Educator, social worker, political activist, and Legislative District (LD) One resident Dr. Christine Dargon will bring a Pragmatic Progressive problem-solving approach to the Arizona State Senate if voters pick her to serve in 2026 over Oath Keeper-January 6 attendee and resident conspiracy theory fanatic Mark Finchem.
A resident of Rimrock, Dargon vows to bring her pragmatic-problem solving message to every corner of LD One from the large towns of Prescott and Sedona to the small outposts of Seligman and Baghdad.
Running on a platform of unleashing Arizona’s potential by fully funding public education, advancing housing affordability proposals, promoting water security, advocating common sense gun laws, and saving rural health care, Dargon vows, unlike the MAGA zealot Finchem, to listen to her constituents and advocate for their needs and concerns.
Dr. Dargon graciously took the time to speak with Blog for Arizona and discuss her candidacy for the Arizona State Senate seat in LD One.
The questions and her responses are below.
Please tell the readers two reasons you would like to run for the Arizona Senate Seat in LD One.
“I would say the first big reason is the state of things currently in our country. It’s easy to point fingers. It’s easy to say who’s going to do something and what’s going to happen and who’s going to step up. It was actually really interesting timing because last night, my mother and my husband and I watched the filming of George Clooney’s, production of “Good Night and Good Luck.” The closing monologue includes a line where he looks straight out at the audience and says, ‘What are you going to do.’ That to me is a big reason why I’m running. I can do something rather than waiting and seeing who else is going to do something. Who else is going to step up? I’m in a position where I can be one of those people who steps up to do more.”
“I think we need stronger and better representation in our district, and I think I have a lot of the skills needed to not only be a good candidate, but to be a good senator. That is the main reason I decided to run.”
“The other reason specific to running for the Senate versus the House is, I have very strong thoughts about my opponent, Mr. Finchem and believe he is not deserving of his position and certainly not a good representative of LD One.”
What are these two reasons voters should choose you over Mr. Finchem?
“Given Mark Finchem’s record as a self-proclaimed oath keeper as well as being present and was supposed to be a speaker on January 6th. To my knowledge, he did not go into the Capitol building itself, but he was present there on January 6th and had been in contact with Paul Gosar ahead of time. Mark Finchem gives two different stories. He says he was there to provide Mike Pence, with evidence of fraud in the Arizona election. Another time, he said he was there to give that evidence to Paul Gosar. Yet, that evidence never seemed to surface. I do not think given his track record that he is a positive representative in the community.”
“First of all, you must be passionate to represent every resident, regardless of race, religion, etc., and as a self-proclaimed oath keeper, you look down on some people comparatively, and you perceive some people based on the color of their skin as superior. How can that individual be a healthy representative of the community?”
“Also, he still protests that the 2020 election was fraudulent and in my opinion, this is toxic and misleading in terms of what messages he is conveying to the people of Legislative District One.”
“Furthermore, he represented Oro Valley. I believe, for four terms in the house, and to my knowledge, he does not even actually live in the district. He has an address in Prescott Valley, that is, a trailer owned by an older woman. His wife’s legal address is not in Legislative District One. To me, that strongly indicates a need for power and to be in position not to be a representative of the people within that District. He does not live here. He does not know the people of this district. I have lived in Legislative District One since I moved here 15 and a half years ago. I lived in Prescott for a year and a half, and now I’ve lived in Rimrock since. I live among the working-class folks like me and feel that they deserve a far better representative than we have currently with Mr. Finchem.”
What are at least two issues you’ll be running on in the 2026 cycle?
