With Arizona Republicans like Legislative District Three Senator and Senate Leader John Kavanaugh embracing MAGA, Plutocratic, and Conservative Christian positions on private school vouchers, tax cuts for the rich, taking away LGBTQ rights, and the compromising of constitutional due process and voting rights, educator and school board member Jeff Fortney sees an opening to appeal to Independent and like-minded Republicans in the North Scottsdale and Fountain Hills area in the 2026 elections.
Wanting to turn the clock back on the cruelty and reactionary agenda of MAGA and Trump-Republicanism, Fortney is running to promote public education, ESA reform, the end to LGBTQ discrimination and scapegoating in public schools and protect Arizonans’ Constitutional Rights.
Mr. Fortney graciously spent time interviewing with Blog for Arizona to discuss his candidacy for the LD Three State Senate Seat.
The questions and his responses are below.
Please tell the readers at least two reasons you would like to run for the Arizona State Senate in LD3.
“Well, there are a lot of different reasons, but I can kind of narrow it down to a couple. First, my teaching position right now is working with a lot of kids who are LGBTQ, and John Kavanaugh has been a bully against LGBTQ kids, especially trans kids, for a number of years. It is definitely why I got into this race, because I’ve actually had kids in my office in tears about his bathroom bills and his pronoun bills. And, you know, I f got to that place where I was like, man, somebody needs to run against this guy. And then, things have been unraveling both nationally and locally for the last year. These things coincided with an event I attended with Adrian Fontes. He talked about how every Republican elected needs to be held accountable for what’s happening within their party and taken to task for their silence or active complicity. The two things just kind of went together just like that. So I decided to get into the race for that. But basically, what I really want is a senator who can act for the people. Oftentimes, Kavanaugh runs completely unopposed, and that’s definitely not okay with me, especially with some of the things that he does and the things that he’s already been saying since the legislative session started back up.”
“I’m also concerned about what’s happening in our country from the top on down, and the fact that things are unraveling at an alarming pace. You didn’t hear anything from Senator Kavanaugh until finally he asked for Attorney General Mayes’ resignation. That’s his response to all the horrible things that have been happening.”
“I think that people are getting tired of the vitriol and the hatred and the fear mongering, and so I’d like to just be able to talk to people and say that’s not where I’m coming from. I want to listen to you. I want to hear what you have to say, and maybe we can actually do some things that would be in support of what Arizona needs.”
Please tell the readers why they should choose you over Senator Kavanaugh in the 2026 cycle.
“Well, mainly because I would not be legislating out of this place that he’s been legislating out of for so long. A lot of special interest stuff, a lot of hateful bills that are wrapped up in kind of a pseudo-moral or religious indignation about things, especially about this certain group of people. Then other bills that try to protect people in power, like when he tried to get that bill to ban being able to film police during their activities. Imagine where we’d be right now if some laws like that passed. There’d be no proof about what kind of things are going on.” I want to be involved in creating laws that speak to the needs of Arizonans. The things that matter and can help people lead better lives.
“I’m also not some lifelong politician. I’m a school teacher. I’m a special education teacher. I’ve been doing that for 20-plus years now. I’m still doing it right to this day. And I want public education to be an important thing. I want people to be heard, and I want to listen to what their values are and find out exactly what I need to be doing. I’m going to be talking to Independents and Republicans and finding out where their minds and their hearts are about all the things that are going on. When is enough enough? So I’m going to be talking about that. I think that if people look at what Mr. Kavanaugh has said: he’s attacking teachers for the walkout. A lot of people walked out for the anti-ICE rally, but he specifically picked teachers to attack for that, and then yesterday he was basically blaming Mr. Pretti for getting himself shot (by ICE in Minneapolis). These are not things that we want to have continuing in our daily lives. We want people to legislate with common sense, with compassion, with dignity and respect for each other, rather than this horrible hysteria that’s coming from so many on the other side.”
Please, what are at least two issues you’ll be running on in this cycle?
“Because I have been involved in public education as a teacher and a school board member for 10 years now, that has always been my big issue: paying teachers what they need to be paid, funding sustainable public education. The desire to go to private schools and to just keep throwing money at private schools is not okay with me. So I would definitely want to find some way to sustainably fund public education here in Arizona. We used to do it up until 2009. In the recession, we stopped doing it, and its just got worse and worse and worse. So that is definitely number one.”
“Number two is making sure that these things that are important to us, that have been important to us for 250 years, continue to be important to us. The Constitution is kind of an important deal. I took the oath as a school board member, and I took it pretty darn seriously. Kavanaugh’s not taking it seriously. Putting his own personal agenda over his oath of office.”
“So, I would definitely want to make sure the Constitution, rule of law, and due process are things that we hold on to very tightly. So just making sure everybody understands it, because they’re in danger of slipping away. I don’t want to preach, but I don’t want to avoid the subject either. At doors, people are wanting to talk about what’s happening.”
