Earned Respect: Andy Biggs Leaves the Arizona Legislature

It's no secret that Senate President Andy Biggs will be greatly missed inn the Arizona Legislature when he departs at the end of this year for the U.S. House of Representatives. IC Arizona recently asked some of his Senate colleague to give their parting thoughts of President Biggs at the end of his final regular session. Here are the responses from Senators Donahue, Lesko, and Shooter:

"As a rookie in the Senate, I was fortunate to have the guidance and support of President Biggs. He is a strong Republican conservative. His door was always open and he always had his focus on the budget and bills coming before the members. He has my full support in his run for Congress." - Sen Sue Donahue 

"Andy Biggs is a man of integrity.  He is a true conservative that stands up for what he believes in. I will miss his leadership in the Senate." - Sen Debbie Lesko

"Andy Biggs, much like Winston Churchill, was the right man at the right time.  The State of Arizona was in dire financial straits.  The political landscape was in disarray.  People were looking for a strong leader to lead Arizona back from the abyss.  Andy had the kind of conservative philosophical foundation and the iron will personality needed to stand in the gap.  Over the four years of his Presidency, Arizona went from billions of dollars in deficits to a structurally balanced budget and money in the rainy day fund.  In addition, he always protected rights of the unborn, the second amendment and common decency. As we say in Yuma,  'I rode with him, I got no complaints.'" - Sen Don Shooter 

President Biggs has gone above and beyond to earn the unwavering respect of many of his legislative colleagues and of the voters in his district. He will undoubtedly carry those traits and actions over to the U.S. House of Representatives when CD 5 voters select him to replace retiring Congressman Matt Salmon.

Andy Biggs Says "Sine Die" to the Arizona Legislature

Just as the sun started to peek over the horizon this morning, sine die happened for the Arizona Legislature. Most likely, the end of this regular session marked the last time that Senate President Andy Biggs would be active during a state legislative floor session after and impressively consistent and faithful 14 years of service to his district and to Arizona.

President Biggs' exit from the State Legislature has been marked with sadness and tremendous appreciation from those of his colleagues who have known him best. Not only was he a strong and respected leader, but he was a friend to many of his colleagues in the Legislature - in both bodies, on both sides of the aisle. What people working with him on a daily basis thought about him as a person speaks volumes to what kind of U.S. Representative Andy Biggs will be in Congress.

See some of the reaction on social media from President Biggs' colleagues: