Former Speaker of the House, and failed congressional candidate, Andy Tobin, has been tapped once again this year by Governor Doug Ducey to fill a spot, the one left by out-going Arizona Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith.
In this his first year in office, Ducey had just tapped Tobin to take over as director of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions on Dec. 16. In October, Ducey tapped Tobin for the Arizona Department of Insurance.
“One would start to think that the talent pool in Arizona is shallow, but the truth is that we have a lot of talent, but Sean Noble and Kirk Adams will only pick from their pool,” said one Capitol insider. “There are very few people they approve of, and Ducey does what they tell him to do. And Andy will do anything they all tell him to do. He is a good ol’ boy who can look the other way when he needs to.”
While serving as Speaker of the House, Tobin had very little influence. He used his position to position cronies on boards and in key positions. After he failed to prevent the roll-out of Obamacare exchanges in Arizona, he returned to his mostly rural district to run for Congress. He barely squeaked out of the Republican Primary and ultimately lost to Ann Kirkpatrick.