GOP House candidate: Washington gridlock ‘has to stop’

Republican House candidate Andy Tobin, Arizona’s House Speaker, laid out the rationale for his congressional bid and accused Senate Democrats of causing gridlock in Washington.

“I’m running for Congress for a simple reason: our state is under attack from the federal government. Day after day, the powers-that-be in Washington try to bury us in more regulations and more havoc. This has to stop,” Tobin said in Saturday’s GOP address.

{mosads}“Not just here, but everywhere people are working harder only to have Washington take more of their money and more of their freedom.”

Tobin, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s (D-Ariz.) Republican challenger in the fall, proposed that lawmakers “go after all this overregulation,” repeal ObamaCare and “get ourselves out of all this debt.” 

In particular, he said the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “mandates threaten to shut down the Navajo Generating Station, a coal-powered plant that is vital to our state’s economy.”

“Instead of perpetrating a war on coal, Washington should be protecting coal, protecting these jobs, and supporting American energy,” said the Arizona Republican.

In regards to ObamaCare, Tobin suggested that lawmakers “start over and focus on ideas that lower costs and put the patient back in charge.”

And on eliminating government debt, Tobin touted his own experience in the state legislature, declaring that Republicans and Democrats “turned things around” for the state’s economy.

“Cut government by 25 percent. Balanced the state’s budget. And passed the largest tax cuts in our state’s history, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Now we’re moving in the right direction, building a better future for our children and their children,” he said.

But that’s why, Tobin said, in contrast, “the gridlock in Washington is so disappointing.”

“You have Republicans making a good-faith effort, bringing real ideas to the table to help our economy, but Senate Democrats won’t give them a vote,” he continued. “They didn’t even pass their own bill to help us deal with the crisis at our border. They’re more worried about losing their Senate majority than the concerns of the American people.”

Tobin was tapped by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to give the GOP address, a nod to the competitiveness of his race and the strength of his candidacy against Kirkpatrick. Tobin released an internal poll this week showing him up eight points over Kirkpatrick, taking 51 percent of the vote, though Democrats said the poll undersampled the Native American population in the district.

The platform will also help elevate his profile and boost his fundraising as he gears up for what’s expected to be an expensive fight to the finish for the seat.

But Democrats took the opportunity to hammer Tobin on his contributions from lobbyists, cuts to education funding in the state during his time in the legislature and support for the government shutdown, among other issues. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a satirical “draft” of the speech, prior to its release, thanking the billionaire Koch brothers and Boehner “who bailed out my campaign,” and promising “to join with House Republicans in blocking progress, holding back the middle class and giving huge tax breaks the very wealthiest among us.”

DCCC spokesman Tyrone Gale said it was a “true testament to the Republican Party that they are putting Andy Tobin front and center to deliver their weekly address and not letting his record of failure get in their way.” 

“If Republicans want to tout Andy Tobin’s record of being a puppet of special interests, abusing taxpayer dollars, and taking Arizona backward, we welcome that conversation,” he said.