Wood Gets Late Start On Second Run

Learning to be a legislator was like going to graduate school, state Rep. Alex Wood said. He’d like to take more classes.

Wood, a former radio talk show host finishing his first term in the state House of Representatives, officially announced Thursday he was seeking re-election.

While that’s not a surprise, Wood has received criticism from some fellow Democrats who thought he should have started campaigning months ago.

His opponent, Republican Cheryl Steele, began her campaign in April. Although the 3rd District is traditionally a Democratic stronghold, Steele is well-known from her work with the community-oriented police stations that got their start in one of the district’s neighborhoods.

Wood held off, he said, because he was listening to voters.

“I heard constantly, ‘You politicians spend too much time campaigning, too much time sucking up to special interests for money,”’ he said.

Several things surprised the long-time radio reporter in his first term: the amount of information he had to study for complicated bills; the amount of time required for a job that is officially listed as part time; and the control that majority Republicans held over the process.

Still, Wood was one of the few Democrats who was able to propose a bill on worker safety that eventually passed and was signed by the governor.

“It’s been easier than I thought to work across the aisle” with Republicans, he said.

Wood thought he’d be able to do more on some key issues like campaign finance reform. But with the parties sharply disagreeing on what changes to make and Supreme Court decisions blocking some reforms, nothing happened. Wood said he’ll try a new tack, setting voluntary limits on his own spending.

“I’ll try setting a good example,” he said, adding he’ll spend no more than $25,000 on the campaign.

Wood, 52, said he’s running for re-election to continue his work on the Transportation, Health Care and Commerce and Labor committees. He gave up his radio job to run for office, and except for an occasional fill-in job as an announcer lives solely on his salary as a legislator.