“Duty, Honor, Country.”
Those are not just words to West Point Graduate, Wife, and Mother of Four Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Dana Allmond.
This is a social and moral code to live by when working for and serving others.
A retired 23-year Army veteran who has declared Trump Republican Secretary of State Mark Finchem “a clear and present danger,” Lt. Colonel (Ret) Allmond has entered the race for one of the State House seats in the new Legislative District (LD) 17 to help protect Democracy and voting rights from fringe right-wing extremists.
Saying, “I am inspired by the perseverance of Arizonans fighting to save our precious democracy. I put Arizonans first and want a much brighter future across our communities. Together we will not back down from a fight!,” Allmond is running on a platform to:
- Protect voting rights.
- Protect a woman’s right to choose.
- Fully fund public education.
- Expand quality and affordable physical and mental health care.
- Ensure the communities in LD 17 get their share of the Bipartisan Infrastructure dollars to upgrade area roads and other local needs.
- Address the water drought/crisis.
Lt. Colonel (Ret) Allmond graciously took the time to respond to questions about her candidacy for one of the new House seats in the new LD 17.
The questions and her responses are below.
- Please tell the voters, at least three reasons they should vote for you over your opponent in the new LD. 17.
“So, it is more important than ever for us to stay focused this November 8th. I know Arizonans will elect lawmakers that will serve to save our democracy and our dignity. I’m so proud and humbled to be the Democratic nominee for Arizona State House Representative so I can properly represent LD 17 neighbors in the state legislature. This run is very personal and emotional for me. I’m a fixer, dedicated to protecting the life, limb, health, and welfare of my family, Arizonans, and our country because the state legislature is where the rubber meets the road and we affect not only what’s going on for all the millions of Arizonans, but those across the nation. I take this really seriously and I want residents of LD 17 to know that they’ll have a state representative that they can be proud of. I am that representative. This is a calling for me, and I have consistently modeled that through my more than 23 years of active duty Army service. I have continued that strong leadership as a no-nonsense advocate for the rights of Arizonans. I’ve seen it up and close and personal with Arizonans. We are people of action and we are focused on what we can do. We are focused on our shared public values, and I really want us to, to understand that we’ve got to Own it! Believe it! See it! Plan it! Execute the plan! I’ve got some friends that keep telling me you better repeat that.”
“My next reason is that I’m a veteran, Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), and 1994 West Point Graduate. I am the only candidate in this race who understands first-hand what it means to serve their country. I am focused on our community’s shared public values. I take the West Point motto: “Duty, Honor, Country,” seriously. I hold, the West Point Cadet Honor Code dear to my heart. The code says, “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” My oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic did not expire or vanish when I retired from the Army almost six years ago. My more than 23 years of active-duty service makes me uniquely qualified and prepared to become a lawmaker right now because I do not back down from a fight. It is literally in my DNA to always be a public servant. The Allmond family serves their country and their local communities. Allmonds do not back down from a fight and I have seen it in Arizonans. We do not back from a fight and I will tell you that I will keep going until I literally lose my life. We are people of action.
“I’m a mother of four children and I want them to have a much brighter future than I had growing up. My oldest daughter is 18 years old and she graduated from Canyon del Oro High School in 2021 and is currently a sophomore at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, majoring in musical theatre. I’m kind of biased, but she is definitely Broadway bound and I’ll tell you, we had a special moment. It was so awesome on the 7th of July when my daughter and I received our early ballots in the mailbox. I looked at her and I was like, ‘oh my God, Sydney, this is your first time voting ever and your mom is on this ballot.’ I have 10-year-old triplets who are in the fifth grade. They were born on 11/11/11, and will turn 11 this year.”
“And the biggest thing that demonstrates my awesome leadership is at the birth of my triplets. I was serving in the Army on active duty in St. Louis, Missouri. My superior commanders had such the utmost trust and confidence in me and my ability to protect the life, limb, health, and welfare of others that I simultaneously commanded two distinct organizations that consisted of having the solemn responsibility for tens of thousands of members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard that were joining our Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard ranks. I had the honor to work with military members and Department of Defense civilian personnel who served those new members of our Armed Forces with distinction across six states that included cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Shreveport, and New Orleans. I did that from 2011 to 2013.”
“I’m also a wife and my husband is a physician assistant and he serves veterans every day at the Tucson VA hospital. He works in emergency medicine in the Tucson VA emergency department. He is a native of Tucson. He graduated from Amphi High School in 1985, and we have been married for more than 22 years.”
“And the final thing is I especially want to live up to my father’s and grandfather’s legacy of public service. Unfortunately, they’re both deceased. I lost my father, Elgin Lodean Allmond earlier this year, back in March and he was only 73 years old. He was a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel as well and he concentrated his efforts on uplifting other officers to reach their full potential, including general officers. My grandfather, Calvin P. Allmond died in 1978 at the very young age of 49. I was only six years old. He was an inspirational civil rights and community leader. He ran for the Virginia House of Delegates twice in the early 1970s. He ran for Sheriff, and I see that I am one step away from realizing my grandfather’s strong desire to become a lawmaker to protect those who can’t or do not know how to take care of themselves.”