“Well, I think there are a number of issues that are of great importance to me, but they all really come under the large umbrella of making Arizona a wonderful desirable place for people to live where they can thrive, as well as to attract people to come and live here. Obviously, that means we need water, But in addition to that, we need good education. We have ranked near the bottom often 50th for the amount of money we are spending for our students’ education. We need teachers. We need health care providers. All of the above means Arizona must be a place that people want to come to and live. A big reason my husband and I moved here 15 and a half years ago was because it was affordable and beautiful, and we loved it. But now, we’re seeing, rises in the cost of housing, and we’re seeing people who would love to move here and be able to have a job here, but they can’t afford to live here. So, we have got to create a solid infrastructure for housing and affordability in order for us to be able to sustain and offer quality education, quality health care services, it really goes across the board in terms of there being a lot of holes and gaps up here in the Verde Valley. For one, we are losing our last gastrointestinal specialist, and so anybody who needs a GI specialist is either going to have to go to Flagstaff or go to Prescott or go down to Scottsdale, or Phoenix. This is an area with enough of a population where we should not be desperate for certain types of professionals, including teachers. And I think that’s why those issues all kind of come together in terms of affordability, water, and education.”
You support the Governor’s groundwater measure that she proposed earlier in the year?
Yes, I think there’s a lot that we can do. I do think we need to work together with the other states that get water from the Colorado River. I also think we could do more in terms of reclaiming water. Although it is not in our district, the canal project is great. Why isn’t it covered, for example, with solar panels. We are losing a great deal of water out of the canal due simply to evaporation because of the heat and the sun. So, although I think some good steps have been taken, I do think there is a lot more that we can do instead of just trying to tap deeper and deeper into the ground and digging deeper wells. Working on things like reclaiming water whether it’s with things like toilets, for example, I do think there are a number of additional things that that we could do that would improve our situation in terms of our current water situation.”
You mentioned the loss of local health specialists. How would you in the State Senate fight to keep rural hospitals open?
“First of all, we have the big not so beautiful bill that was passed. One thing that makes me angry is that the cuts will not go into effect until after the midterms which I think is being done strategically for a number of reasons, including people in LD One won’t see or feel the effects of it until after the election in 2026, So I know that Governor Hobbs has said that the Arizona budget right now cannot afford to offset the cuts that are in that bill In terms of the residents of Arizona, and with that comes the funding of our rural hospitals, such as in Prescott and in Cottonwood. I think that’s a very complicated question that needs a look at both taxes and sources of funding, as well as the relationships and agreements we have with the various insurance companies here in Arizona. I also know some of those hospitals are funded by donors, so I do think it’s a multifaceted approach in terms of how we’re going to keep them open, but not just how we’re going to keep them open. How are we going to be able to keep them appropriately staffed? I think in part that goes back to also preventative care versus medical care. A lot of people are using emergency rooms, for example, as their primary care visits because they don’t have insurance. They don’t have doctors. How can we in a sense improve the structures so that there isn’t such a strain on our medical hospitals in the first place? So, there’s a lot of components that need to be addressed in my opinion in order for us to be able to keep those hospitals afloat. In terms of the big, ugly bill, what exactly and how will that specifically affect Arizona, I’m not quite sure about in terms of the exact numbers In regard to our funding for health care and for our facilities.”
What are at least two ways you will conduct voter and social media outreach?
