Republicans stress need for local voice at Capitol
But controversy still hangs over Shooter as primary nears
The question for Yuma Republicans in District 13 is not only whether a local candidate will be elected to the state Legislature, but whether a victory for one of them could do more harm than good.
The predominantly GOP district has twice as many voters in Maricopa County as in Yuma County, 83,000 to 41,000.
Since its creation before the 2012 election, Yuma leaders have been concerned about having a local voice in what has historically been the majority party at the Capitol, with the population concentrated in the western Phoenix suburbs of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear and Litchfield Park.
“That’s always in the back of everybody’s mind. We’ve had to fight to maintain one of the three LD13 seats be from Yuma, and we know we’re always at risk of that,” said Phil Townsend, former Yuma Republican Party chairman.
“So we try to send somebody who is exceptionally good like Tim (Dunn), and has broad appeal, and will work very hard to represent the entire district at the Legislature,” he said.
With water-related issues expected to be a focus during the upcoming session, both local candidates are stressing the importance of having someone from the area protect Yuma’s rights to Colorado River water, believed to be a target of the Central Arizona Project, which supplies Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties.
Rep. Tim Dunn, a Yuma farmer and businessman who was appointed to his seat in February, is running his first campaign for one of the district’s two House seats against three competitors from the West Valley of metro Phoenix.
He said the ability to compete districtwide was a prime consideration when local party leaders were considering nominees to send to the county Board
of Supervisors for consideration.
“So it is always looming, that we make sure we have someone from Yuma. Someone from Yuma that is capable of representing the entire district. In order to win the district, you have to carry more than Yuma,” he said. “That’s always been a concern, or a problem.”
Dunn said he connects with West Valley constituents through his ownership of two Sports Clips franchises there, along with similarities between the district’s two ends, which both have large military bases and a defensive stance on their water supply.
“There is a difference when you’re advocating for your own constituents, your hometown, and especially the water rights on the river, (it) is very important,” Dunn said. “But people don’t understand the water rights in Buckeye, the groundwater that’s under there is under attack.
“The central part of Phoenix, east of Buckeye and Goodyear, want that groundwater too. They’d like to desalt it and put it in their system. So that is under attack, just like the river is,” he said.
The other District 13 GOP candidates are incumbent Rep. Darin Mitchell, R-Goodyear, who is running as a team with Trey Terry of Litchfield Park, and Joanne Osborne, a city councilwoman from Goodyear.
One Democrat, Thomas Tzitzura of Litchfield Park, is running in that party’s primary, and on track to be on the general election ballot.
Meanwhile the man Dunn replaced, Don Shooter, is trying to get back into the Senate. He served three terms in that chamber before switching to the House, which expelled him 56-3 after an investigation found several sexual harassment allegations against him were credible.
Up until then, he was considered a powerful legislator, as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and didn’t face much electoral competition.
Shooter has acknowledged and apologized for several of the incidents, but is suing, and being sued by, his first accuser, Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, RScottsdale.
He’s also pursuing another lawsuit, against House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Gov. Doug Ducey’s chief of staff, Kirk Adams. He claims the three conspired to get him kicked out of the Legislature, in part so they could have unfettered access to Yuma’s Colorado River water entitlements.
Shooter said this week that while appearing at a campaign event this month, he said, “You know, I’ve got to protect Yuma’s water,” and an aide pointed out to him on the way home, “You know, you’re in Maricopa County. They want Yuma’s water.”
He added, “If I do say so myself, at least I’m honest and consistent.”
He was interviewed by phone from the Phoenix area, where he said he was continuing to run a campaign based on the similarities between the two faces of the district, with an active agricultural scene in the West Valley and common priorities among all voters.
“No matter where you live, whether you live in Maricopa or Yuma or the West Valley or anyplace else, the truth is all we want is a decent job, a decent education for our kids, just kind of a peaceful world, and then most people are happy,” Shooter said.
He said that despite the controversy created by his ejection, he believes he has a good chance at winning, based on hearing about the results of polling conducted by opposing campaigns.
