Papers lay strewn on Sen. Jim Waring’s office floor.
The scene is a reminder of the work ethic that Waring has brought to the Legislature as he begins his third term as senator.
He likes to start early and prepares his bills so they are ready on the first day of session. No wonder when the Senate transmitted eight bills to the House this week, five of them were authored by Waring, a District 7 Republican.
First, tell me about your political education. What brought you into politics≠ What makes you stay≠
My parents were both teachers and I was very interested in public service at an early age. I remember talking about Ronald Reagan with grandparents and so forth.
Ronald Reagan≠
Ronald Reagan, yes. I was about 11, 12 years old when he was first running. I was the kind of geek who actually looked at Time magazine and so forth at a very young age. Always interested in history. Obviously history has a lot to do with politics. And the Founding Fathers, my mom really inculcated that into me and the appreciation for their sacrifices and so forth.
And then when I went into college and out of college, I was with the Young Republicans… I volunteered on campaigns and one of the campaigns I volunteered on — I was working at the university, I was working on my Ph.D. — was John McCain’s campaign. And I guess people like good volunteers, and so it was a real privilege to be invited to join his staff. And I loved working for that guy. We had a lot of fun, I really enjoyed him very much and I hope he felt the same. But we had a really good relationship and I enjoyed it, so when the opportunity came to run, I ran.
What makes you stay≠
There is a financial and an emotional toll because we don’t get paid very much, of course — and I shouldn’t say this — but I would probably do this for free because I feel I have been effective working on issues that I care about, you know, drunk driving, domestic violence and the veterans’ bills are so near and dear to my heart, as well as working for my former employers at the universities. I had good success, I think, helping them with their budget priorities and so forth in the past.
I just really enjoyed working on the issues and I have enjoyed working with folks who maybe otherwise wouldn’t have a voice.
The last elections saw your Republican numbers diminished in both chambers. What does that tell you and how does that affect the kinds of bills that Republicans in general and you in particular, will try to pass this year≠
Well most of my bills, I think if you look at the vote totals, have always been non-partisan. In fact I’m trying to think of a bill that has been a partisan vote… I’m trying to think of one that hasn’t had at least some if not all of the Democrats supporting it just because I think they have been public safety issues or issues that really affect actual people. That’s what I’ve tried to do anyway. I’ve tried to focus on issues that will help real people around the state, as much as I can.
As far as losing seats, we’ve lost two seats by a total of a few hundred votes, when you really look at it. We could have gone to 19. On election night, it looked like we were climbing to 19 even as the House was losing some members—it was clear on election night that that was going to happen.
We could have been about the only Republican body probably around the country that actually picked up a seat in that anti-Republican climate of 2006. But we didn’t. We missed it by a few hundred votes. But it was weeks later that we found that out. I think it was very close. I don’t think it was a total indictment of individual state senators and the Republican Party. It was just a close race.
You have been tough on drunk driving. Several bills you have proposed tend to show you want to be tougher on drunk drivers this year. What drives you to pursue this≠
I told voters when I first ran that I would focus on veterans, helping veterans and the universities where I worked — I knew the system intimately, I worked there for about nine or 10 years — and also drunk driving. And I’ve picked up domestic violence somewhere along the way.
But on drunk-driving, I hate waste. I meet parents every year, and I just now heard from another one just this morning, by way of a mutual friend who has heard about my bills. It’s really unfortunate.
We have one woman, Molly Stephen from Tucson, who lost her only daughter, her only child, many years ago to a drunk driver going the wrong way on I-10 and it’s just such a sad story, such a waste. This person, this was his fifth DUI, he had several extremes. My hope is through the bills, either we can mandate treatment, which the bills do, and then maybe that would make the person clean up their act, or we can keep them in jail, and hopefully at least for the days they are incarcerated, we know they won’t be driving, and they won’t kill somebody else.
