Eva Burch Wants the People of LD Nine to Live the American Dream

For Eva Burch, the job of the legislator is to write and support legislation the people want. 

Legislation like:

• Affordable housing.
• Accessible, affordable, high quality health care.
• Fully funding and providing high quality staff to local public school districts.
• Protecting and expanding voting rights.

The legislator is also supposed to have commitment to:

• Promoting social justice.
• Epitomizing honesty and integrity.
• Treating all constituents with dignity and respect.

An emergency room nurse and daughter of a Norwegian Immigrant (her mother who was also a nurse,) Ms. Burch wants to “advocate for a better, more inclusive Arizona that works for everyone” as a member of the Arizona State Senate from the newly formed Legislative District (LD) Nine. 

The new district, which contains Western Mesa and a sliver of Tempe offers Democrats an opportunity to take three seats in the November, 2022 elections. 

An advocate for the people and social justice, Ms. Burch wants the people in LD-9 to have access to the American Dream and all the hopes, benefits and privileges that come with it. 

Ms. Burch graciously took the time to discuss her candidacy for the State Senate. 

The questions and her responses are below. 

1) What are at least two reasons you want to run for term in the Arizona State Legislature in the new LD Nine. 

“ Some of the things that are really important to me that led me to run come from my personal experiences. I found myself pregnant and getting ready to be a single mother and a full-time nursing student just over 10 years ago.”

“I was in a situation where if I didn’t have help, I was really going to be in trouble. I had government assistance to help me with my healthcare and with my student loans.  I was somebody who was very ambitious and had a lot to offer.  I was never going to be in a position where I was going to be able to actualize my dreams and to become the best version of myself without help.”

“I know that the majority of Arizonans are people who are willing and wanting to work hard and to contribute to society. It’s so important to me to make sure that every Arizonan and has resources available to them to be able to reach their dreams and to become who they want to be and who they’re destined to be.”

“The American dream belongs to all of us and we need representatives who are willing to fight for everyday people to make sure that the access to that dream is there.”

“My mother is an immigrant who came here from Norway to study nursing and was able to do that because she married my father. I got the health care that I got because I became pregnant and it became really obvious to me that a lot of the resources that become available to us particularly as women is because of our relationships with the men in our lives.”

“I just find that unacceptable. I want to help create opportunities for everyday people to make sure that there’s equity and that there isn’t unjust partiality in who has access to resources.”

“I also believe that especially in the last several years, we have really come to see our voting rights under attack, and have also seen the Arizona education system virtually crumbling before our eyes. And these are things that the majority of people in Arizona agree on, but we don’t have a legislature in place to create that reality for the people of Arizona. I believe that we have a unique opportunity right now when we have a 14, 16 split in the Senate and a democratic majority would be a game changer. We have been playing defense for far too long.”

“The solution is to flip the legislature and anything that I can do to be a part of that I’m ready and willing to do. And I plan to work relentlessly until that goal is achieved.”

2) What are at least two reasons voters should elect you over any opponent in the legislative race.

“I’m very lucky in that there is unlikely to be a primary in my election. What I will say is that we have a really strong team of leaders who’s going to be running in this district and that our combined efforts and our combined passions are really going to benefit the people of Mesa and Tempe of the East Valley and Arizona in general.”

“I am going to have an opponent in the general election, and I will certainly tell you that my opponent is not a bad guy and I don’t have bad things to say about him. We have a lot of common goals regarding results that we would like to see, but we have very different ideas about how to achieve those goals.”

“I believe that we need to heavily invest in a strong, robust public education system and I’m going to be a more consistent voice for the people of Arizona in that way. That’s my belief and I’m sure that’s been born out in the statements and voting record of my opponent.”

“We will vote differently on several subjects. And I do believe that we are missing some advocacy, especially as it relates to education that will draw a comparison between the two of us.”

“Not only that, but there are a number of policy issues outside of education that are popular with the people of Arizona and we can’t even get the legislation off the ground in the legislature without a democratic majority.” 

Please tell the readers the name of your opponent.

“Tyler Pace.

