Gutierrez was the G.O.A.T.

There is much to miss about the passing of Gutierrez and his era of legislative leadership.

I did not know Alfredo Gutierrez the activist. I did know Alfredo Gutierrez the legislator well. He was the most effective and productive lawmaker I saw in now nearly a half century of participating in, or closely observing, events at the state capitol.

Gutierrez served contemporaneously with the legendary House majority leader, Burton Barr. Barr was probably the most influential legislator in Arizona history. He had some predecessors who could compete for the title, but no successors. John Kolbe, himself a legendary columnist for the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette, once memorably described the Arizona Legislature as 89 men and women hopelessly surrounded by Burton Barr.

Barr, however, as Donald Trump would put it, held all the cards. He was always leader of the majority party, at least in his chamber. He had a talented staff, all of whom reported to him, not some to committee chairs as was the practice in the Senate at the time.

The business lobby had substantially more influence, particularly over Republican politics, in those days. And business lobbyists mostly worked through Barr. The business lobby was by far the most important source of campaign funds for Republicans, and those were contributed overwhelmingly wherever Barr directed, at least for House candidates.

Gutierrez, in contrast, rarely held any cards. He was in the majority in the Senate for just one election cycle. For most of his legislative career, he was the Senate minority leader. Yet, legislative session after legislative season, somehow or another, Gutierrez got significant policy changes of importance to him and his caucus enacted into law.

Partisanship was a significant factor in legislative politics in those days, but not the dominant, and almost exclusive, factor that it is today. Voting contrary to the caucus majority wasn’t regarded as a traitorous act to be punished with a primary challenge. As a result, the majority Republicans occasionally came up short of the votes needed to pass important legislation, and would turn to Gutierrez in hopes he would help overcome the deficit. Which he would, in exchange for some policy measure he had quietly developed and had at the ready. It happened so frequently that it acquired what today would be called a meme, provided I actually understand what a meme is: “Shopping at Alfredo’s store”.

Gutierrez was a delight to work with or observe as a lawmaker: smart, well-prepared, witty, tough and gracious, artful. There was something else different about the politics of those days. Partisanship didn’t override the ability to appreciate these things in those of the other party. Gutierrez was widely admired and appreciated, even loved, by Democrats and Republicans alike. As was Barr, who shared these same attributes.

At the end of the day, legislators of both parties were more interested in governing than engaging in preformative politics, a sharp contrast to today’s bunch, particularly in the GOP. The relationship between a legislative GOP majority and a Democratic governor during Bruce Babbitt’s tenure and that during Katie Hobbs’s is very different. With Babbitt, the relationship was sometimes tense but often productive. During that period, the groundwater law and the Urban Lands Act were enacted, and Arizona joined the Medicaid program. Gutierrez was a key figure in all of them. With Hobbs, the relationship is always tense and destructive. And, while Hobbs is no Babbitt, the blame for the lack of a productive relationship lies primarily with GOP legislators.

After his legislative career, Gutierrez and I were friendly competitors in the public affairs field and teamed up to do election night commentary for Phoenix public television for several cycles. Our commentary was different from today’s standard election night fare. There was no partisan shilling, just an honest assessment of what appeared to be developing. And Gutierrez ensured that the discussion was interesting and entertaining.

When Gutierrez was in the legislature, I was lobbying for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. I was told that he did a wicked impression of me at the time. With his passing, one of my regrets is that I never asked him to do it for me.

Arizona has deeper regrets for the passing of such a productive giant and the seeming passing of an era that produced such leaders.

Reach Robb at robtrobb@gmail.com.