We had 492 fatalities in 2005. That’s the last year for state records. You think about that, OK, 492 people with almost a thousand parents or step-parents or whatever. That’s how many children lost their parents. When you look at the wall of the DPS officers who have been slain, that’s over in the Executive Tower, eight of the 26 were killed by drunk drivers. I think that’s a disgrace. You know, they pulled somebody else over and then got hit by a drunk driver, and that’s how we lost eight officers. Most of those officers were young men who had young families and several, I’m now told, of those children have now grown up to be DPS officers.
You have a bill that would provide for a new DUI classification for those extremely drunk people who drive.
Yes that is true. They kill a lot of people every year.
Your bills provide for severe penalties or longer jail terms. Some say this is not the solution to the problem, and that more access to rehab centers and more cops on the road probably is. What do you say to that≠
I would love to put more police officers on the road. You know I have some quarrels with the city in the past, quite frankly, with how they spend some of their monies. …I don’t know if you were there for the testimony in the committee, but they have very few officers who are focused on DUIs, which are killing 492 people [annually] and if we had a disease doing that, if the ebola virus did that or a serial killer did that, we’d had task forces and clinics and so forth.
A controversial measure that you proposed is prohibiting the use of name, portrait or picture of a deceased soldier for profit without prior consent from the soldier’s kin. During your caucus [Jan. 23], many of your colleagues still have a lot of questions about it. To what extent are you now prepared to modify your bill as a result of these discussions≠ What do you think it will look like if you take into consideration all these arguments≠
We did put the bill out in caucus to find out what other members thought. We had a long discussion in committee the week before, in the Commerce Committee. I wanted to see where our caucus was. I believe that at the end of that caucus I’m convinced, with maybe one or two exceptions, that members will support the bill, I do think, as it is, with one minor change.
I do think that some members would have supported a much broader bill. I’m very cognizant of the free speech issues here. People, your readers, need to understand. This is about someone who is selling a t-shirt with dead soldier’s names on it, with a message that the family and presumably the dead soldiers do not approve.
Now if they’re giving the shirt away, I think you’ll probably going to have free speech issues if we prohibit the person from… giving away the shirt. But selling the shirt is a different thing. You’re trying to make money. Parents have contacted this individual who lives in Flagstaff and have asked him to quit selling the shirt. Two other states, Oklahoma and Louisiana, passed bills to prohibit this kind of activity and Texas has a bill to do this now.
Last year you were dubbed as the Ambassador of Happiness.
(Laughs) By Senator Tibshraeny, yes.
After three terms, is that still a valid title or has work in the Senate worn your smile down≠
I don’t know. I try to take it all with a grain of salt. I understand most of it is not personal. If someone hates my bill it doesn’t mean they hate me. I have to say I am surprised at what adults will write to other adults. People who have never met me about my bills, my DUI bills for example, people write very insulting things. You know, I’ve been surprised by that. I will respond in kind. Frankly if you are rude to me I’m probably going to be rude back. So expect it. I guess it’s just a fair warning because I have been shocked at what people will say and do particularly in e-mail. I think that may have emboldened people a little bit. I find that very distasteful. I would ask and I’ve always asked people who are lobbying bills that I’m working on — such as my bill affecting the mothers of the deceased servicemen — to be polite.
Do you have a political hero≠
Certainly Lincoln. My sort of adopted hometown, my parent’s actual hometown — we still have a family farm back in Illinois — is the site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate. I also, as I alluded to you before, deeply admire John McCain. I love working with Senator McCain. I just thought in every respect he was a very honorable and decent person. He was very good to me and my family and I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Up closer
Last movie you saw in full≠
“Children of Men.” It was a very good movie. I have my personal favorites. But they said it was kind of like “Blade Runner” and it was in a way. But it was a serious movie that was also entertaining. Very well acted, very well written.

When are you getting married≠
When am I getting married≠ …If I was very fortunate, it would be soon. You know, I have a long-term girlfriend and that is no secret. She is in law school and she is just the best thing ever I could ever hope for.

No date yet≠
No, there’s no date set or anything but we have a wonderful relationship and I couldn’t be happier. If I’m Mr. Happiness down here, it’s not necessarily because of the bills, but maybe because of that.