A three-way contest for Senate president is shaping up among Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor and committee chairmen Chuck Gray and Bob Burns.
All three Republicans have approached colleagues for support, the Arizona Capitol Times has learned.
A fourth senator who initially was interested in the position, Barbara Leff of Paradise Valley, has decided not to run for it.
There have been some clues as to whom other lawmakers plan to support in the bid for the top leadership post in the Senate, but most were keeping their choices secret. One Phoenix Republican said he can count off the top of his head up to nine lawmakers who remain uncommitted.
Whoever wins will have a full plate next year. Several senators have either retired or have decided to run for the House, which means it will be a decidedly different Senate than it was during the past two years. In addition to the difficulty of mentoring and training new members, some relationships need to be mended after the 2008 session ended bitterly — not just between the two parties but also within the GOP caucus.
The Senate president — by all indications, it will be a Republican – also will have to find a way to work with Gov. Janet Napolitano and her Democrat colleagues. But the biggest challenge will be to pass a budget and close what’s expected to be a large deficit. In July, sales-tax collections statewide fell $90 million below projections.
It’s likely that the next two-year period is going to be all about the budget. And some lawmakers have said the state’s financial problems will be a significant factor when making a choice in a new leader.
Gray is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is known as a hard-working, conservative lawmaker. He introduced the most number of bills during the 2008 session.
Burns, a fiscal conservative, is the long-time chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Like many of his GOP colleagues, he was unhappy with the budget that was signed into law this year.
Verschoor, also conservative, is well-liked in his chamber and was presumed to be the favorite to become Senate president until Rep. Eddie Farnsworth challenged him in the Senate District 22 primary. Some Capitol observers had written off Verschoor, but he won the race and is back in the running, causing some lawmakers to redraw their leadership plans.
Sen. Sylvia Allen of Snowflake, who has been approached by all three senators seeking the Senate presidency, said she hasn’t decided who to support at this time.
“We are having good talks, and I think that whoever we do elect, we are going to have good leadership this next year,” she said.
Allen said she wants a strong leader who can bring different sides together. She said she is tired of “strict partisan politics.”
Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu said he has yet to make up his mind on who to support, but said he’s unhappy with the GOP leadership team of 2008.
“Essentially when President (Tim) Bee rolled the Republican caucus, my leadership went into the fetal position on the floor,” Gould said. He and Sen. Jack Harper of Surprise were left to fight Bee’s budget proposal, he said.
Harper has endorsed Verschoor. He told the Arizona Capitol Times he believes it is going to be Verschoor “all the way.”
Sen. Jim Waring, also uncommitted, said he doesn’t think any of the three candidates is close to the 10 votes needed to cinch the post, assuming Republicans will hold 18 seats in the Senate after the general election.
“I don't think anybody is close to nine (votes) either,” Waring said.
Leff had considered running for the post but recently backed out.
“The main (reason) really has to do with wanting to have some time, although limited time, with my grandchildren in California,” Leff said.
Leff said she sneaks out of town on some weekends during session to see her grandkids.
“It doesn’t take away from my legislative responsibilities at all, but as president, I probably would never get out there to see them,” she said.