GOP lawmakers' losses sadden Napolitano

Gov. Janet Napolitano is mourning Tuesday's primary defeats of two moderate Republicans: Sen. Tom O'Halleran of Sedona seeking another two-year term and Rep. Pete Hershberger of Tucson who was hoping to move to the Senate.

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But the Democratic governor said the loss of the pair, both of whom had worked with her on some issues, does not mean that voters - at least Republicans - don't want the kind of policies that Napolitano has pushed and that the two of them supported.

"It's a loss," she said of the pair who lost to more conservative foes.

"They were wonderful people to work with," she said. "They did work across the aisle and always had the best interest of Arizona at heart."

The governor said, though, the defeat of the two veteran lawmakers is not an indication that the Legislature - or at least the Republican Party that she likely will have to work with for the next two years - is moving toward the right.

"If you were to do that you would be overestimating the primary vote," she said. Napolitano noted the light turnout, which she said "tends to favor the extremes within a party."

That analysis is shared by Hershberger, who found that he could not generate enough support in Pima County to offset the lead that foe Al Melvin picked up in Pinal County.

"A low voter turnout primary is the curse of moderate Republicans, in this state and all across the nation," Hershberger said. "And it has been for decades."

Hershberger and O'Halleran voted earlier this year in favor of the governor's budget. And both refused to support permanent repeal of the state's currently suspended property tax, a proposal that had been pushed by party leadership.

"In the big picture, I think that was mostly it," said Hershberger of his defeat.

The fallout for O'Halleran was magnified because some GOP heavy hitters, including Sen. Jon Kyl and U.S. Reps. John Shadegg and Jeff Flake, endorsed Steve Pierce.

O'Halleran was miffed that those two votes became the focus of the campaign. He said the record shows he voted with the party for tax cuts 17 times, with 24 votes in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration.

"You cannot, you should not, vote every vote with somebody that's from Maricopa County if you're from rural Arizona," he said. "And you shouldn't do it just because the party says."

He said some votes have to be about "sound public policy."

O'Halleran said his situation was complicated by heavy spending by Steve Pierce, who raised more than $225,000 against less than $70,000 for the incumbent.

Still, Napolitano said she believes the Democrats have a chance of taking control of at least one of the chambers.

"I would tell voters if they want moderation, if they want the ability to reach across party lines, then it's to our interest to have at least one house be in Democrat hands," she said.

O'Halleran and Hershberger were not the only Republican incumbents who lost Tuesday.

Voters in Maricopa County refused to re-elect Rep. John McComish and rebuffed Sen. Robert Blendu's efforts to move to the House. But neither the incumbents nor the challengers supported the governor's budget.