CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Arizona state House Speaker Andy Tobin has backing from John Boehner and the GOP establishment in his bid for Congress. But he can’t count on support from the Republican who represents the congressional district next door: Rep. Paul Gosar.
{mosads}Gosar, a Tea Party-backed dentist who represents the 4th District, told The Hill in an interview at the Capitol last month that Tobin had never reached out to him once since he was elected to Congress in 2010.
“I haven’t been asked,” Gosar said when asked if he planned to endorse Tobin. “Ever since the speaker has been speaker and since I’ve been in the House, I’ve never received a phone call or even a visit on the Hill.”
GOP sources say the frosty relationship between the two Republicans can be traced back to the 2012 race, when Tobin was looking at running in the newly redrawn 4th District, which includes his hometown of Paulden. But Gosar, who had ousted Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick from her 1st District seat in 2010, opted to run in Tobin’s deep-red district in 2012 after his own was redrawn more favorably for Democrats.
That year, Kirkpatrick went on to reclaim her 1st District seat in rural eastern Arizona.
Now, Tobin is running against Kirkpatrick, who’s been attacking him on the campaign trail as a carpetbagger. The Arizona Speaker, she said, doesn’t live in the district and therefore can’t even vote for himself.
Tobin’s spokesman said his boss will be voting for Gosar, even though the two-term congressman hasn’t endorsed him.
In an interview with The Hill last week after a debate in Casa Grande, Tobin noted he had just reached out to Gosar and left him two messages.
“It’s been no disrespect,” Tobin said. “No one would doubt I did oppose [Gosar] moving out of District 1 and into 4, and I think maybe that’s where it comes from.
“I asked him not to do that,” the Speaker continued. “I thought that would have given this district to the Democrats, which it did.”
In Washington, Gosar has teamed up with Kirkpatrick on several bipartisan bills, including one that would greenlight a new copper mine in Arizona. But the Republican has also been extremely critical of Kirkpatrick and said he has no plans to endorse her either.