Jim Kolbe, remembered as a 'political powerhouse,' was a GOP member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 until 2007.
"I've always been fairly independent in my thinking. It doesn't change my values."
He returned to Arizona and worked in real estate, but also set his sights on elected office. In 1976, he was elected to the first of three terms in the Arizona Senate. His race against Democrat Jim McNulty was principally a referendum on Reagan’s performance on the economy and came as the nation was still shaking off high unemployment and high interest rates.By then, the economy was in better shape and the public largely credited the economic strategies that Kolbe had defended in 1982.
Former Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., remembered Kolbe as a kind man who worked cooperatively for his district."To me, he is what the Republican Party used to be under Goldwater and Bob Dole and even Ronald Reagan," said DeConcini, who was a contemporary of all of them during his three terms in the Senate beginning after the 1976 elections.
Kolbe’s hold on the Democratic-leaning 5th Congressional District grew over time. He won subsequent elections by wider margins, reaching nearly 70% of the vote in 1992. Neither Democrats, who comprised the majority of registered voters, nor Republicans, who grumbled about Kolbe’s moderate votes, offered much political resistance.
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