Democratic congressional candidate cites 'amazing leadership' of past Arizonans. They're all Republicans

Arizona has had no shortage of famous political leaders from across the political spectrum.

But no Democratic ones came to mind for Democratic congressional candidate Marlene Galán-Woods when in a recent podcast she cited the "amazing leadership" of past Arizona Republicans such as her late husband, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods.

Steve Goldstein, the longtime NPR-affiliate KJZZ radio personality who now hosts a podcast titled AZ Politicast, asked Galán-Woods, a former local news anchor, for her thoughts on Arizona being simultaneously a purplish state and home to many people linked to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Those included Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, who both have denied playing organizing roles in the pro-Trump mob's breach of the Capitol.

Galán-Woods said the extreme right can be countered by "strong leadership" that embraces "facts," "truth" and "science."

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"You know what? Arizona has done pretty well; we've had some amazing leadership. You can start with Barry Goldwater and John Rhodes, and my husband and Sen. John McCain ... Sandra Day O'Connor ... I'm sure we don't all agree on everything, but one thing of the people who I just listed, we agreed on democracy."

Goldwater and McCain were long-serving Republican U.S. senators who respectively won the 1964 and 2008 GOP presidential nominations. Rhodes was a long-serving Republican member of Congress who served as House minority leader in the 1970s. O'Connor was the first female majority leader in the Arizona Senate before Republican President Ronald Reagan nominated her for the U.S. Supreme Court.

While both Galán-Woods and her husband switched parties after the election of former President Donald Trump, Grant Woods was a Republican during his 1991-to-1999 tenure as state attorney general. He switched his party registration to Democrat in 2018, a few years before his death in 2021.

In a written statement to The Arizona Republic, Woods campaign consultant Joe Wolf said: "Grant Woods, following Marlene’s example, became a Democrat in 2018 because he valued honesty and putting the country’s interests above partisanship. It’s very clear from the context of the full interview — both before and after the comments you reference — that Marlene is lamenting the fact that one party, the Republican Party, no longer values honesty, integrity, or simply protecting our democracy.

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"Marlene has long been a fierce advocate for protecting women’s reproductive freedom, ensuring our children are safe from gun violence, and protecting the security of our elections," Wolf added. "Those values are why she joined the Democratic Party in 2016 and why she has received enormous support from Democrats across the district."

Wolf's response did not name any past Arizona Democratic leaders that Galán-Woods admires beyond her husband. Some Democrats who are widely considered giants in Arizona political history included Sen. Carl Hayden, who represented Arizona in Congress from 1912 to 1969; Ernest McFarland, who was U.S. Senate majority leader, governor and chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court; Rep. Morris Udall, a long-serving member of Congress who ran for president in 1976; former Gov. Bruce Babbitt, who ran for president in 1992 and later served as secretary of the Interior under Democratic President Bill Clinton; and Raúl Castro, Arizona's first Latino governor. Rose Mofford was Arizona's first woman governor; former Gov. Janet Napolitano also served as Homeland Security secretary in Democratic President Barack Obama's administration.

Besides Galán-Woods, the other Democratic primary candidates in the 1st Congressional District are: nonprofit executive Kurt Kroemer; Andrei Cherny, former CEO of Aspiration, an environmentally friendly financial services company; state Rep. Amish Shah and Phoenix orthodontist Andrew Horne.

The congressional district includes Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills and parts of Phoenix. The district's House seat is held by incumbent Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.

Tara Kavaler is a politics reporter at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached by email at tara.kavaler@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @kavalertara.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dem. congressional candidate cites 'amazing leadership' of Republicans