Tyler and I both represent the health care community, but in very different ways, I’m a healthcare provider and he has more of an administrative background. And we just come from different schools of thought.”

“When it relates to healthcare and education, it’s my belief that that legislation that I would write and support is going to be more in line with what the people of Arizona want. But it will be up to the people of Arizona to decide. In that regard, it’s just our responsibility to make sure that everybody has access to their voting power.”

3) If elected, what are at least four issues you will focus on in the legislature? 

“I have four issues that are laid out in my website that I hope people will go and spend some time reading up on at evaforarizona.com.”

“There are four issues that I am particularly passionate about.” 

“The first is, of course, healthcare. Healthcare is my background, and I have seen the impact that disparities in healthcare have on our communities, especially as it relates to economic disparities, gender disparities, racial disparities, and housing disparities. All of those things intersect and affect and impact our healthcare.”

“Having accessible, affordable healthcare is a human right and I will advocate for that the way that I advocate for my patients.”

“The second issue is education. I’m a product of the public education system. I have lived in Arizona all my life and attended public schools. I understand the meaningful importance of our teachers, of our public education system of support staff, of counselors and it is of vital importance to me to promote the interests of our public school system.”

“I believe elected representatives in Arizona need to make sure that we have a robust, sustainable education system with safe and appropriate student to teacher ratios. And I think that a lot of the squabbling that we have regarding funding for education and vouchers and the embattlement between public school and charter schools and private schools has to do with the fact that we are underfunded in general. I think that a lot of those disagreements and a lot of the bartering and arguing that happens related to education funding could be solved by funding appropriately in the first place. I don’t want to terminate education options, I just don’t want to see funds being leached from a bare bones public school system to support them.”

“Third, I believe that we have a housing crisis in Arizona. That housing is not affordable, particularly for first-time home buyers. And that there are solutions to be had there. I’m very passionate about trying to create opportunities for first time home buyers and trying to address this housing crisis that we are experiencing in Arizona.”

“Fourth is voting rights. There are those who would work very hard to disenfranchise voters in Arizona and I just want to make sure that regardless of your zip code, your social status, and your income that everyone has equal access to voting opportunities and that we are working to expand voter rights and voting opportunities and not working to quiet and limit the voters of Arizona.”

Do you support Universal Pre-K?

“Absolutely.”

Do you support Universal Free Community College?

“Yes.”

Do you support expanding Kids Care?

“Yes.”

Did you want to say anything about promoting green energy and sustainability?

“In Arizona we have unique opportunities to create massive improvements that are sustainable; renewable energy that we’re not taking advantage of. I know that there are a number of legislators who have been trying and working very hard to create those opportunities. I will certainly be a part of that effort. It’s a top priority.”

You support funding the police?

“I am for responsible funding of our police force. I’m a first responder who has worked with Mesa Police and with the Mesa Fire Department extensively in my work as an ER nurse and I respect and appreciate the difficulty and the complexity of the job that first responders have to do.”

“I also think that we overburden first responders, particularly police officers, and that it’s going to be very important that we distribute responsibilities appropriately and that there are resources available to meet the needs of the people of Mesa and of Arizona when police are not necessarily the appropriate first choice of who to call.”

“I want to make sure that resources other than police are available. It’s important that our public services have the funding that they need. And I am in strong support of that.”

Are you for a secure border and a pathway to citizenship?

“I strongly support both. Of course I understand and appreciate the importance of a secure border. I think that the two work together. We have to have a reasonable, accessible pathway to citizenship that doesn’t leave people behind. A pathway to citizenship and secure borders work together. They need each other and I support them both.”

4) Is there anything not covered in the first three questions that you would like the readers to know about and your candidacy?

“We’re really at a turning point with Arizona right now, as we continue to grow and to become more and more of a blue state. Flipping the legislature would take us off the defense where we could actually start to write and pass some of the popular legislation that the majority of Arizonans want. The people of Arizona deserve it and I will continue to work hard until it is actualized.”

Please click on the below social media site sites for more information on Eva Burch and her candidacy.

www.EvaforArizona.com