SIERRA VISTA —  State Senate President Tim Bee said there are plenty of differences between him and Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

And those differences, he said, are enough for the Republicans to retake the Congressional District 8 seat in November.

 

While he admitted he has “a way to go to catch up to Gabby” in the financial arena, Bee told nearly 70 people at the Thunder Mountain Republican Women luncheon on Friday the national Republican leadership believe “I have an excellent chance to pick up the seat.”

Saying he has been told the campaign for the district seat is on the “radar screen in (Washington) D.C.,” Bee said, “Gabby is doing a few thing to help us, too.”

The voting record of the freshman member of Congress is an avenue to attack her because her record will not set well with the residents of Southern Arizona, he said.

According to reports, Giffords has voted 90 percent of the time against American taxpayers, is not supporting the need for additional free trade agreements, especially with Colombia, and has a D minus score in supporting businesses from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bee said.

Giffords is too much of a supporter of unions to the detriment of the business community going as far as allowing illegal immigrants to vote in union elections, Bee said.

And when it comes to national security issues, Giffords supports the Democratic line that foreign intelligence wiretaps are a detriment of the nation, he said.

These differences in views and others is what Bee is building his case as to why he should be elected, throwing out Giffords after one term.

In 2006, Giffords defeated Republican Randy Graf, who was trying to maintain the position for the Republicans after Jim Kolbe retired from Congress after 11 terms.

Bee did mention a couple of areas where he and Giffords have some agreements.

Notably, both are supporters of some kind of a guest worker program for immigrants and the need to support solar energy programs.

As for the latter, Bee said he does not want to put all new energy ideas into solar, saying there is a need for a multitude of programs, including wind, hydrogen and nuclear.

During the question-and-answer period, Bee said he wants to see the border fence completed to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.

While the federal government’s high-tech fence program appears to be failing in light of the Boeing technology that isn’t working, Bee said there are technologies available for it to work and some of it comes from a small company in Arizona.

That company’s equipment is being used in Israel to protect villages, and there is no reason it cannot be used along the U.S. border with Mexico, Bee said.

But realistically, there also must be a recognition of a need for a temporary guest worker program, he added.

The nation is facing a complex global economy, and the federal government must do more to help businesses compete without “overtaxing and overregulating” companies, something Democrats favor, he said.

In the past, Cochise County residents, particularly in the Sierra Vista area, have helped him win elections to the Arizona Legislature, Bee said. He is hoping that will be repeated in November.

But in the race for the national office, he is depending more on a strong grass-roots campaign.

“Voter turnout is going to be very important,” he said.

HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4614 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.