The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) organizes and hosts debates for all elections in which at least one Clean Elections candidate is running. In Legislative District 9, three of the five people running for office are Clean candidates: Jim Love, Victoria Steele and me. The other two people who are running for house– Rep. Randy Friese and J.P. Martin– are running traditional.
Since early ballots for the August 28 primary election will be mailed on August 1, the CCEC has been hosting many debates in the past month. On July 19, the LD9 candidates had their debate. (The LD9 video link is here and the embedded video is below. To watch other CCEC debates go here.)
CCEC debates include some questions that are asked of all candidates and other questions that are asked of specific people. I have annotated the debate with time stamps– in case you want to focus on particular topics. Since there were several audience questions about guns in schools, the environment and prison reform, I have grouped those questions and answers.
Opening remarks: 8:21
Top priorities and first bill you would introduce: 14:10
Equal Rights Amendment: 19:57 and again at 1:09:40
Support for Invest in Ed Citizens’ Initiative: 24:49
What will the district lose if you are not elected and how will you make a difference as a non-elected community member: 35:10
Individual Questions begin:45:30
Environment, climate change, water, and air pollution: 45:50, 1:02:57, 1:04:49, 1:08:21 and 1:17:34.
Union membership: 46:58
School vouchers: 48:01
Guns in schools: 49:20 and 55:57
Prisons, criminal justice reform, mandatory sentencing, and War on Drugs: 50:42, 58:39, 1:07:10, 1:12:41
Funding for public schools: 52:14
Your vision for Tucson: 53:40
How would you tackle dark money in politics: 54:37
Preventive programs and behavioral health: 57:20
How would you tackle poverty: 1:00:15
Support for film tax credits: 1:01:30
Support for Roe vs Wade and reproductive choice: 1:04:24
Funding for Child Protective Services (CPS, now called Department of Child Safety): 1:11:06
What have you learned canvassing LD9: 1:14:03
Taxing digital goods: 1:15:03
All-mail-in ballots: 1:16:13
Closing remarks: 1:19:24
For those of you who are following other local races, the LD3 (west side) Clean Elections Debate is here. The LD11 (Oro Valley/Marana) debate is here. The LD8 (Oracle and Pinal County) debate is here. The LD10 (Tucson South of Speedway) debate is here. The LD2 Republican debate (Southern Arizona) is here. For the real political junkies, the entire list of debates is here. It’s #TVWorthWatching!