Knaperek must overcome past election stumbles in CD 5 race
September 21st, 2007, 4:15 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
Laura Knaperek (center)Laura Knaperek represents something of an enigma among the Republicans competing for the nomination to challenge Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz. Knaperek is generally well-regarded among party activists as thoughtful, a good researcher and loyal to common conservative principles. She has served in the state House of Representative and successfully chaired its Appropriations Committee for two years during the immediate fallout of the 2001 recession.Knaperek also has lost a head-to-head election against Mitchell, in 2002 when state limits on her House term prompted her to try to unseat him from a state Senate office. Knaperek returned to the House in 2004, only to lose another election last year when Democrats swept all three legislative races in District 17.So while people like Knaperek personally, many wonder if she’s snake-bitten as an election candidate. Another candidate, State Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, shares many of Knaperek’s qualifications but never has lost an election as a sitting lawmaker.Knaperek faces an additional challenge. Maricopa County Treasurer Kevin Schweikert is trying to position himself as the GOP establishment candidate, even though Knaperek also has long been a party activist, serving previously as county GOP treasurer and in President Bush’s re-election campaign. If Schweikert actually gets into the race, he wants to be seen as the frontrunner through endorsements by fellow Republicans and access to various political machines, which would spur his fundraising and create a sense of inevitable victory.(No, I haven’t forgotten about Jim Ogsbury as the other announced Republican candidate. You read more about him Monday on the Tribune’s Opinion 2 page.)Knaperek’s advantages include she’s expected to be the only woman in this race, in a year when America will seriously consider a woman for president for the first time. Knaperek’s fiscal conservatism never has turned into a "starve the beast" mentality. At times, she has advocated for increased spending for state colleges and grade schools, and she’s been protective of some social service programs that directly benefit children. These two issues have been proven to be important to District 5 voters of every stripe. She probably won’t use the term "compassionate conservative," but her politics are exactly what George Bush sought to invoke when he first campaigned for president.We’ll find out if those strengths are enough to convince Republican voters to give her another shot at an election showdown with Mitchell.