And he says he can still be effective as a legislator, denying he’s “persona non grata” at the Capitol and wouldn’t be assigned to any Senate committees. He said he’ll probably become appropriations chairman again if the GOP maintains control of the Senate, and “even the Democrats have agreed that I’m the only one with the experience, and they trust me.”
Shooter’s running in the primary against Sen. Sine Kerr of Buckeye, who was appointed to her seat just before this year’s session began. Her predecessor Steve Montenegro resigned to run for a seat in Congress in a special election, but lost after racy texts exchanged with a legislative aide came to light.
The third candidate is Brent Backus of Waddell, who made an unsuccessful bid to have Shooter disqualified in court as not being a resident of the district.
It was the first legal action taken regarding an issue which followed Shooter for most of his time in office, with a Supreme Court panel finding his Yuma condo was his legal residence, not a home in central Phoenix owned by his wife.
Local GOP leaders are solidly behind Dunn’s campaign, encouraging voters to vote for him and no one else in that race so none of the West Valley candidates benefit from that vote.
Yuma County Republican Party Chairman Russ Jones, a former state legislator who lost his seat to Mitchell after the 2012 redistricting, said, “If Maricopa County splits the vote three ways, and Tim gets the lion’s share here in Yuma, I think he’ll prevail,” he said. “But he’s gotta keep working it, you can’t take anything for granted.”
But he remains ambivalent about Shooter’s attempt at redemption in the Senate race, and the local committee has not endorsed anyone. He said he personally is backing Kerr, as he said he would before Shooter’s late entry into the race.
“She’s done more than an adequate job to deserve to be elected on her own right,” he said. Kerr owns a dairy in the Buckeye area with her husband, and has served on boards for the Maricopa County Air Quality District and the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
“I’ll continue to back the incumbent, regardless of where she’s from. Because a lot of people from Maricopa County voted for Don Shooter, even though he was from here, otherwise he wouldn’t have won,” Jones said.
Townsend said he’s backing Kerr, who he said is “an extremely wonderful person,” and doesn’t think Shooter could be effective as a legislator. “MY personal opinion of Don is he needs to take a time out, and let things cool down, get things past him, and then reassess in a few years.”
Jones said he’s not sure who will come out on top in the Senate race.
“That’s something of a tossup. There’s probably some disaffected people in Yuma who are upset with what happened while he was in the House, some more so than others. How they’ll vote, everybody’s going to vote their conscience,” he said.
But he’s fully backing Dunn, and said not having any Republicans from Yuma win could be devastating, in spite of efforts from the two Yuma Democrats serving the south county in District 4.
“Absolutely. Being in the minority you have no committee chairmanships, and pretty much, there’s some bipartisan legislation obviously, but most of it is driven by the majority party,” he said.
In District 4, Sen. Lisa Otondo has no opposition from any party on the ballot, and House Minority Whip Charlene Fernandez, along with appointed incumbent Rep. Gerae Peten, D-Goodyear, will face Green Party candidate Sara Mae Williams in the fall.
Fernandez said, “I think it’s going to be an issue of not which party, but that we have as many people up there from Yuma as possible. As Democrats we’re in the minority but we do advocate for Yuma, we have firsthand knowledge of Yuma, so when we lose that representation, we lose a lot, I think.
“Obviously the Republicans are the majority party and it’s always nice to have someone with the majority party, and we may be the majority party come November.”
Although District 4 includes parts of Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties, about half of its voters are in Yuma County, with about a third registered in Maricopa County.
The District 13 Republican chairman, Michael Carbone of Buckeye, said Yuma shouldn’t be too worried if neither of their candidates make it through the primaries and the November general election, into the Legislature at the beginning of January.
“I know that it can be worrisome, for constituents of your community, that it’s nice to have someone down there, because you kind of feel left alone. I don’t think that’s the case, and as chairman I would promote that everyone is represented equally,” he said.
“I’d assure you to, to say not to fret, but I understand your concerns. You’re out there, there’s a big gap from the West Valley down to Yuma,” he added. “But I think there’s still going to be a strong presence. And as a representative, whether it’s state rep, or state Senate, or even higher, I don’t think they’re going to forget about Yuma.”