Suddenly in demand, Tucsonan rushes to lead state Senate

Even if she won, the likelihood was that she wouldn’t have much influence in a body ruled by Republicans for decades.

Now Sundareshan, 42, is the incoming Senate president, leading a Democratic supermajority of 20 senators in the 30-member body. Suddenly, everyone wants a chunk of her time.

The Star couldn’t connect with Sundareshan after her unanimous selection as Senate president on Friday, Nov. 6, but caught her early this week to ask her about the upcoming Legislative session.

Here’s an abridged Q and A:

Q: What have the days since the election been like for you?

Sundareshan: A whirlwind, definitely a lot of celebratory feeling, but also not a lot of time to really sit with it and digest immediately. You know, preparing for our leadership election and working through and making sure our caucus is as united as we are, as we demonstrated on Friday with our unanimous election of our Senate leadership team. So that occupied a significant amount of my time until Friday, and then I drove home to Tucson so I could hang out with my babies and relax and get some sleep, and that's really when I kind of tried to relax over the weekend.

Q: Many of you, as Democrats, have chafed under Republican rule. Do you expect any change in the way the Senate runs now that you all are in the majority and you’re going to be the president?

Sundareshan: I will definitely be taking a look, but I would not expect to be making any significant changes too soon.

In terms of our frustration that Democratic bills were never heard by the Republican majorities, I think we would all love to come to a place where there is more balance. And yet, at the same time, there are decades of Democratic bills that have never seen the light of day, so we might be working through those for a while first.

Q: If you all want to increase spending on education and do some other increased spending, maybe in the healthcare realm, what about revenue? What about raising the money to pay for that?

Sundareshan: That is absolutely the question. We just won; I just got elected president. There will be a lot to look through. I know some of my caucus members have been studying the budget for years and have some great ideas on how to ensure that even the revenue we are (already) collecting is being spent appropriately. So I think that's one piece — looking at current spending and shifting to adjust priorities to reflect more Democratic priorities.

Q: What about loopholes written into the tax code, something Tucson Sen. Steve Farley used to try to get repealed?

Sundareshan: Sounds like I want to sit down with Mr. Farley and see what he thinks are some low-hanging fruit … I'd love to pick some of those up and close some loopholes and make sure that we're not letting large corporations or those who have not been paying their fair share continue to escape.

Q: Are there particular Tucson or Southern Arizona related priorities that you might emphasize that predecessors or people from Phoenix wouldn't necessarily?

Sundareshan: I think a lot of the things that I've heard my Tucson counterparts or my Tucson electeds emphasize are things that would resonate in other parts of the state. It's just that Tucson has often been at the forefront of the fight on these, and at the receiving end of the legislative smackdown when Republicans decided they wanted to punish Tucson.

I think that would include a lot of things that include priorities of ours as well, like better labor and union support. I know the city of Tucson and Phoenix passed prevailing wage requirements that then were overturned, and so I would love us to be able to support our Tucson electeds by lifting a lot of restrictions that have previously tied their hands, and that's in a number of areas.

Q: You mean pre-emption bills that prevent cities from making laws on certain subjects?

Sundareshan: (There are) a lot of preemption bills that I would love for us to be repealing and letting our cities thrive once again.

Tucsonans in legislative leadership

The Democrats’ takeover of both chambers of the state Legislature means some Tucson-area officials have been launched into leadership positions in the majority for the first time.

Beyond Sundareshan, the Senate’s new president, two newcomers to the chamber from the Tucson area, senators Alma Hernandez and Edgar Soto, will serve as presidents pro tem.

Tucsonan Sen. Rosanna Gabaldon will serve as a Senate majority chair, along with Sen. Aaron Lieberman, from Paradise Valley.

On the House side, Rep. Nancy Gutierrez of Tucson will serve as majority leader, the second-highest position in the chamber, under Speaker Oscar de los Santos of Phoenix. Rep. Kevin Volk of Tucson will serve as one of two whips, along with Quantá Crews of Phoenix.

Karamargin to Maricopa County

Longtime Tucson political staffer C.J. Karamargin is hitting the road to Maricopa County.

Soon after Karamargin’s most recent boss, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, lost his effort at re-election, Maricopa County announced Karamargin as the county’s new communications director.

“I’ve worked for three members of Congress,” Karamargin said. “It was an absolutely great ride. The time came to do something different.”

Karamargin said his pay will be “around $200,000” — the original posting for the job listed a pay range of $146,500 to $205,000. He will serve as chief spokesman for the Maricopa County government and oversee a staff of about eight people.

Karamargin came to Tucson in 2000 to work as a reporter for the Tucson Citizen. He later was a political reporter for the Arizona Daily Star and returned to the Citizen. From there, in 2007, he launched into a series of mostly political positions, working as a spokesman for then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, until 2011.

He went on to work for Pima Community College for four years, then a series of Republicans: Rep. and Sen. Martha McSally, Gov. Doug Ducey and Rep. Juan Ciscomani.

“I’ve been lucky but willing to take a risk for a good opportunity,” he said.

Butierez launches show

Republican Daniel Butierez is done running for public office, having lost three times in runs for Congress against Democrats named Grijalva, first Raul and then Adelita twice. But he’s not done with public affairs in the Tucson area.

Butierez is launching a YouTube interview show, called The Daniel Butierez Show.

“People from across party lines have been part of the platform I’ve built, and I want to keep that door open,” he said via text. “We’ll talk politics, and we’ll also make room for the people doing good work in our community.”

“I’ve always believed the only way we’re going to bring this community together is to sit down and talk openly with each other.”

He’s working with his son, Daniel Butierez Jr., on the show, and the younger Butierez is planning to run for Pima County Board of Supervisors in two years, his father said.

“We’re playing the long game,” Butierez Sr. said in a Facebook post.