Affordability?
“Affordability is a big deal. It’s the buzzword this year, that’s for sure. In many places in LD Three, I don’t think people are hurting as much as some other places. We have a lot of people who are in the higher income bracket, so I don’t think it’s as huge an issue as in some other places. I still think it is, but I don’t think people are as desperately concerned about the price of eggs or a gallon of gas as they might be in some other places. I think it’s still important because once I get into office, you’re legislating for all people. But I think that we have to see exactly where people’s concerns are in LD Three. I would definitely want to hear and see if they are worried about that. But in a place where starter homes are going for $1.4 million, it’s not as big an issue as in other places. But I don’t know that for a fact, So I want to hear how it’s affecting people.”
Supporting law enforcement
“Of course, you need to support local law enforcement – The Phoenix Police, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. You have to respect and support what they’re doing. The stuff that is going on federally is a major concern. I think that the whole thing about getting orders that federal agents can go into people’s homes with an administrative warrant. That’s not the same thing. So, I hope that local law enforcement would make sure that that’s not happening here. You don’t have to open your door to an administrative warrant from the DHS. This is what is protected by the 4th Amendment. If it’s a judicial warrant, signed by a judge, you have to comply with that and that’s what we’re doing. Even when we talk about it on the school board, that’s when people will be able to come onto the campus. They have to have that judicial warrant. Supporting law enforcement is what they’re doing.”
Water Security.
“There’s just a thing there this week about how things are getting critical with all those waters that we face in the Colorado Basin. So, there has to be some good, honest conversations and really looking at what we can do to support people and rein in some of the places where water usage is in excess, but try not to hit our customers, our constituents too hard with it. I don’t even pretend to know all the answers to that one. There are people way above my understanding for that However, I would definitely be interested in learning ways that we can actually manage water effectively, because we’re in a desert. It’s important to know where our water is going and where it’s coming from, not just now, but for my grandson and his kids.”
How are you and your team conducting voter and social media outreach to Democrats, Independents, and like-minded Republicans?
“Well, I am going to be working with some people on exactly how to do some of the media outreach. We haven’t really started it too much just yet. I’m running as a clean elections candidate. I should be getting my money from the state early next month. And then we’ll start really doing some digital ads. Mostly my philosophy has been to get out there and talk to the voters. So I will be out knocking on doors every chance I get. During my spring break, which is coming up in March for two weeks, I’ll be out there every day talking to voters. Same in the summer, same in the Fall. We’ll be really hitting it in October of 2026, shortly before the election. Talking to everybody that I can possibly get in front of.”
“And we’re building up some volunteers to help me do the same. I’m not talking to Democrats all that much anymore. I did at the beginning because just having a person with a D after their name for that position is going to be enough for them to Vote. Up in LD Three, Democrats turn out without any problem. We were at 92% turnout last time. They’ve been up to 95%. So, it’s just letting people know that I’m on the ballot and then getting out the vote in October. But up until then, talking to the Independents and the Republicans. And talking to them and listening to them. Having maybe some difficult conversations sometimes, but that’s okay. I did the same thing in 2024 when I ran for the school board. I knocked on all kinds of doors. That’s a non-partisan position. So, you talk to everybody. So, you have to listen, and you have to talk, and you have to honestly and factually explain how things are.”
Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like the readers to know about your candidacy for the LD3 Three State Senate seat?
“I’m not one of those lifelong Democrats that everybody always likes to talk about. I was independent from the time I registered up until the result of the 2016 election. But that was my line in the sand about how I can’t see myself ever voting for that kind of ideological thinking ever again. So I switched to Democrat in 2017. What I want to do when I’m going out and talking to people is ask them, what’s your line in the sand? When is enough enough? Is it going to be that the rule of law has become a joke? That due process is being selectively applied? If you’re of a certain stereotype, you’ve got all those protections, but if you don’t, we have a lot of communities that are cowering in fear right now, and they’re afraid to go to school. They’re afraid to go to the grocery store for food or for personal care items because they don’t know if they’ll come back. There are kids who are scared that they’re going to come home from school and their parents will not be there. It’s definitely a lot of people’s concern right now. So that’s a big deal for me. So I want to go out there, and I want to talk to people and say, when’s enough enough? I don’t want people getting murdered in the streets here in Phoenix like they are in Minneapolis. I don’t want to see people afraid to come to school. They have schools up in Minneapolis that are shutting down, or at least for the distance learning like they did during COVID, because kids are scared to leave. There are a lot of things that I’d really like to get out there and talk to the voters and see what they think about what’s happening, and if they’re okay with it. If they are’ okay with what’s happening, well, then I’ll be moving on to the next house. But I want to know what everybody is thinking about the state of our Republic as it is right now, and the direction it’s going.”
Please click here to learn more about Jeff Fortney and his candidacy for the State Senate Seat in Legislative District Three.
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