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Past Endorsements by The Arizona Republic
Re-Elect Huppenthal
The Arizona Republic, September 30, 2008
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/SoutheastEditorials/34599
Voters in Ahwatukee, west Chandler and south Tempe are fortunate to be able to choose among some excellent
candidates for state House and Senate in District 20.
Incumbent Senator John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, is challenged by retired teacher Ted Maish of Chandler, who calls himself a moderate Democrat.
Huppenthal insists that legislation be based on best practices
from around the country, and he's prone to arcane dissertations based on stacks of studies he has compiled as he delves into state and district problems.
It's not sexy stuff but it's necessary to guide a legislative process too often led astray by raw politics and emotion.
Maish is bright and articulate. Indeed, if he were running for another office against a lesser opponent he would
be easy to support. The retired Mesa teacher correctly points out that Arizona must raise teachers' pay to match salaries in comparable high-skill
professions or risk a worsening shortage of quality people entering and staying in the classroom.
Huppenthal agrees but insists high pay must be tied to performance, and cites his own work refining and expanding
the career ladder program.
Beyond education, Huppenthal fully grasps the complexities of the state budget and has helped craft progressive
public-safety legislation.
Arizona has benefited from Huppenthal's breadth of expertise and experience, and he deserves to be re-elected.
Huppenthal builds reputation as political workhorse
By Corinne Purtill
The Arizona Republic, March 25, 2006
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0325ar-huppenthal0325Z10.html
One morning this month, state Senator John Huppenthal stood in front of a House committee to introduce six bills.
One would change the way county recorders count reporting slips for clean elections to reduce time and paperwork. Another would alter laws regarding official
name changes in order to prevent identity theft.
They weren't headline-grabbing proposals. But the bills before the House Judiciary Committee (all six of which passed) were the stuff on which Huppenthal, R-Dist. 20,
has built his reputation as a watchdog of the law, on the lookout for ways to uncurl loopholes and smooth wrinkles to make the law more efficient.
Within his party, the senator has earned a reputation
as a workhorse.
"He pulls a lot of weight in the Legislature, probably more than the average senator," said Tom Liddy, former chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party.
"Nobody outworks Huppenthal."
"This is the most intense year I've had in all 13 years I've been down here," the Chandler resident and planning
analyst said.
He has sponsored more than 25 pieces of legislation that have passed out of the Senate.
One of the bills is aimed at tackling the problem of methamphetamine use among young people.
Huppenthal, 52, introduced a bill to fund public service announcements to discourage meth use. He envisions a campaign similar to a series of anti-tobacco
advertisements produced in the late 1990s, one that he said was followed by reductions in teen smoking.
The fund would be used for "deglamorizing meth and making sure youngsters know how profoundly destructive that drug is," Huppenthal said. "If they understand
this thing . . . it'll stop this thing cold."
In the Senate, the $5.2 million provision is tacked on a comprehensive bill regarding meth use. It's waiting for caucus in the Senate.
He was also the primary sponsor of legislation that links the pay of employees in all state agencies to performance, making Arizona the first state to offer
performance pay for all its employees. Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the bill in February.
Huppenthal, who survived a recall attempt in 2005, could face some political challenges later this year. Ahwatukee resident and Democrat Donna Gratehouse is
collecting signatures to challenge Huppenthal this fall.
The challenge hasn't slowed him down.
"I've been part of a team that's brought incredible prosperity to Arizona," he said. "I intend to stay on that path and keep working away."
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