Some things have unfortunately changed since we last interviewed LD 12 Democratic State House Nominee Stacey Travers almost a year ago.
Others have unfortunately not.
The freedom to vote and have your ballot count is still under siege.
So, now is the reproductive freedom of all women in Arizona and across the country.
Fully funding public schools in the Grand Canyon State has proved elusive with the looming Aggregate Expenditure Limit approaching and the potential siphoning of funds to pay rich families private school tuitions.
The water and climate crisis has only become worse with the State in a Tier 2a drought advisory.
Republicans, in their cultish devotion to Donald Trump, have abandoned any shallow pretense of being law and order advocates with their proposals to break up the F.B.I. and not properly fund the police.
Recognizing this insanity on the Trump Republican fringe right, veteran, mother, scientist, and activist Stacey Travers has stepped into the fight, running for a seat in the Arizona State House in the new LD 12 (an area that covers all or parts of Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Chandler.)
Bringing a fact-based approach and a desire to forge consensus among Democrats, Independents, and Like-Minded Republicans, Travers wants to help lift the people of LD 12 and Arizona up and move the Grand Canyon state forward.
Ms. Travers graciously took the time to discuss her candidacy for a seat in the Arizona State House.
The questions and her answers are below.
- Please tell us three reasons why the voters should elect you over your Republican opponent in the new LD 12.
“I think because we (the three legislative candidates) are most representative of the voice of LD 12. Because we’re prepared, experienced, and capable. Also, because I know I can provide the principled leadership that we need in the state government and representing our district.”
- What are at least three issues that you are running on in the new LD?
“Education, water and climate issues protecting our democracy, and preserving the whole range of our freedoms including voting rights, and bodily autonomy for women.”
“On education, it’s making sure that we try to give as much local control as we can back to the districts and try to try to fully fund the educational needs for students in the state and in the district. That means, not just higher teacher wages and smaller classroom sizes, but making sure that teachers have the resources that they require, and to ensure that students can get access to any (special) educational needs that they might have.”
“With the water and climate situation, we need to take back our state resources and work to manage them better. We need to look at things such as the contract that was entered into with Saudi Arabia where we supply them with flood-irrigated crops, at lower than market value, which they send back to feed their livestock. We need to look at how we manage our water resources and look into alternative ways to make sure that we maintain a water supply that provides for not just current residents, but our future residents as well.”
“Democracy is making sure that we protect safe, free, and fair elections.” “We need to find a way to allow bodily autonomy for any individual in the state and see if we can redress some of the fundamental rights that have been taken away on behalf of the citizens of Arizona.
- Please describe what ways your campaign is reaching out to Democrats, Independents, and disaffected Republicans.
“When I say that we need to be part of the community, I mean all of our community. I’ve made sure that I’ve reached out to every part of LD 12 that I could. That includes the African American, Afro Caribbean communities, the Latino community, and our Bengali Community; It includes all the wonderful, diverse and international mix of community members that we have here in LD12. I have managed to reach out to the MCDP Latino Outreach Committee and made sure that my campaign literature is also in Spanish. We are also making sure that our mailers are reaching Independents, Republicans, as well as Democrats. It is also important to just continue the message that while I have some red lines in the sand, there is room for compromise on so many issues, and we need to have these dialogues with everybody, with all the stakeholders in our community so that we can really start to move things forward, because right now the people that our polarization is hurting the most is, you know, young adults and our children and their future. To get into our partisan corners, will accomplish absolutely nothing.”
- Is there anything not covered in the first three questions that you would like the voters to know about you and your candidacy?
“I will bring strong, principled, fact-based leadership to the AZ State House of Representatives. Accountability, transparency, honesty, and integrity mean something to me, and I will always have my door open to anyone in the district because I’m here to represent them and I’m here to move us forward.”
Please click on the below social media sites to find out more about Stacey Travers and her candidacy for one of the Arizona State House seats in the new Legislative District 12.
https://www.facebook.com/traversforaz/
https://mobile.twitter.com/traversforaz