What the Arizona Republic said about my opponent, Jack Harper, when they endorsed Bill Whalen in the Republican primary

It's time for Harper to go

Put aside the substantive issues of the campaign: immigration, transportation, taxes, spending, personal safety and education.

In the Legislative District 4 Republican primary for state senator, one topic dominates: the buffoonish behavior of two-term incumbent Jack Harper of Surprise.

Harper's antics at the state Capitol have elevated his persona. But the glare from TV lights and publicity from newspaper headlines, far from raising his power and influence, have turned him into a caricature, an object of ridicule.

Harper's boorish conduct persuaded a bona fide challenger, Bill Whalen Jr., to enter the GOP primary at the urging of "former legislators and others in the West Valley."

Whalen spent 25 years with the Department of Public Safety, retiring as a sergeant last October. He knows the ins and outs of the legislative process, having lobbied for DPS. He'd hit the ground running at the Legislature and, like Harper, he's a fiscal conservative.

There are issue differences between these two Republicans from this GOP-dominated district that includes Glendale neighborhoods, parts of Phoenix, Peoria and Surprise, and stretches from Buckeye on the south to Yavapai County in the north.

But first, let's remind voters of a couple of examples of how Harper's conduct has put him in a political pickle, raising legitimate questions about his fitness to serve.

In the first example, Harper never has accepted the 2004 election results in legislative District 20 (Ahwatukee and Chandler) that saw his political ally, Anton Orlich, lose by 13 votes in an automatic recount.

Instead, Harper has waged a crusade, using his Senate position to demand that sealed ballots be turned over to him and threatening county officials who dared to stand in his way. At one point, in a committee hearing, he cut off Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas (whom he had invited) in midsentence, adjourned the hearing and stormed off.

This is not the way senators act.

In another example, Harper embarrassed not only himself but all legislators who know the heartbreak involved when a child tragically disappoints the parents. After the son of Democratic Senate candidate Jim Pederson was arrested on drug charges, Harper spoke on the Senate floor and said the arrest "points to a culture of corruption in the Pederson household." This self-righteousness was resoundingly deplored, and Harper later extended a lame apology "to the family" of Jim Pederson.

It is impossible to ignore the personalities of Harper and Whalen. They stand in stark contrast, the difference between day and night. Whalen is a seasoned police officer, a congenial consensus builder who can control his emotions. Harper is a lightning rod who goes off half-cocked. He also isn't as principled as he thinks he is. He has grandstanded against pork projects, even holding a pig in his arms, but he tried - unsuccessfully - to sneak into the budget a $17 million project for his district. He also refuses to go out to lunch with lobbyists, yet he willingly attends gala dinners on their dime.

There also are stark contrasts on issues. Harper opposed the $35 million the state appropriated for Arizona's fledgling bioscience industry. Whalen counters that it was a necessary investment to help search for cures for awful diseases.

Whalen backed a new state law that gives DPS officers a seat at the bargaining table with management to discuss working conditions. Harper voted against it because he claims it takes authority away from the executive branch. It does not.

Elections are about choices, and in this contest, the choice could not be clearer. We strongly recommend Bill Whalen in the Republican primary for state Senate in District 4.