Posted on 03/27/2004 8:13:26 PM PST by Spiff
By Nate Searing
Sierra Vista Herald/Dispatch
Saturday, March 27, 2004 8:52 PM MST
SIERRA VISTA - Arizona House Majority Whip Randy Graf formally announced his bid Saturday to unseat, Congressman Jim Kolbe, a fellow Republican.
Speaking to a crowd of about 80 people, Graf touted himself as "The Real Republican For Congress," hammering a list of issues such as a constitutional amendment to ban gay[protect traditional] marriage, enforcing immigration laws, balancing the federal budget and lowering taxes, issues that he said of Kolbe, "for too long, this district has had its trust betrayed by the man whose job it is to represent us."
Graf, 45, is forcibly outspoken about his displeasure with Kolbe on topics such as abortion, immigration reform and border security. Kolbe has been a longtime proponent of a guest worker plan for Mexican nationals despite strong opposition in Cochise County.
"Congressman Jim Kolbe has abandoned the Republican Party ... choosing to side with liberal special interests on everything from protecting our borders to defending traditional marriage," Graf writes in a letter to potential voters.
The state representative said his highest priorities are balancing the federal budget, preserving family values and securing the national borders with law enforcement and an effective immigration policy.
"We need to close the borders completely before we even consider some sort of guest worker program," Graf said before his announcement speech. "It's time."
Graf's rally came on the heels of a day-long announcement of his intentions that included three events, a morning speech in Green Valley, followed by a noon announcement in Tucson and capped off by the Sierra Vista event.
The Sierra Vista rally was the largest of the three, which combined drew about 200 Graf supporters throughout the day.
Graf said his biggest challenge at this point is expanding his message into parts of the congressional district where voters may not know who he is.
Kolbe routinely faces staunch criticism from Republicans in Cochise County who are angry over what they view as a lax border policy. It's a criticism Graf said extends out to all of Cochise County, the area where Graf is least known in the congressional district.
"I'm not expecting a lot of big name endorsements, either from the party or corporate, but there are a lot of people who are on our side," Graf said. "I'm running against a 10-term incumbent and that's quite a task ... this has been a grassroots effort and will have to continue as such, but we'll get there."
Graf is currently the Majority Whip in the Arizona Legislature, representing District 30 which encompasses Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca through the eastern regions of Pima County and Tucson. The area was previously part of District 9, which Graf also represented at the time.
While Congressman Kolbe did not respond directly to the Graf announcement, he did release a statement Wednesday regarding his intentions to run for re-election.
"It is a great honor to serve the people of Southern Arizona in Congress ... I intend to formally announce my reelection campaign later this year so that I can continue to fight for the hardworking families of Southern Arizona."
He will be seeking his 11th term in the office.
Congressional District 8 covers all of southeastern Arizona including Cochise County and portions of Santa Cruz and Pima counties. The district includes about half of Tucson.
The Republican primary between Graf and Kolbe will be decided Sept. 7.
No Democratic candidates have thrown their hats into the ring at this time.
Kolbe has voted against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban every time - seven out of seven times - that it has been voted on.
Kolbe has voted for every amnesty that he's seen.
Kolbe's only saving grace has been his alleged fiscal conservatism - yet even there his record has really taken a beating over the past 4 years.
It is time for Kolbe to go.
I spent months on the phone, sending email, faxes, etc to Kolbe on the Impeachment thing. His support for Impeachment was lukewarm at best. We could get him to do little about Clinton's crimes. He rarely even brought it up. He kept saying he had to be an impartial "juror" and refused to speak out one way or the other. Up until the last minute we didn't know what way he was going to vote on impeachment.
He called Clinton's technology transfer of missile guidance technology to China a "political football" and dismissed it when I asked him about it in one of his town halls. He's always been an ardent supporter of the United Nations and I've gone round and round with him on sovereignty issues. When I brought up the 10th Amendment to him at a town hall he said that my interpretation was wrong and that Congress could do whatever it wanted as long as the Constitution didn't specifically prohibit it.
His voting record on guns is leave alot to be desired. Gun Owners of America gives him a C- on the issue, putting him in the bottom of the class when it comes to Republicans.
Randy Graf was endorsed by the Arizona Right to Life in his run for the Arizona House of Representatives. His pro-life record is impeccable. On the other hand, National Right to Life gives Kolbe a very poor score of 31 while the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) gives him a 100 due to his strident and consistent support for killing babies.
So, please don't try to defend him. As a Republican, his record is indefensible. If he was a Democrat, his record would make sense. Maybe he should switch parties this time around and run as a Democrat which is more in line with his idealogy.
You're right that Tucson is a liberal town. However, Graf's district takes in only a piece of Tucson. Pastor and Grijalva share the largest slices of Tucson. The rest of Graf's district is relatively conservative and includes Green Valley, Sierra Vista, and a bunch of pissed off conservatives all over Cochise County.
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