Running to become the new Representative from the newly formed Arizona House Congressional District (CD) One, Environmental and Native American advocate Ginger Sykes Torres wants to bring people together and restore common sense and integrity to Congress.
A community activist, small business owner, wife, and mother of three, Ms. Sykes Torres will work on the issues of fighting inflation, spreading economic prosperity, providing paid family leave, cleaning the environment and promoting clean energy jobs, funding public education, being a voice for Native Americans, and making government work better for the people in her district and across the nation.
Her message to the people in the new CD One:
“If you are ready for change and want to be a part of history, I am your candidate.”
Ms. Sykes Torres graciously took the time to interview to discuss her candidacy for the House of Representatives.
The questions and her responses are below.
1) Please tell the readers at least two reasons you would like to become the next Representative from the new Arizona House Congressional District One?
“I’m running for Congress because I want to restore common sense and integrity to our government. Like a lot of Arizonans, I am tired of the partisan politics. I am tired of the extremism that has prevented our government from meaningful progress. I want a government that works for all us in the community and I want our Congressional Representatives to be uniters and not dividers. I want to be that person. I have the skills and the qualifications to do this. I am a resident of my district and I have been actively involved in my community for the past several years. I have the knowledge, experience, and leadership of working with a variety of stakeholders in my district including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in order to advance change. I want to represent everybody in my district, not just the ones that I agree with or agree with me. I am really motivated to be that change factor in our community.”
2) Please tell the readers at least two qualifications you have to serve in the House of Representatives.
“Number one, I am a proven leader. As I have mentioned before, I have served on a number of leadership positions in some of our state’s top non-profits and also on boards and commissions in our city. I know how to work with a variety of stakeholders to actually get things done. I have the skills that it would take to end the gridlock in Washington in Congress that Congressman Schweikert has contributed to for over a decade. Secondly, I’m a Native Arizonan, wife, a mother of three, and a small business owner. I know what it is like to live in this district and it is an amazing district but I know what my community wants and needs from living here by participating in the community member. I care about my community. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to making it a better place for future generations. This is the next step for me to be able to make a bigger impact in my own community.”
Why should the voters choose you over any Republican or Democratic opponent?
“I am a uniter and I have the skills and qualifications of what it takes. I live in the district. I have the education and experience to handle the job. I think I am the right person.”
3) In your opinion, what are the three most important issues facing Arizonans and the American People and what you will work on in Congress? Please explain.
“One of the biggest issues I think our Congress is facing, which is an issue for both Arizonans and Americans, is that there is obstruction of Congress going on right now. Vital things are not getting done because of the partisan politics I referenced earlier. We need government to have the interests of regular people in mind when working together and we need to trust that our representatives are really working with the interests of these regular people in their minds. We need to make sure our Representatives are making real progress for the benefit of constituents and not for their own personal benefit.”
“Economic Prosperity, I feel, is another top issue for both Arizona and the United States, in particular economic prosperity for the middle class. I walk my own neighborhood in this new Congressional District One and I see businesses that are opening and closing. I know that COVID has had a huge impact on businesses across the board and on regular families. We need to make sure that economic growth is made available for all businesses and that there are opportunities for all residents to support their families and thrive here.”
“Prosperity can be accomplished a lot of different ways including reforming our tax code to make it more fair. Also, making sure there is an equal playing field for competition. Those are issues I’m willing to work on when I am elected.”
“Third, we need to make sure we are protecting the environment so our economy can remain resilient through extreme weathers and we can continue to grow into the future. My background is in Environmental Science and policy. I am well versed in the environmental threats to our state. Our state has experienced record heat waves, increased amounts of wildfires, and is also dealing with water cutbacks. We need leaders that are willing to tackle these issues head on and get into those hard conversations in order to solve these problems so that our state can remain strong in the future.”
“Another issue that is really important to me is education. I have three small kids. I want to work on improvements to our education system so that our public schools are stronger so that our students can stay here and go to college here and they can join the workforce here. It will also make our economy stronger if we are able to improve our education system.”
4) Please explain your views on border security and immigration reform.
“Living in Arizona, I know that border security and immigration are very important to our state. I also feel that a number of Americans and Arizonans want to see smart immigration reforms implemented. This is an issue that Washington D.C. has completely failed on for many years with politicians using immigration to launch political attacks rather than coming up with viable solutions. Fixing our immigration system starts with border security and that means investing in law enforcement technology, getting more judges to the border so they can process issues faster, and strengthening our ports of entry to eliminate drug smuggling opportunities. In addition, one key area that will be needed is to reform the DACA system so that recipients can stay in the country because this country is the only country they have ever known.”
5) Please explain your views on funding the police and law enforcement reform.
“I respect our law enforcement community. I have great respect for them. The great majority of them are very good people who want to make our community a better and safer place. I also do believe that we need common sense policing reforms to make sure our communities are adequately represented and protected. I favor funding the police.”
6) Is there anything not covered in the first five questions that you would like the readers to know about you or your candidacy for the House of Representatives? Please explain.
“I was born on the Navajo Nation in Tuba City Arizona. I grew up in Mesa and I went to local public schools in Mesa (She graduated from Westwood High School.) I went on to graduate from Stanford University where I majored in Earth Systems Science which is really the study of the global systems of what goes on in our environment and how they all interact together.”
“Currently, I serve on a number of boards and organizations. I am on the Board of Trustees for the Heard Museum. I am also on the board of the Ronald McDonald House of Central and Northern Arizona. I am on the board of Valley Leadership. I am the Vice Chair of Our Cities (Phoenix) Environmental Quality and Sustainability Commission which advises the City Council on the policies and recommendations to make our city an epicenter of sustainable development. Under that commission, I chair an entire subcommittee that really focuses on heat island issues. Issues that will address the heat inequities where there are parts of our city that are up to ten degrees warmer than other parts of our city. They are often in areas that have other economic issues as well.”
“I have really enjoyed working in my community. I also work as an advocate for Native American Communities.”
“I was a former Native American hoop dancer and I continue to teach that. It is empowering to Native Youth. It is also gives Native Youth an opportunity to have role models and experience success and gain confidence as they are growing up. This is so often missing in urban communities that connect back to the native ones.”
Please click on the below social media sites, including Ms. Skyes Torres introductory video, to learn more about her and the campaign for Arizona House Congressional District One.
• https://www.facebook.com/GingerForArizona
• https://www.instagram.com/gingerforarizona/
• https://twitter.com/GingerForAZ
• https://www.gingerforarizona.com
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