Read As the Next Maricopa County Attorney, Julie Gunnigle will Implement The People’s Plan for Real Justice now from Blog for Arizona for Politics from a Liberal Viewpoint

The candidates for the Maricopa County Attorney Special Election have been selected.

The Republicans have chosen County Attorney Rachel Mitchell to represent them.

Democrats, in a record time to submit candidate petitions, selected 2020 County Nominee Julie Gunnigle.

In a previous interview with the Blog for Arizona, Ms. Gunnigle pledged to fight corruption at the County Attorney’s Office, stay out of people’s rights lives, and intensify prosecutions of guilty sex offenders.

Since then, Ms. Gunnigle and her team have released The People’s Plan for Justice which includes the priorities the Democratic County Attorney Nominee would undertake if elected, including:

Protecting a woman’s right to choose.
Prosecuting political and government corruption while also promoting transparency and accountability at the County Attorney’s office.
Holding police accountable, helping the most vulnerable, and protecting public safety.
Better serve victims of crimes.
Protect voting rights.
Sentencing reform and giving more emphasis to rehabilitation and transitioning nonviolent prisoners to properly reenter society.
Dismiss low-level cannabis cases.
Combat systematic racism.
Creating a Veterans Treatment Court where “veterans are provided with wrap-around services, including access to housing, drug treatment, and mental health providers.”

Ms. Gunnigle graciously took the time to respond to additional questions about her candidacy for Maricopa County Attorney.

The questions and her responses are below.

* Please tell the voters at least three reasons they should vote for you over Ms. Mitchell.

“Earlier this month we released The People’s Plan for Real Justice. I call it that because that’s what this race and this job should be about: serving the people of Maricopa County, not giving sweetheart deals to political cronies nor manipulating justice to protect and excuse donors and special interests, nor certainly not failing the people of Arizona through consistent disregard for the truth, transparency, and justice. The People’s Plan for Real Justice is my commitment to be the independent prosecutor Arizona communities deserve – one who understands no one should be prosecuted for private and personal healthcare decisions like abortion. One who will end the decades of corruption this office has become notorious for. And one who will finally hold corrupt people – even the powerful and politically connected – accountable when they break the law and do harm. The fact is, there is so much this office could and should be doing if only it cared about service to the community instead of being focused on hiding its own wrongdoing and ineptitude.”

* Please advise what are at least three main issues in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Race. Please explain.

“My top three commitments to the people of Maricopa County are first, to never prosecute people for their private and personal healthcare decisions, including abortion and contraception. To end decades of corruption in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and to finally prosecute political and government corruption. I will put an end to the culture of self-dealing in our government and take on political corruption as it relates to the Arizona legislature, the revolving door between legislators and lobbyists, and the sweetheart deals that waste taxpayer resources yet fail to make communities safer for regular Arizonans and the most vulnerable – children, women, and seniors.”

* Please describe your campaign strategy to reach voters, including Independents and disaffected Republicans, in Maricopa County.

“We are knocking on thousands of doors each week, ensuring that the communities most commonly impacted by the office are included, informed, and engaged. This office has systematically ignored the needs and rights of huge swaths of Maricopa County residents as aggressively as it has targeted and harmed them. No more. We are knocking on doors and meeting voters where they gather nearly every day of the week in one way or another because that is how we will win and that is how we lead: by engaging the community, being transparent, and by modeling accountability to voters and residents.”

* Is there anything not covered in the first three questions you would the readers to know about you and your candidacy? Please explain.

“I want to make one thing clear: the commitment to be a county attorney who represents the entire county does not end when we win in November. The Maricopa County Attorney’s office has isolated itself from the community it serves and has failed to respond to the needs of the people. My People’s Plan for Real Justice means that we continue to receive feedback, hold community events, and listen to the county. A government by and for the people requires that the people decide how we set our priorities, how we define safety, and of course how we are policed and prosecuted. It’s a big job, and I’m up for it.”