Governor

Watch Citizens Clean Elections Commission debates for AZ statewide races

by

Watch Clean Elections debates for AZ statewide offices before the General Election on  Nov. 6, 2018 In case you don’t know who’s running for Arizona highest executive offices, watch the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission debates for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Corporation Commission (2 seats) and State Mine … Read more

Statewide Democratic Citizens Clean Elections candidate debates online (updated)

by

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission hosts (during election years) candidate debates for contested races between those seeking public funding (clean) and those raising funds privately.   AZ Blue Meanie posted the entire statewide schedule earlier, but here’s the listing for the few contested Democratic races, statewide.  The Republicans have their own contested candidate forums.  Videos of these debates will be posted online as well.

Governor (3 candidates – Steve Farley, Kelly Fryer, David Garcia):  August 2,  5:30 p.m., view online at Arizona PBS

https://azpbs.org/horizon/2018/07/democratic-candidates-running-for-governor-debate-the-issues/

Secretary of State (3 candidates – Katie Hobbs, Mark Gordon, Leslie Pico): July 18, 5:30 p.m. view online at Arizona PBS /// UPDATE6/29/18 : Mark Gordon and Leslie Pico have both withdrawn, so only Katie Hobbs is running for this seat.  July 18 debate has been cancelled.

Superintendent of Public Instruction (2 candidates – Kathy Hoffman, David Schapira): https://azpbs.org/news/horizon/horizon-episodes/#episodePlayer  (held on June 13)

Corporation Commission (3 candidates for 2 seats – Sandra Kennedy, Bill Mundell, Kiana Sears):   June 27, 5:30 p.m. view online at Arizona PBS.  Updated video below:

https://azpbs.org/horizon/2018/06/clean-elections-corporation-commission-democrats-debate/

Read more

David Garcia Sees New Voters Propelling Him to Governor’s Office

by
“Every time Trump tweets, a new Democratic activist is born.”

Candidate David Garcia plans to win the race for Arizona Governor by harnessing disaffected voters, and recruiting a generation of Latinos to become new voters who will support Democrats for years to come.

“To change Arizona and win in 2018 we need to focus on new voters,” Garcia told the Democrats of Greater Tucson yesterday in a rousing presentation. “We have a surge of Democratic energy. It’s incredible. We need to take this unique opportunity to get a group of reliable voters that we have not been able to bring out.”

He cited California as an example of a once-Republican state that is now solidly Democratic. The state’s Latino population boomed in the 1990s and they rejected the Republican hard-line stance on immigration. The state’s immigrant population has elected Democratic candidates decisively in every election since 1992.

Minority voters were a major factor in electing a Democrat to Governor in Virginia this month.

The Latino vote

“Latino voters vote for Democrats 70% of the time,” he said. “They are not engaged and we need to get them on board. The numbers are there to win.”

Repeating a quote from his Democratic rival Steve Farley, Garcia said, “Every time Trump tweets, a new Democratic activist is born.”

He cited three ways that he can take the Governor’s office away from Doug Ducey:

Read more

Farley Wins Debate with Garcia in Race for Governor

by

Prepared and articulate, Democratic candidate for governor Steven Farley won a friendly debate with David Garcia at the Maricopa County Democrats convention in Phoenix on Aug. 19.

You can disagree in the comments, but Farley was clearly the candidate who can beat Doug Ducey:

  • He had specific answers about funding education and where to get the money. Garcia gave general answers and anecdotes.
  • Farley has actually been elected to office 6 times over the last 11 years.
  • Garcia lost in the 2014 race for Superintendent of Public Instruction to Diane Douglas, who did not campaign publicly.
  • Farley is a sitting state senator and Garcia is an ASU professor.

Hundreds of precinct committeemen and officers attended the event, which was live-cast on the party’s Facebook page and moderated by Brahm Resnik of NBC channel 12 news.

.6% Education Sales Tax

Farley: opposed, because it’s a regressive tax that hurts the poor. “The Arizona chamber of commerce says every year that we need to fund education and we need more corporate tax breaks, guess which one the legislature has listened to. These business leaders are calling for a 1% increase in your sales tax, but they should start calling for a tax increase on themselves. If they are sincere about improving our education system, they should share some of the burdens and not just let middle-class people take it again.”

Garcia: in favor, with an increase to 1% or 2%, but with additional dollars coming from closing tax loopholes.

Read more

Changes in LWVGT statewide candidate forums in October, some cancelled

by

Posted on our Blog for Arizona image Calendar were 3 LWVGT and AZPM candidate forums for Arizona statewide offices in early October (6, 8, and 9).  As of today, three have been cancelled, the  ones for Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Secretary of State.  Instead, there will now be Conversation with the Candidates … Read more