By Pam Pearsall
If it is primary season in Arizona, Rodney Glassman must be running for some political office somewhere. But exactly who and what does Glassman want to be when he grows up? Butcher? Baker? Candlestick maker?
First, there was Glassman’s foray into the private sector managing his family’s Gateway Ice Center in Tucson (1997). When the ice-skating rink faltered under his management, Glassman attempted to get the city to buy the Center for $8 million—despite projected losses estimated at approximately $500,000 over a three-year period (2005).(1) He was essentially seeking a government bail-out of a failing private business. Tucson passed on Glassman’s salesmanship.(2)
Next, Glassman had a stint as a Democrat Tucson councilperson (2007). With an unremarkable record, and even before finishing a full term, he resigned to challenge Republican Senator John McCain, by running on the Democrat slate (2010).(3) After his defeat, Glassman also considered a run as a Democratic candidate for Tucson mayor (2011).(4) And then there were his two unsuccessful bids to chair the Arizona Democratic party (2011 and 2014).(5)
When not actively seeking elected office, Glassman lobbied for appointed political positions: specifically, the open seat for Pima County Board of Supervisors when Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz) was elected to Congress (2003). When passed over for the appointment, Glassman began work as Grijalva’s legislative aide in Washington, DC. (2002-06). Later, with no municipal management experience, Glassman worked as interim Cave Creek town manager (2013). His tenure there was marked by public outcry over his salary, job performance and cost-overruns on a public works project.(6)
As he tried to craft the perfect political resume, Glassman left skeletons everywhere. Numerous unflattering articles surfaced about his temperament, treatment of staff, and most notably, his lack of curiosity or knowledge of public policy.(7) The consensus in these articles can best be summed up in a single sentence: Those who know Glassman best, like him least.
Further questions arose about Glassman’s penchant for political expediency when, upon turning 37, he claims he realized he was truly a conservative all along. He changed his party registration to Republican (2015)—a mere one year after angling for the position of Democrat state chair.(8) As an aside, this was the second time Glassman registered as a Republican in this state, the first being in 1997. He previously transitioned to Independent in 1999 and then to Democrat in 2000.(9)
Since his conservative epiphany, Glassman has run for Arizona Corporation Commissioner (2018) and Maricopa County Assessor (2020).(10) Ever the perennial candidate, he also lobbied for an interim appointment as both the Maricopa County Assessor and County Attorney during the same time period (2019). Which brings us to his latest attempt at elected office: Glassman is now a candidate vying for State Attorney General in the Republican primary (2022). (11)
With access to his family’s substantial wealth, Glassman spends enormous amounts of his trust fund money to personally finance his runs for political office. So far, his personal campaign expenditures have topped $800,000 in his three unsuccessful runs for office.(12)
So exactly what is a voter to make of Rodney Glassman? A man who at one time vowed, if elected U.S. Senator, to model himself after Raul Grijalva—arguably one of the most progressive members of Congress.(13) Or is Glassman now a true conservative to be believed when he claims—since the birth of his daughter—he is ardently pro-life?(14) Either way, an observer can get a nasty case of whiplash watching Glassman as he decides what he wants to be when he grows up.
References:
1 Tucson Citizen, 3/21/2000, Skating Rink buy-out on Thin Ice, Mitch Tobin; Arizona Daily Star, 12/11/2006, Ex-operators of Ice Rink Say They May Open New Facility, Thomas Stauffer; Arizona Daily Star, 3/17/2007, Ice Rink’s Fate Remains Undecided, Shelley Shelton
2 Arizona Daily Star, 10/30/2007, Glassman Pestered Council as Newcomer, Rob O’Dell
3 Arizona Daily Star, Opinion, 12/17/2009, Council Looked Like Bunch of Bumblers; Arizona Daily Star, 8/27/2010, Glassman Criticized over Vice-Mayor Title, Rhonda Bodfield, and Andrea Kelly
4 Arizona Daily Star 2/8/2011, Pueblo Politics: Glassman for Mayor, Rhonda Bodfield
5 Phoenix New Times, 1/21/2011, Glassman used Gabby Giffords’ Shooting to Campaign for Chair, Stephen Lemons
6 Sonoran News, 6/19/17, Recycled Democrat Rodney Glassman Running as Republican for ACC, Linda Bentley
7 Arizona Eagletarian, 11/19/14, New Democratic Party Leadership — LD-28, Steve Muratore; Tucson Sentinel, 3/6/2018 2021, Can Candidate Glassman Prove that He’s All Grown Up, Blake Morlock; Tucson Star, 8/30/2010, Pueblo Politics: Glassman Replaces Campaign Manager, Rhonda Bodfield; Tucson Star, 9/1/2010, Pueblo Politics: Glassman’s campaign loses another staffer, Rhonda Bodfield; RollCall.com, 6/22/2010, Same Party but Two Very Different Candidates
8 Tucson Sentinel, 9/30/2021, Rodney Intervention: Glassman never a Democrat, likely defrauding the GOP, Blake Morlock; Tucson Star, 8/3/2018, Former Tucson Dem Glassman Suits up as GOP Conservative, Tim Stellar; Seeing Red Arizona, 4/1/2020, Dem Opportunist Rodney Glassman Now a “Conservative”
9 The Pima Liberator, 6/10/2018, Rodney the Ungood, Joel Feinman
10 AZ Central, Opinion, 7/28/2020, Rodney Glassman Does Not Understand the County Assessor Job He Seeks, Clint Hickman, Chairman of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors;
11 Tucson Sentinel, 9/30/202, Glassman Returns, Again: Rodney in Attorney General Primary, Dylan Smith; Seeing Red Arizona, 10/1/2021, Rodney Glassman Returns: Lacking Expertise, Absurdly Announces for AZ AG; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7jsQjZBNXw
12 https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/S0AZ00269/; https://seethemoney.az.gov/PublicReports/2020/FFF5EDBB-D410-454F-82DF-9832EDCAA259.pdf
13 Arizona Daily Star, 9/9/2010, Glassman is Pressed over Ties to Grijalva, Rhonda Bodfield, and Andrea Kelly
14 Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, 10/5/2010, U of A Students Rally for Terry Goddard, Serena Freewomyn