The Republican and Democratic nominees for Arizona Secretary of State have been chosen.
On the former party of Lincoln’s side, we have Trump Republican, a supporter of The Big Lie, and January 6th, 2021 participant, Mark Finchem.
On the Democratic side, we have a former Marine, a subscriber to reality, and Maricopa County Recorder, Adrian Fontes.
In his first interview with Blog For Arizona since gaining the Democratic nomination, Mr. Fontes graciously sat down and discussed how he was going to prevail in the November elections and conduct himself in office.
The questions and Mr. Fontes’ responses are below.
1) Please tell the voters at least three reasons they should vote for you over Mr. Finchem.
“I think the biggest, most important reason is that I’m not a traitor against the constitution. Number one! Number two. I’m the only candidate in this race that has ever had any experience administering elections and number three, I don’t pretend like I’m a cowboy.”
2) Please advise what are the three main issues in the Arizona secretary of state race. Please explain.
“Well, the first issue is having competence and clarity in the certification of the election in 2024. That’s the number one issue that’s facing that office.
I think there are some significant technical advances that need to be made, particularly in the area of campaign finance and the signing of petitions for non-statewide races, like for all the rest of the races.
A third issue is really improving the inner interface and usability for our business partners, small businesses for trademarks, and all of the other parts of the secretary’s office. All of that needs to be upgraded pretty significantly as well.
The final item is to update and simplify the usability of the election’s procedures manual. It’s the rule book for running elections in Arizona, and I think it needs to be approachable by the average voter so that we can increase transparency and folks will know how elections are supposed to be run just by looking at the rule book. It should be easy to read.”
3) Please describe your campaign strategy to reach voters in all of Arizona’s 15 counties.
“Well, we’re going to do what we did in the primary. Number one, actually visit all 15 counties. I think I’m still the only statewide candidate on either side of the race that’s visited all 15 counties. I think we need to reach people, not just in person, but we need to make sure that each of our campaign teams in different parts of the state gets the equipment that they need, the resources that they need and that volunteers are well taken care of and well communicated with. I think that’s critical and I think really, we have to be very clear about the stakes of this race, more than any other race in any other state in the country.
This race cannot be more, starkly identified, between two very different people. One is a January 6th, insurrection traitor and the other is a Marine Corp veteran who defended our Democracy against even the Cyber Ninjas and won. These are two very, different people and I think there’s a very, very starkly clear choice in this race.”
4) Please describe how you would convince independents or disaffected Republicans to vote for you.
“Well, I think for independents and disaffected Republicans, all they have to do is look at the choice, you know, and let’s be clear, 59% of Republicans did not vote for Mark Finchem. They rejected him 59% and so really all we have to do is remind them that they didn’t want him in the primary. They didn’t want him to be on the ballot.
As Secretary of State, I’m just going to call balls and strikes. So, let’s stop playing games, vote early, and let’s get this thing done.”
5) Is there anything not covered in the first four questions you would like the readers to know about you and your candidacy? Please explain.
“Well, I think one of the most critical pieces about me as a candidate is that I actually understand the systems that I would hope to oversee. I know what the different counties need as far as resources go. I don’t have to learn this job and I don’t have to lie about this job. I don’t have to lie about the performance of election officials across Arizona. Mr. Finchem is happy to do that. And I think he needs to explain why he hates Americans. I think that’s really important because there’s no logical explanation for the way he acts and the things he says other than the facts that he hates Americans and the work that they did challenging our elections. He needs to explain why that is.”
Please click on the below social media sites including the Blog’s interview with Mr. Fontes during the Primary season, for more information on the candidate and the campaign.
https://www.facebook.com/ElectFontes
