Promising to run on his record as a state lawmaker, Steve Huffman on Monday joined the expanding slate of candidates hoping to succeed Jim Kolbe in Congress.
"Southern Arizona needs someone with a track record who can get things done," the 36-year-old Oro Valley Republican said.
Huffman is an eight-year veteran of the state House of Representatives, now serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Among his chief legislative accomplishments, Huffman lists a bill that led to the creation of the Pima County Regional Transportation Authority. In the current legislative session, he introduced a bill to extend the life of Tucson's special taxing district for Rio Nuevo Downtown redevelopment.
"I see elected officials in the Legislature and in Congress playing a key role in the forging of consensus in our community," he said.
People are also reading…
Unlike Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned her state Senate seat to run for the same congressional office, Huffman has no plans to leave the Legislature.
"It's going to be a lot of work," he said, but he added that continuing to do the job voters elected him to do is the best way to demonstrate the seriousness of his candidacy.
Huffman will face three rivals in this year's GOP primary: Mike Hellon, Mike Jenkins and Randy Graf.
As the county's top Republican sees it, this gives voters a good choice. "As promised, the Republican Party is supporting an accomplished group of candidates," said Judi White, party chairwoman.
Graf, a former state legislative colleague of Huffman's, recently announced that 26 of the state's GOP lawmakers are supporting his campaign. Asked about that, Huffman said he is not deterred.
"I'm focusing my campaign on people who can vote for me, not people in the Legislature," he said.
The bulk of those voters — 314,219 to be exact — live in the large swath of the 8th Congressional District within Pima County. Kolbe carried the county in 2004, his 11th and final election, with 60 percent of the vote.
The Southern Arizona district also includes Cochise County and parts of Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. The district's major communities include Sierra Vista, Benson and Douglas.
Calling himself a longtime personal friend of Kolbe's, Huffman said Southern Arizona suffered a big political loss when the congressman announced his decision to retire in November.
"That's why it's important to have somebody who has a proven track record," he said.
Huffman's announcement to enter the race came the same day that Democrat Patty Weiss formally kicked off her campaign at Palo Verde High School. Giffords launched her campaign last week at the Arizona Inn.
The other Democrats in the race are Jeff Latas, Alex Rod- riguez, Eva Bacal and Francine Shacter.