- Please advise what are at least three main issues in the legislative race. Please explain.
“I care about a lot of things. My top priorities are to protect human and civil rights, starting with voting rights because I believe without voting rights, the rest of what we care about simply is just not going to happen. I want to also make sure our reproductive freedom is restored. It was hard for me to look at my daughters and know that they have fewer rights than me. I’m 51 and it makes no sense that they have fewer rights than I had growing up.”
“The second thing is fully funding public K through 12 education. Our children need to receive a quality education. I say “No” to expanding vouchers. We need smaller class sizes, brick and mortar schools must not crumble on our kids’ and our educators’ heads. I’m really concerned about our educators. I want to make sure that they’re treated with dignity and respect. I want them to have a living wage and benefits. I’m hearing too many things about educators that are leaving the profession in droves. I’m worried about that. We’ve got too many individuals that are aspiring to be teachers and educators, and they decided because they’re not being treated well and they’re watching others in the profession and see them not being treated with dignity and respect that they don’t want to pursue a career in education. I believe that is a shame that we’ve got these conditions this way.”
“The third thing is to improve mental health care quality and access across the state and to reduce the burnout, fatigue, and trauma exacerbated by the pandemic. I’m committed to ensuring mental health is more than just a talking point and is being properly resourced directly for veterans, Arizonans, and so many other people that are in our state that actually serve others like medical providers and educators, because they also need resources. If they don’t have what they need to function to give “Class A” services, then we’re all wrong. We have to take care of each other. My overarching fight is to restore honor and integrity to state law making.”
Do you support the expansion of Kids’ Care?
“Yes.”
Do you support funding full-day preschool and full-day kindergarten?
“Yes.”
Do you support funding the police?
“Yes. They need to be funded.”
Do you support comprehensive immigration reform that includes border security and a pathway to citizenship?
“Yes. All of those are important. Keep the border secure and make sure we are treating immigrants with dignity and respect.”
- Please describe your campaign strategy to reach out to Independents and disaffected Republicans.
“My strategy is real clear. I’m focused on one Arizonan, one neighborhood, one door, and one conversation at a time. Residents in LD 17 need to feel seen and heard no matter their political and non-political stances, and their socioeconomic circumstances. The heart, mind, and spirit used to serve my country is a universal language that can be respected by every American and I discuss my concerns with Independents and Republicans. I’ve had really awesome discussions at the doors and it is awesome to be able to, really focus and listen to what residents, need. I want to make sure I’m focused on and I’m always asking people to canvass with me today and every day because we don’t know what each other is going through. The only way you’re going to know is to go talk with each other. If you’re not into that, this is why we have problems. We must be able to talk with each other.”
- Is there anything not covered in the first three questions that you want the readers to know about you or your candidacy for one of the state house seats in the new LD 17?
“Another priority is infrastructure and water and I’ll focus on infrastructure. I’m gravely worried about it. Our legislative district is really big, but one of the areas that are really frightening to me is Picture Rocks. In many of these neighborhoods, there are no quality roads. There’s just sand everywhere. You’ve got open pits with exposed pipes and electrical wires. And I’m having a difficult time understanding why we are tolerating these dangerous conditions. I should not hear from residents that they know of at least a couple of people that were in trailers in disrepair, because these folks are on fixed incomes, and for some reason, the trailers burnt down with the resident in there. Also, this is monsoon season. So, it’s like a ‘doggone’ raging river going down in front of your home. You can’t get down the street. If you’re in crisis, how are first responders supposed to get to you? How are you even supposed to get your own children to the bus stop because they want all the folks to get to the main road to get on the bus.”
“But one of the other striking things for me was when I saw a video a few Fridays ago that showed because it’s so bad out there, there is no drainage. The school bus got stuck out there in the mud, in the water. The bus was tipping, and they had to get the students off the bus and get them onto another one. So now, we really need to look at those federal dollars and make sure they’re going to where there is the greatest need. And to me at this point, I will never complain about a ‘doggone’ pothole for the rest of my life.”
Did you want to make a statement on fighting the water shortage as well?
“There are so many things that we’re worried about and I hear a lot of the worry about our water. We look at a lot of construction, new homes, but there are different techniques and things that we’re looking at in regards to water, you know, the drip systems that we’re looking at, the stormwater, the surface water, the groundwater, and I’m understanding we really need to listen to experts. We need to listen to our residents about what they need. We need to listen to our colleagues and so that’s a big deal and we’ve got some hard work to be done when you’ve got at least a couple of decades of a drought that’s not getting any better.”
Please click on the below social media sites to find out more information about Dana Allmond and her candidacy for one of the Arizona State House seats in the new LD 17.
https://www.facebook.com/allmond4az
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