Legislator Tobin eyes 1st District seat in Congress

Republican state Rep. Andy Tobin of Paulden near Prescott may enter the race for the U.S. House representing Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, a race that lacks a clear Republican front-runner.

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Tobin is midway through his first two-year term in the Legislature.

The congressional seat is currently held by Rep. Rick Renzi, a fellow Republican. Renzi, however, is under federal investigation for possible public corruption and he has announced that he will not seek re-election .

The mostly rural district takes in huge regions of northern, central and eastern Arizona, including most of booming Pinal County.

Republican state Rep. Bill Konopnicki of Graham County had been widely expected to run , but he announced last week that he’ll take a pass.

That left something of a void on the Republican side of a race that both the national Republican and Democrat parties are targeting. Three Democrats are running for the seat.

Tobin said he has been thinking about entering the race for the past month or so, but figured Konopnicki would be the front-runner.

“When Mr. Konopnicki got out, we thought we had better open an exploratory committee right away. I’m going to guess that we have about 30 days to get a good shot at it, to get our information together. We won’t wait long,” Tobin said.

He said he will make a decision about running by March 1.

Republican radio talk show host Sydney Hay, of Munds Park near Flagstaff, is in the race, but so far, no other Republicans have emerged.

It’s possible other Republicans will join the race, said GOP strategist Doug Cole, vice president of High Ground, a Phoenix political consulting firm,

“I think people are assessing Konopnicki’s withdrawal and taking a look to see what other candidates are out there. Having said that, I do think Tobin is a very good and credible candidate,” Cole said.

The job will require the winner to be in Washington, D.C., most of the year, which is a serious consideration for Tobin, 49, who has five children — two adult sons, plus two high schoolers and a middle schooler.

“Basically, I’ve got a yellow light from the family, because we’re still in the thought process as well,” Tobin said. “My business partner gave me a green light. I don’t know if that means he wants to keep me away from my office or not.”

Tobin’s business is TLC Employee Benefits in the Prescott area.

While voter registration in the region favors Democrats, rural Democrats often vote conservatively, which could tilt the race for the Republican candidates, Cole said.

“This will be one of the hottest seats in the country, one of the most contested districts in the country,” he said.

Former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, environmental lawyer Howard Shanker and former TV news reporter Mary Kim Titla are running for the Democratic nomination.