“When I decided to run, there were people who said to me ‘nobody goes to Baghdad. Nobody goes to Seligman’ And my response to that was, ‘Well, then I’m going.’ I am going to be in the Seligman Days parade in a couple of weeks. I’m planning on just trying to get out there and meet as many residents of the district as possible. To me, voters in Seligman and Baghdad and other smaller locales in the district are just as important as the voters in Prescott and Sedona. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to start the campaign early was to have time to be able to get out there and get to people because Yavapai County is a very large district in Arizona, But the goal is to literally get out there as much as possible, to meet the residents because I may have a good idea of what’s going all around here, say for example in the Verde Valley, but this is a very diverse District, and I want to hear from people whether it’s down in Black Canyon City, or as I mentioned up in Chino Valley, wherever it might be, I want to hear people’s concerns. I am not a politician, and I am very proud of that. I never thought I would run for office. I don’t want to play politics. I want to hear from the people, but also, if I’m going to ask anybody for their vote, they need to know who I am too. I don’t just want people to vote for me because I’m the Democrat on the ticket. I want them to vote for me because they know I’m going to listen, and I’m going to fight for them. And in order to do that, I’ve got to get out there, meet people, and hear what their concerns are, what they want me to do when I am in Phoenix. I am using Facebook like, crazy. I am trying very hard to connect with as many people who reside in the district as possible through Facebook and sharing what I’m doing on my Facebook page and sending messages to people asking them right now, even just for the signature on the petition to get me on the ballot, because that’s the first step. I appreciate people saying they want to vote for me, but I’ve got to get my name on the ballot first. I was in the Rimrock Parade, and we had a little booth at the end at our little festivities on July 4th, which was important and just trying to go to events and as I mentioned going to Seligman in a couple of weeks, so really trying to approach it from, yes, using social media, but also getting out their face to face and meeting voters.”
How about younger venues like Instagram or Tik Tok?
“I have used Instagram and Tik Tok. I do plan on using all forms of social media and of course things like when people signed a petition if they give me their emails. We will be putting together a newsletter to keep people posted. Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky: any platform I can get my hands on.”
When you meet the people, how do you contrast yourself with Mr. Finchem?
“I think he (Finchem) is very extreme, and I don’t think Yavapai County needs anyone extreme on either side. I think they need someone who is more moderate and in the middle. I am very much Pro Second Amendment, but I do also believe gun violence is one of the top killers of our children and some of that is because guns aren’t being locked up. I think sensible gun laws will not impinge upon people’s rights to go hunting or protect their families, whatever it is they want to do. I think that there is a middle of the road that makes a lot more sense. I am pro-life, but by that, what I mean is yes, I am for a person to have the right to make their own decisions about their own medical care and their body. But I am also for Planned Parenthood providing prenatal care. I am Pro what can we do for Pre-K and daycare to keep it affordable? I am Pro social programs to support people. We need to improve our foster care system. To me, pro-life means from the moment of conception to death. What can we do to make every resident of Legislative District One prosper to the best of their ability? That doesn’t mean handouts. That doesn’t mean coddling people. It means giving everyone in this district a fair chance and equal opportunities. For example, education. You shouldn’t have a better education because your ZIP code is different from somebody else’s. So, to me, Mark Finchem is very extreme in terms of Anti Choice and anti-background checks. He is very MAGA, and I think that speaks for itself and I think anything that extreme isn’t healthy for the residents of this state. And that is why I think supporting the people in this district as I said from conception to death, is what a representative’s goal should be and truly be someone who has the best interest of every resident of this District at the top of their priority list. I believe I have that, and I believe he does not.”
Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like the readers to know about you and your candidacy for the State Senate.
“I think something important that I want people to know is that I am by no means perfect. I have made my fair share of mistakes, and I have worked very hard to learn from those mistakes. I consider myself a person of immense Integrity and honesty. I am also loyal to a fault in terms of my trustworthiness. I am not your typical person to run for office and I’m very proud of that. And I think as people meet me and get to know me, what you see is what you get. And I hope that the people of Legislative District One will find that as a breath of fresh air and decide to do something different by sending somebody down to the Senate who is, like them. I’ve been almost homeless and had a friend take us in. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck My husband and I own a business, and as small business owners we struggle. I don’t have money. I’ve never come from money, And I’m very proud of being like my neighbors and my neighbors are important to me, regardless of their religion, the color of their skin, no matter what. I was raised where everybody was equal and the color of skin did not matter, And that to me, especially in these times, is very important, that every resident of this district know that they are important.”
Please click here to find out more about Christine Dargon and her candidacy for the Arizona State Senate Seat in Legislative District One.
Please click here for the site where, if you live in LD One, you can register and sign a petition putting her on the ballot if you like.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.