Democratic Party chair sees chance to make state better

Arizona Democrats selected Bill Roe as party chairman last weekend by acclamation. The Tucson conservationist has long been active in environmental issues as well as party politics, particularly on the fundraising end. He was a regular presence at meetings last year of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, tracking the panel's work as it redrew the state's political boundaries.

Roe succeeds Andrei Cherny, who resigned as chairman in January to pursue a congressional bid. He inherited a party headquarters that is rebuilding after losing key staff positions (mostly to work on congressional campaigns). The staff has been brought back to near full strength because of the efforts of Executive Director Luis Heredia.

Roe said he wants to invest in research on the party's donors, to better understand how to reach out to them; serve as a coordinator for congressional campaigns; and do the requisite hand-holding of candidates.

He sat down with The Republic last week to talk about his plans for the party as it goes into the 2012 election cycle.

Question: Why did you seek the chairmanship? Did you jump? Or were you pushed?

Answer: I had a long discussion two months ago, and the sense was you don't gain anything by seeking it. Wait and see what people really want. Ann Wallack (Maricopa County Democratic chairwoman) and I talked at some length about what was best for the party right now. There really weren't any other serious candidates. ? We decided for now we would work together as a team through the election.

Q: The news release about your appointment mentioned you're talking about building strong county organizations. Is that akin to (former Democratic National Chairman) Howard Dean's 50-state strategy, where you have stronger organizations at the base?

A: Well, yes. I hadn't thought of it that way. We have organizations in 13 of the 15 counties. (La Paz and Apache are the exceptions.) All of the other counties are very vibrant.

And what's interesting right now is everybody's excited. (T)here is a real palpable air of excitement about the future. The same thing at the state committee meeting. We had a remarkably good turnout. We had way, way over quorum.

We have a strong, unified party. And quite unlike the last couple of elections for party chair, where there was a real dogfight, this was a vote by acclamation. ? Everybody is focused on the opportunities we've got coming up for this November.

Q: What is it that's creating this energy?

A: I think people sense the Republicans have really overreached.

I had an e-mail from somebody I served with on a board. He said, "I'm tempted to admonish that you should be careful what you wish for. But instead congratulations on being chosen to lead the Democratic Party. Although I'm still struggling to be a Republican, I am convinced we must have a more competitive Democratic Party if we're going to overcome our worst political instincts in this state. I hope you can accomplish that."

That is symptomatic of a huge number of phone calls and e-mails that I have gotten, not just from Democrats but from people across the board. They're unhappy.

And I think there's a real sense with redistricting there's an opportunity to make the Legislature better. This huge push by the Republicans, all these bills, whether they be assaults on women and reproductive rights, people, I think they are trying to say it's time to take control back and try and be a normal state again.

Q: What are Arizona's chances of being a battleground state in the presidential election?

A: The president's campaign manager was here a month ago, Jim Messina ? The decision would be made later this spring. It would not be on personalities, it would be entirely data driven.

But he shared with us some polls that are very encouraging. And since then, the polls have gotten better in Arizona. So I am cautiously optimistic the president will play a much larger role than either the president did four years ago or (John) Kerry did eight years ago.

Editor's note: The Republic invited Tom Morrissey to sit down for a similar interview when he was elected GOP chairman in early 2011. The requests went unanswered.

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