Independents: #1 Issue in Arizona is Education

by David Safier

I didn’t read an article saying that Independents’ number one issue is education. My conclusion is based on a very informal, very unrepresentative sample. But I think it’s reasonably valid.

Today I rang doorbells for Don Jorgensen who is running for the State House in LD-26. We only spoke to Independents, and one of our questions was, “What is the most important issue facing Arizona.” Unprompted, the vast majority replied, “Education.”

This was in a well-heeled neighborhood in Northeast Tucson, in the general vicinity of Sunrise and Campbell. As I said, it was not representative of Arizona at large. But this was definitely not a bunch of liberal Democrats. Most of them said they voted for Democrats and Republicans, depending on the candidate.

I desperately wanted to ask the people I talked to, “How are we going to pay to improve education in Arizona?” but I restrained myself. I suspect that if I did, however, they would not have said, “I’m willing to pay higher taxes.”

The good news, from my standpoint, is that people get it — our education is not what it should be. (I got similar results a few years ago when I was calling people in a more randomized survey.) The not-so-good news, however, is that I think most people want the tooth fairy to leave some money under the legislature’s pillow to pay for it.

But at least people recognize there is a problem. That’s a start.