Edgar Soto, the Democratic candidate seeking to flip Arizona’s Legislative District 17 Senate seat, says voters are looking for relief from rising costs, for stronger public schools and for a state legislature willing to solve problems – instead of deepening partisan division.
In an October 5 meeting of Democrats of Greater Tucson, Soto—a fifth-generation Arizonan, Marine Corps veteran and Pima Community College vice president—said his campaign is targeting independent and Republican voters through extensive door-to-door outreach. He reported knocking on 1,935 “persuasion” doors in August alone, arguing that the district can be won through direct conversations about affordability, education, housing and health care.
Soto said polling he has seen shows him ahead by a small margin. However, he acknowledged the race remains competitive in a district where Republicans account for 39 percent of voters, compared with 32 percent independents and 29 percent Democrats.
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He pointed to Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk’s success in flipping a Republican-held district seat as evidence that persistent voter contact can overcome registration disadvantages.
Soto targets LD 17 seat
Soto framed the race as part of Democrats’ broader effort to win control of the Arizona Legislature and break years of Republican obstruction in Phoenix. He said voters are frustrated not only by policy outcomes but also by a political climate that leaves many believing their concerns—and their votes—do not matter.
“People aren’t feeling connected,” Soto said. “They feel their differences between Republicans and Democrats are so vast and far apart that we can’t even have a conversation.”
But at doors across the district, Soto said he has found more common ground than partisan rhetoric suggests. Voters, regardless of party affiliation, want safe neighborhoods, a secure border administered humanely, decent jobs and a fair chance to build a stable life, he said.
His campaign message is rooted in the argument that government has a responsibility to create access to opportunity, particularly for working families, first-generation college students and communities historically left behind.
Affordable housing
“Arizona’s affordable housing crisis is one of the worst in the nation,” Sarah Kerr says in the Arizona State Law Journal. “Arizona is one of six states with the most severe shortage of affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters.”
“Numerous factors contribute to Arizona’s affordable housing crisis. First, the cost of buying or renting a home or apartment has skyrocketed. Rent prices in Arizona “increased by 72% from 2010 to 2022 and the median sale price of homes increased by 57%” from 2019 to 2023,” Kerr wrote.
On housing, Soto voiced support for:
- Increasing the supply of affordable homes
- Reusing vacant buildings
- Allowing smaller housing options such as casitas and duplexes
- Ensuring that infrastructure and water supplies can support growth. He said communities should have a stronger voice in how short-term rentals and corporate home purchases affect local housing availability.
He was more cautious on rent control, saying he wants to study its effects before taking a firm position. He made a central Democratic argument: Arizona cannot solve its housing crisis through inaction and deference to developers.
At voters’ doors, Soto said, the dominant concern has been the cost of living: housing, groceries, gasoline, utility bills, auto insurance and homeowners insurance.
“The last three weeks, it has been cost of living, cost of gas, cost of just daily expenses,” he said.
Soto identified several areas where lawmakers could act:
- Improving transparency in insurance markets
- Examining sales-tax relief for necessities such as diapers
- Expanding affordable housing
- Speeding up responsible permitting processes
- Supporting homeowner repair and eviction-prevention assistance
Education takes center stage
Education emerged as Soto’s clearest policy priority. Drawing on three decades at Pima Community College, he criticized Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature for diverting public resources toward the state’s school-voucher program while public schools, teachers and community colleges remain underfunded.
Soto said the state must impose stronger accountability requirements—or “guardrails”—on Empowerment Scholarship Account vouchers. The program has disproportionately benefited families who send children to private schools, rather than students most in need of help.
“If you want to attract quality business and industry here, we have to have a skilled workforce,” Soto said. “And if we’re not investing in people, we’re going to have long-term impacts.”
He cited the loss of ongoing state funding for Arizona community colleges in 2015, saying Pima and the Maricopa Community College District have missed out on roughly $221 million that could have kept tuition lower and expanded workforce-training programs.
Soto also said the Trump administration’s actions have cost Pima five grants for first-generation and low-income students, including TRIO and Upward Bound programs that help students navigate college admissions, testing and financial aid.
Soto also emphasized early-childhood education, teacher pay and affordable pathways to degrees. Pima recently launched a bachelor’s degree in education, he said, offering a less expensive route into teaching amid chronic educator shortages. Soto said the program began with about 34 students and is expected to reach about 100 next semester.
Soto said health care would be among his priorities in the Senate, citing his 93-year-old mother’s experience navigating medical care, hospitalization and insurance restrictions. He called for more nurses, doctors, mental-health services and transparency in health-care pricing.
He also defended reproductive freedom in plain terms. When voters ask whether he is “pro-life” or “pro-choice,” Soto said he responds that he is “pro-freedom”—meaning that patients and doctors, not politicians, should make medical decisions.
Ultimately, Soto argued that Arizona needs a Democratic legislative majority not simply to reverse Republican policies, but to restore a functional governing process. He noted that Gov. Katie Hobbs signed 264 bills in 2026, 254 of them Republican-sponsored, as evidence that Democratic proposals are routinely shut out before receiving serious consideration.
Soto urged voters and volunteers not to sit out the election. “We need to behave and act as if our freedom is on the line,” he said. “Because it is.”
Early ballots go out starting today, October 7.
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