Brianna Westbrook is an example of the person who is able to pull themselves up from adversity to make a difference in the local community.
A child who endured homelessness and who had to feed herself by scrounging through local dumpsters, Ms. Westbrook has had to endure the hardships of poverty, attaining an education without parental support, working to support her family, including her child and siblings, and advocating for herself and other trans gender members of the LGBTQ community.
A former 2018 Arizona Congressional Candidate and Bernie Sanders for President supporter, Ms. Westbrook has turned her attention to winning one of the Arizona State House seats in the new Legislative District Five as a progressive that wants to achieve permanent lasting results.
If elected this November, she will fight for:
- Fully funding public education.
- Securing and expanding voting rights.
- Expanding opportunities for affordable housing.
- Union rights and a higher minimum wage.
Ms. Westbrook graciously took the time to respond to questions about her candidacy for the Arizona State House.
The questions and her responses are below.
- What are at least two reasons you were running for a seat in the Arizona State Legislature?
“I’m an individual that feels like we need bold leadership in our current climate that are willing to champion ideas that we need at the moment. Many of the current elected officials that have represented this district have failed to deliver on many of the issues that matter to the people of LD.
As I’ve been canvassing, I’ve been talking to a lot of voters. People are worried about the cost of housing and having to, to pay substantially more rent. When we look at the average cost of a one bedroom or two-bedroom apartment in downtown Phoenix it’s risen by as much as 20 percent from this point last year.
And it’s just not sustainable. So affordable housing as a core component is one of the reasons why I decided to run. I experienced homelessness and eviction at a very young age and those experiences have left a mark in my life and they are still very relevant today. We need to make sure that we get regulations in place to protect tenants.
The second I am running is of course public education. This district in particular has a lot of young families. Classrooms are overflowing with children. The student to teacher ratio is almost, I think last in the country. They have continued to underfund public education which isn’t fair to children.
We should be investing in our children because, you know, they’re the leaders of tomorrow and we need to make sure that they have the tools that they need to succeed. We know that a strong public school system makes a strong future.
Those are the two big reasons why I decided to throw my hat in this race and I look forward to being a state representative for the people.”
- What are at least two reasons voters should elect you over any opponent and the legislative rice?
“Number one, I don’t take any corporate PAC money. I won’t take a dime from corporate lobbyist.
The for-profit healthcare industry will not buy me. The big banks will not buy me. Raytheon who has a large footprint here in Arizona also will not buy me. No corporate PAC will ever contribute to my campaign. I will refuse any corporate PAC donors now and in the future. We know that much of our political system is ruled by money. By refusing to take corporate money, you’re going to get somebody that is unapologetically a worker for the people, and I’ll never be bought.
I’m a champion for the people and I’ve been organizing in the community for a long time. You’re going to get somebody that’s going to be effective and be able to build coalitions with diverse community.
So, I’ll be effective and get things done.”
- If elected, what are these four issues you will focus on in the legislature?
“Number one, I want to make sure that we support labor unions. I’m going to work to repeal our right to work law.
I want to make sure that we increase funding for the Arizona Housing Trust Fund and make it available for our undocumented neighbors as well because they’re citizens in our community.
I want to make sure that we raise the state’s minimum wage to at least $15. Because we know that, you know, $12.15 is not enough. A family of two needs to make north of $20 an hour to be able to provide for their family.
I want to make sure that we invest in public education.
I want to expand early voting, rights and increase access to the polls, to make election day and primary day a state holiday, and to advocate for publicly funded elections so we can try to get the big money out of politics. I unapologetically support same day voter registration, and automatic voter registration for folks who turn 18.”
Do you support Universal Pre-K?
I 1000% support Universal Pre-K.
Do you support expansion of Kids Care?
“Absolutely. I believe healthcare is a human right. Healthcare in itself should be free at point of service with no copays or deductibles.
I have a long track record of that position as well. I was a surrogate for the national Bernie Sanders campaign in 2020 and that’s one of the reasons why I supported Bernie.”
Are you for funding the police?
“I’m for smart funding of the police and reallocating funding to social services to lighten the workload on police officers.”
Are you for a secure border, coupled with a common sense immigration reform?
“It’s more of a federal policy than a state policy. The state policy would be like ensuring that like the national guard isn’t deployed at the border for a fake crisis that’s not occurring. I am opposed to that.
I am definitely for you know citizenship for all DACA recipients and extending work visas. But those are federal things that need to be done and I will advocate for those as a state representative.”
- Is there anything not covered in the first few questions that you would like the readers to know about you and your candidacy? Please explain.
“I’m not your typical politician for one. I grew up in severe poverty. I’ve seen more than I should have as a child. I experienced homelessness and eviction and legislative district five in the nineties.
When I talk about rummaging through trash cans for food, that happened in this district. That happened in this district in the nineties.
When I first decided to go out publicly as myself as who I am today, the first place I went publicly was Cruising on Seventh, which is a LGBTQ bar in this district.
There’s no better representative for this district. I say that because this is a very liberal district and we need champions that are willing to move the margins for the Democratic Party and highlight specific issues in their advocacy that lift up all communities, regardless of race, income, sexual orientation, gender, or immigration status.
It’s the districts like this that are so important for moving our Democratic Party.
All of the ideas that have in my platform are not going to be achievable on day one. But what I will do is advocate and work in coalitions to ensure that progress will be made. I will organize as a lawmaker to ensure that issues that should be spotlight are seen by the general public.
We’ve seen what can happen when we have effective lawmakers that are organizers.
I look back, at Cori Bush, for example, who sat up front of the Capitol, you know, when the eviction moratorium ended, she occupied that space and she slept outside the Capitol.
What happened? She got the attention of the national media and the press. And we got the eviction moratorium extended for a few more weeks. I hope to be that type of legislator and be very effective with the ideas and the tactics that I so choose to build coalitions, to get things done.
I will always, always ensure that the people’s voice is centered in every policy that I implement. What that means is ensuring that directly impacted communities are directly involved in the policy making and the decisions and making sure that my office door is always open for questions and constituents building a strong constituent services that takes care of the people of this district because when I look back at 2020, that was really like an inflection point. You know, we knew that many of the issues that were exposed and 2020 due to our failed system have always existed, but they no longer could be hidden in that atmosphere. And the inaction of legislators really struck a chord with me.
I hope to be a lawmaker of the people.
I can’t wait to get in there and fight.”
Please click on the below social media sites for more information on Brianna Westbrook and her candidacy for one of the State House seats in the new District Five.