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Two weeks ago when 11-term Republican
incumbent, Jim Kolbe, who serves in Arizona’s eighth
district, announced he would not seek another term, Republican
hopeful, Randy Graf, had to take a step back and re-examine his
strategy. “When you have geared up your campaign to take
on someone who is known as one of the most effective
legislators in Congress, and he is suddenly not your opponent,
you have to approach the race differently,” said Graf.
“Among the problems in devising your new strategy is to
make a guess about whom you will be facing.” There are no
other candidates at this time who have officially announced
they are running.
Among those who are considering the
position are State Senator Gabrielle Giffords, a Tucson
Democrat; Ray Carroll, a Republican on the Pima County Board of
Supervisors; State Representative Steve Huffman, a Tucson Republican;
and Tim Sultan, a former aide to Governor Napolitano, who lost
the Democratic primary to Eva Bacal. Bacal also said she is
looking at entering the race.
To help define his new approach, Graf held
a brainstorming session with his supporters in Tucson last
Saturday morning. The group of about 50 discussed issues they
felt were important, then offered ways they could help get the
word out that Randy Graf was the man they would be supporting.
Steve Aiken, Graf’s campaign manager, stated the turnout
was incredible, and that he only expected five or ten people to
show up. “This type of turnout at this stage of the game
is incredible,” stated Aiken. “This really shows
the type of support Randy can expect.” Graf appears to
have a strong following, and beat Kolbe in Cochise County,
Arizona in the last election, losing the race in Tucson.
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About 300 people, who all lost family
members in the attacks on September 11, 2001, founded 9/11
Families For A Secure America in January 2003. Gadiel lost his
23-year-old son in the World Trade Center when terrorists flew
a jet liner into the building. James Gadiel worked for Cantor
Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the North Tower. Peter Gadiel
and his wife Jan work full-time for the organization and
receive no compensation for their efforts. The group survives
on donations only, to spread the word that the country is still
not secure against future terrorists attacks.
Gadiel told his audiences that there is no
real security. “People flood across our borders, and no
one really verifies their ID’s. They could be anyone.
They could be, and some probably are, terrorists just waiting
for the right opportunity to strike again.” Gadiel said.
Gadiel described how the 9/11 hijackers
had come into the country and the failures to recognize who
they were and what they were doing. He said that 19 of the
hijackers had obtained a total of 63 drivers’ licenses
between them. One of the terrorists, Mohamed Atta, was detained
in Florida for driving without a license, but subsequently
obtained one.
Gadiel is a strong supporter of
legislation aimed at securing the borders and stopping illegal
immigration. He supports the REAL ID Act, which denies the
ability of illegal immigrants to obtain a drivers license, and
H.R. 4313 - the TRUE Enforcement Act and Border Security Act of
2005! He states that these measures will go a long way in
helping to prevent further terrorist attacks in this country.
While the organization itself cannot
support an individual campaign due to their tax status, as an
individual Gadiel says he will do what he can to support
candidates like Graf who will work for true reform of the
nation’s immigration policies.