Nancy Young Wright scores 3 big endorsements

by David Safier

The Star and The Weekly both gave wholehearted endorsements to Nancy Young Wright for Pima County Supervisor, District One. The almost-endorsement from Thelma Grimes, Managing Editor of the Explorer, is, in a way, even stronger. After saying in the primaries the paper would not endorse, Grimes wrote an "analysis" ("Take it as endorsement, take it as some points in the campaign, or just toss it aside – it’s up to you.") which is a thorough takedown of Ally Miller.

Add these to endorsements of Young Wright by Pete Hershberger, Republican former state legislator, CC Goldwater, Republican granddaughter of Senator Barry Goldwater, and the just-short-of-an-official-endorsement by Republican City Council member Steve Kozachik — among others — and you have a powerful statement about the positive qualities Young Wright will bring to Pima County government and a testimony to the Tea Party toxicity of Ally Miller.

From The Star:

Young Wright's experience would be an asset for the board. She has hands-on knowledge of municipal government from her advocacy in Oro Valley; her time as a parent volunteer and Amphitheater Public Schools Governing Board member gives her the inside track on education issues; and her time in the Legislature will lend an expertise that will benefit Pima County.

[snip]

We appreciate Young Wright's conservative fiscal approach to the county's $30 million reserve fund; it's about 6.5 percent of its overall budget, and experts in government finance recommend having 5 to 15 percent on hand. Bond ratings and interest rates are affected by how much a government agency has on hand.

From The Weekly:

Nancy Young Wright uncovered and cleaned up corruption in the Amphitheater School District before going on to support teachers, kids, university students and the downtrodden at the Arizona Legislature. She developed experience regarding land-use policies through her work to develop parks in Oro Valley, and her service on the steering committee for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

Meanwhile, her opponent, Republican Ally Miller, is a Tea Party organizer who vastly overstates her accomplishments (her wild claim that her letter-writing skills brought the FBI in to investigate Rio Nuevo is particularly goofy) and is willing to engage in conspiracy theories that have no basis in reality (such as her preposterous contention that the county couldn't account for $345 million in transportation funding). On top of that, Miller's campaign is under investigation by the Arizona Secretary of State thanks to allegations by opponents that she is illegally coordinating with independent campaigns run by developers.

 From The Explorer (note the refrence to Ally's "'Hulk angry' attitude"):

[A]fter listening to Miller in several debates, her behavior with the press and her attacks on her opponent, there are so many red flags going up that one might wonder what she’s going to be like as an elected official.

This “Hulk angry” attitude she campaigns with will get old real fast once she’s in office and reality sets in.

[snip]

Miller ignores answering to accusations against her own campaign for violating election laws (she had a great opportunity to do so in the radio debate hosted by Bill Buckmaster.) Tell voters what happened here. Are charges from three separate candidates false, or is being quiet an admission of guilt?

[snip]

Miller also had those problems with being proven wrong, as she was when it was proven that her assertions that the county had misspent millions were inccorrect. Many may not agree with the funding allocations, but they weren’t “misspent.”

 [Full disclosure: I write a monthly column for The Explorer from a progressive standpoint which is balanced by a monthly column from the conservative point of view. Also, I volunteer with Nancy Young Wright's campaign while maintaining my membership (in good standing) in the fact-based community.]