Two years ago, the political landscape changed in East Mesa when Bob Worsley unseated longtime State Senator Russell Pearce.
“I had no intention of ever running for public office,” said the now incumbent Republican State Senator. “A group of close associates invited me to breakfast for what I thought was going to be a conversation about who we should encourage to run. It turned out I was the target. I declined, of course.” Yet, over the next couple of days, and through conversations with his wife and family, Senator Worsley consistently returned to the question, “If I don’t, who will?”
He followed the question with an explanation. “You’ve got to remember,” said Senator Worsley, “these were not politically happy times. Our state’s reputation (and Mesa, in particular) had taken a hit because our political leaders were focusing on divisive issues with harsh rhetoric. And East Valley citizens were paying the price.”
Senator Worsley points out the fact many in his district were not happy with their representation at the state level. Specifically, leaders had lost sight of the bigger, more meaningful issues in pursuit of symbolic legislation, which only served to polarize voters. “This is why I ultimately decided to run,” he admitted. “We simply could not afford a continuation of the status quo.”
So, two years later and facing his first re-election bid, how does Senator Worsley feel things have gone? “We’ve made great strides in restoring civility and elevating the level of discourse,” he said, “but there still is work to be done.” His focus is on finding practical solutions where each side is invested in a positive outcome. “Zero-sum-style politics does not lead to good legislation,” he quipped. “This process is not about right or left. It’s about solutions.”
What are those solutions you might ask? “There are many,” the senator said, “but take what I was able to accomplish with our state’s sales tax code as an example.” He is referring to what was widely regarded as one of the most burdensome and needlessly complex sales tax codes in the country. “It didn’t need to be that way, and everybody seemed to agree,” he stated emphatically. Yet, when it came time to pass a bill to simplify the sales tax code, political disagreements almost guaranteed it would fail. “This seemed crazy to me,” he further stated. “Individually, every group involved supported the idea, yet, collectively, they were unable to work together.”
That is where Senator Worsley entered the scene. “I brought all the parties to the table, and cut through discord,” he stated. “This was not about ideology or political points. It was about making it easier for businesses to operate, and making it more efficient for government to manage sales tax reporting and collection.”
The bill passed, and Arizona now has one of the most business-friendly sales tax codes in the country. It is solutions like this Senator Worsley believes our state desperately needs. “There’s no reason partisan bickering should ever get in the way of serving the best interest of our citizens,” he said. “That’s why I ran two years ago, and that’s why I’m running again.”
The primary election is on Aug. 26. You can learn more about Senator Bob Worsley and this election on his Web site at www.bobworsleyforstatesenate.com, or by visiting his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bobworsley.