PHOENIX — David Pizer, a businessman known as the TV spokesman for his auto-upholstery business and for his association with cryonics, has entered the Republican race against five-term incumbent U.S. Sen. John McCain.
Pizer, 74, who now owns and runs Creekside Preserve lodge and cabins near Prescott, described himself to The Arizona Republic as a “very conservative” candidate who wants to lift the regulatory burden and red tape on businesses, limit the size of government, and reduce the nation’s debts and reform entitlement programs.
“I’m kind of angry that we’re ruining our country,” Pizer said. “Most people don’t seem to realize how close the next big depression is. It could happen this afternoon.”
Pizer said he generally supports the conservative tea party movement and that he was inspired to take on McCain by the GOP presidential runs of political outsiders Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.
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“I said, ‘I’m an outsider,’ and, besides that, I’ve got a business background,” Pizer said. “That’s all I’ve ever done my entire life: owned and managed businesses. ... You’ve got to make money. You can’t stay in business if you’re borrowing money. Sooner or later, you go bankrupt.”
Pizer joins state Sen. Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City, Scottsdale tea-party activist Alex Meluskey and radio host Clair Van Steenwyk of Sun City West in Arizona’s 2016 Senate primary. He acknowledges that he’s “a longshot” against the well-funded McCain and hopes that his message will resonate with Arizonans who will financially support his campaign. McCain had $4.9 million on hand as of the end of September.
“I don’t see any way that any candidate can raise the kind of money that John McCain has,” Pizer said.
Many in the Phoenix area will recall the Fitwell Seat Covers commercials that Pizer made with his enormous Great Dane, Little Woofy. The chain at one time had nine retail outlets around the Phoenix metropolitan area and about 100 employees; Pizer and Little Woofy were minor celebrities circa the 1980s. A new dog, Little Woofy Jr., appears on Pizer’s Senate campaign website.
Pizer was also formally involved with Scottsdale-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which gained notoriety more than a decade ago when news broke that Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams’ body was cryogenically frozen at death. Pizer is no longer affiliated with Alcor, but enthusiastically discusses cryonics.
David Pizer
