Cage, Jorgensen, Young Wright tower over LD-26 rivals

by David Safier

This is an unashamedly partisan post. As in, if I were a Republican having to defend their three LD-26 candidates, I’d be hanging my head in shame as I mouthed my stale talking points. In my case, I feel the opposite of shame. I support the Democratic candidates, Cheryl Cage for Senate and Don Jorgensen and Nancy Young Wright for the House, with an immense sense of pride. This is as fine a group of candidates as you’ll find in any District in the state. That’s fact, not spin.

Let’s begin with the Republicans.

Al Melvin, who is running for Senate for the second time, and Marilyn Zerull, in her first run for the House, are garden variety ultra-right wing ideologues. If they went to Phoenix, they’d be dependable votes for their wingnut leaders like Pearce and Weiers. LD-26 would take a back seat to the Maricopa-led agenda.

Captain Al has developed a smoother politicking style than he had in 2006, though his solution to every problem facing Arizona still seems to be, “Stop illegal immigration.” He no longer refers to himself as a proud Minuteman all the time as he did in 2006, nor does he repeat the idea that he wants a wall across the entire border. But, though the lyrics have changed somewhat, the song remains the same.

Zerull, to put it kindly, is not ready for prime time. To put it more accurately, she’s not ready for a 3am infomercial on Nickelodeon. Zerull simply has no idea what’s going on beyond her narrow range of conservative talking points.

Vic Williams is another type of Republican candidate entirely. I’m not sure where Vic stands on the issues — and I don’t think he does either. When he was younger, he must have been a fan of early Dylan, because every time Vic is asked a question, you can almost hear him humming, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.” What do you want to hear? That’s what Vic will give you. When he has to come up with an answer in a larger public forum, it’s usually something like his response to the question about vouchers. “I’m against vouchers . . . except for special needs kids . . . and I think we should run a trial voucher program to see if it works.” That’s classic Vic, taking bold stands on both sides of the issue.

Now to the Democrats.

Very simply, Cheryl Cage, Don Jorgensen and Nancy Young Wright are among the most capable, knowledgeable, intelligent candidates I’ve seen. You rarely get three people of this caliber running in a single district. Cage and Jorgensen both run small businesses, so they know about how that part of the economy works. Young Wright was on the Amphi School Board and was instrumental in bringing about changes that made the schools better for their students. Far from being ideologues, they’re people with overall visions for the future who want to find the best ways to get there.

If you were to divide the three up into their areas of greatest interest, it would be: Cage, business, the environment and how the two can benefit each another; Jorgensen, affordable, available health care; and Young Wright, public education, from preschool through college. But none of them are specialists. They’re well versed on all the issues, and as the campaign has progressed, they’ve continue to grow in knowledge and sophistication.

Here’s the bonus that comes with electing these folks. Our current State legislature has a Republican majority in both houses, dominated by its far right wing, which grows more powerful every time it knocks off moderate Republicans like Pete Hershberger. If the Dems pick up four House seats, they gain the majority, which would break the logjam holding back Democrat-proposed bills and give us hope for positive, progressive change in Arizona. Young Wright now holds one of the two LD-26 House seats. If she and Jorgensen both get in, that’s one Democratic pickup. LD-25 and LD-30 are strong pickup possibilities as well. That means Southern Arizona can put Dems within one seat of a House majority, and there are a number of other pickup opportunities state-wide.

So what’s best for LD-26 is also best for Arizona in a broader sense.