GOP incumbents ahead of Democratic candidate in AZ House District 19

Republican incumbents Lupe Diaz and Gail Griffin have a strong lead over Democrat Sanda Clark in state House Legislative District 19, unofficial early returns show Wednesday morning. 

Diaz of Benson received 35.22% of the vote and Griffin of Hereford had 38.46%, compared to Clark of Green Valley with 26.33%.

Arizona House District 19 includes portions of Pima, Santa Cruz, Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties, including the city of Douglas.

Diaz was appointed in November 2021 to replace Rep. Becky Nutt of Clifton who resigned. He serves on committees including Education, Ways and Means; Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Diaz is pastor of Grace Christian Center in Benson and administrator of the academy. He is a former Benson city councilman and president of the Chamber of Commerce. He grew up in Bisbee and on a quarter and appaloosa horse ranch, according to campaign literature.

Diaz’s platform includes his support of requiring voter identification, proof of citizenship, paper ballots and single-day voting to keep elections safe and secure from fraud. He promotes a completion of a border wall, increased border enforcement, and working to end drug, gun and human trafficking. In addition to funding public schools, Diaz said educators must be held accountable and show results in the academic progression of students. He also supports school choice and offering parents more options for their children’s education.

Griffin, the other Republican incumbent, has lived in Cochise County for 53 years and in District 19 for 26 years. She is a former state senator from 2011 to 2019.

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Griffin serves on house committees including as chairman of the Natural Resources, Energy and Water; Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Appropriations; and vice-chairman of Rules. She is a real estate broker for Sierra Vista Realty.

Griffin’s political platform includes a belief in smaller and smarter government, less taxes, personal responsibility, protection of property rights and in the free enterprise system. She said she “will continue to fight to get education dollars into the classroom for students and teachers.” She advocates for veterans, transparency in government, and will challenge federal overreach.

Democrat Clark is a concert pianist who escaped communism in her native Bucharest, Romania. She has lived in Pima County for 18 years and in District 19 four years. She studied at the University of Texas in Austin in 1968 and met Harry Clark, a cellist and playwright, who she married. She said her decades-long career, performing in some of the world’s great concert halls, was a heady experience, but her biggest thrill was becoming a naturalized citizen of the U.S., her adopted country. She said she is running for representative because of her life in Bucharest and seeing the events in Ukraine in its war with Russia.

ages for teachers, and making charter schools accountable and ending “the get-rich-quick charter school scams.”