The Sierra Vista Herald today endorsed Congressman Ron Barber for reelection. OUR VIEWS: Doing what he was hired to do:
We ask you today to take all the rhetoric away, silence the “dark money” campaign advertising and eliminate the twisting of what each candidate in the 2nd Congressional District race does or does not bring to the table.
Republican challenger Martha McSally has posited that her tight race with incumbent Democrat Ron Barber is similar to a job interview. A process in which voters would look at Barber’s record and what she could do for the district.
It is an interesting analogy. Has our “employee” representative failed us on local issues?
In our mind, the answer is he has not.
He has taken a lead role in making sure the important national defense story of Fort Huachuca is being told. His Sierra Vista staff has consistently taken care of constituent issues — and in particular the many issues experienced by retired military residents. He continues to exhibit a full grasp of the area’s concerns when it comes to border issues and illegal immigration and he brought new Department of Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson to the border. He has fought unacceptable EPA regulations and the impacts those rules would have on the county’s generating station. He has been no stranger to Cochise County, visiting and interacting with areas citizens no matter their political persuasion. And in D.C. he has not been reluctant to buck the Democrat Party line to vote for what he considers to be in our nation’s best interests.
And here is another reason we lean toward keeping Barber in office. He is a genuine, caring human being. A person who is — despite thousands of TV ads claiming otherwise — a public servant in the best sense of the word. He’s straight talking, truthful and he does what he says he will do for the residents of Cochise County.
If you had an employee with these qualities would you fire him or her?
* * *
[G]iven the congressman has been doing what we hired him to do with personal integrity, the Herald/Review endorses Ron Barber for re-election to the U.S. Congressional District No. 2 seat.
We look forward to his continued leadership and local representation throughout his next congressional term.