Republican candidate Doug Sposito wants to bring the GOP back to its business roots.
A homebuilder and fourth-generation Arizonan who lives on his family ranch in Sonoita, Sposito says Arizona’s budget crisis prompted him to run for the open House of Representatives seats in Legislative District 30, where both incumbents are moving on. Rep. Jonathan Paton is aiming for LD30 Senate seat being vacated by Tim Bee, while Rep. Marian McClure is seeking a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission.
“We need more people who understand where money comes from and how money works,” Sposito told ScrambleWatch at a recent Cup Cafe interview.
Sposito says he knew when he was 4 years old that he wanted to build houses. He went into the construction industry after high school and now owns his own business, Dasco Quality Contracting.
He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Oregon State University and has a solid, if unexciting, political resume: He sits on various boards of directors, including the Sonoita-Elgin Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Arizona Contractors Association, the Sonoita Community Forum and the executive boards of District 30 Republican Party and the Pima County Republican Party. He’s also a precinct and state committeeman.
Sposito admits he’s not the flashiest candidate in the District 30 race, which includes former Green Beret Frank Antenori, state education department administrator Sharon Collins and magazine distributor David Gowan.
“The most qualified people to be running the state are usually the most boring,” says Sposito, who is making his second run for an LD30 seat. “That’s the unfortunate reality of it. The people who are most effective are the ones that are invisible because they are doing their job.”
The son of two public school teachers, Sposito puts education at the top of his priorities. He opposes school voucher programs because they devalue the public education system. He believes standardized testing is a good measuring stick, but it shouldn’t be linked to school funding.
Sposito says he believes marriage should be limited to one man and one woman, but doesn’t support constitutional bans for social and cultural issues and would have voted against asking voters to approve a ban on gay marriage in the Arizona Constitution.
“We don’t need a constitutional ban,” he said. “It’s already illegal.”
Sposito recognizes that some of his positions could cause him trouble at the ballot box, but says he’ll be OK if voters don’t support him in the Sept. 2 primary.
“If I don’t win,” he says, “I get to go back to my ranch in Sonoita. That doesn’t sound like such a bad deal to me.”
Filed under: Candidate Q&A, Legislative Races Tagged: | David Gowan, Doug Sposito, Frank Antenori, Legislative District 30, Sharon Collins
