Name: Francis Saitta
Age: Would not disclose
Occupation: Retired educator, scientist
Party: Democrat
Office sought: Mayor
Experience:
Though currently retired, Saitta formerly worked as a math teacher at Rincon and Tucson high schools and as a biology and math instructor at Pima Community College. According to his resume, he received a doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Rhode Island Kingston in 1970 and has decades of experience practicing immunology and genetics.
Saitta has lived in Tucson for about 10 years and previously ran unsuccessfully for the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board in 2014 and the Pima Community College Board of Governors in 2016.
Saitta said in an email that he’s running for mayor as a “very strong proponent of community” and to spread his message “that in human society, it is not about me or you, it is about us."
His top priorities for the office are addressing “Evictions, homelessness, and the root cause of both: rent increases,” citing “predatory capitalism” as driving rent prices up.
If elected, Saitta said he would initiate efforts through a city-wide election for rent control despite state laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from placing restrictions on rent prices. He refutes: “If the state of Arizona can make marijuana use legal contrary to federal law, the city of Tucson can regulate rent contrary to state law.”
