Arizona GOP senator says voters didn't reject Republican policies

But Sen. John Kavanagh, who takes on the unexpected title of minority leader, says he doesn't see the election results as a rejection of the policies GOP lawmakers have been espousing now for decades.

And he told Capitol Media Services on Monday, after he was selected for that leadership role by the remaining Senate Republicans, he's convinced that staying the course on messages of affordability, low taxes, less regulation and border enforcement will lead voters in two years to return his party to majority status. The GOP has been in the chamber's majority for all but two years since 1966.

"This debacle was pretty much out of our control,'' said Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican. "This is dissatisfaction at the federal level which went nationwide and wiped out almost everybody with an R after their name.''

Kavanagh contends the voters who went to the polls — and reduced the Senate GOP caucus from 17 to just 10 in the 30-member chamber — weren't expressing a viewpoint on the Republican policies.

"This was just anti-R because of gas prices and the war in Iran and everything else,'' he said. "And it is my hope that those conditions will not be present in two years.''

It wasn't just the Senate where Republicans took a political hit. Arizona House Republicans also lost their legislative majority, reducing House Speaker Steve Montenegro to that chamber's minority leader.

Kavanagh said he and his Republican colleagues now need to deal with the reality that they are in the minority and are pretty much powerless to immediately affect policy.

"In the meantime, my caucus needs to focus on communicating our positive messages, communicating (Democratic) bills that we disagree and we think the people disagree with, to the voters — and just otherwise being civil,'' he said.

To that end, Kavanagh agreed to create a new post of deputy assistant minority leader for communications, something separate from the press aide the GOP already has, paid through taxpayer funds. He named Sen. Mark Finchem of Prescott to that post.

"Finchem was interested in messaging to voters,'' Kavanagh said. "And I wanted to give him an opportunity to devote himself to that.''

Kavanagh rejected any notion that Finchem, who has had an often-contentious relationship with the media, was not a good choice to be the one in charge of crafting GOP messaging.

Finchem did not return messages seeking information on what he intends to do in his new role.

Messaging may be the only tool that Senate Republicans have.

"We can't stop legislation,'' Kavanagh said. "We can point out to the voters that the legislation is bad and that's the reason not to reelect Democrats. But, other than that, our only other real legislative input will be on nonpartisan bills where the votes are close,'' in which proponents may need a few Republicans to get the necessary 16 votes for approval.

Kavanagh contends Republicans should remain faithful to the things that previously got them elected, before the Nov. 3 wholesale rejection of GOP candidates from Congress on down to minor local offices.

"We have to communicate to the voters, especially those who didn't show, and to independents, that we still profess the policies that elected us numerous times over the last several decades,'' he said.

"We understand the affordability concerns,'' Kavanagh said. "And we will continue to have the policies that make us far more affordable than the Democrats do.''

He said that means working against increased taxes and wiping out unnecessary government regulations.

He also cited traditional GOP issues such as support for law enforcement, including border security and deportations.

Aside from Kavanagh as the minority leader, the remaining Republicans in the Senate chose Tim Dunn of Yuma as assistant minority leader and Leo Biasiucci of Lake Havasu City as minority whip.