appoint another Republican to Pratt’s seat.