2022 elections
At the start of November, before the elections, I was worried and depressed. There were so many nasty and right-wing deniers and conspiracy-addict candidates it looked dark for Arizona. I thought Democratic candidates were in serious trouble.
What a relief! Democrats were winning! Kelly, Fontes, Mayes, Hoffman, and Hobbs are coming through! Even Nevada came through with Senator-elect Catherine Masto, to keep the U.S. Senate at 50 and give it a chance next month at 51 in Georgia!
Thank you, voters of Arizona! Thanks to you — my worries and depression have disappeared and the future of our state is much brighter than it would have been with different results.
Jeffrey Dean
Northwest side
Hateful campaign ads
As a voter, I congratulate our winning candidates. But please revamp campaign laws as your post-election priority. Maybe you can prevent a repeat in two years of the nastiest, impertinent, and annoying televised ads in this nation. My TV remote wore out from constant punching of the mute button. Where was the focus on actual platforms for major state and federal offices? Did many voters just choose candidates who did the best jobs of sniping and half-truthing?
Imagine the benefit if all those millions spent on hate tactics were instead allocated to problems like homelessness, health care and education. Of course, I realize that’s an uphill battle. Our society has long encouraged the allocation of billions to professional sports, in which athletes are generously rewarded for playing children’s school-yard games. Must be a correlation there.
Jack Calaway
Northeast side
What’s the point of finger pointing
Now that the election is over, will the candidates please take down their signs? Although they are allowed 15 days, the sooner the better.
More important, however, is the nature of some signs I have seen. It’s bad enough that so much electioneering these days is negative. Many of the street signs during this election have also been negative! I can mute my TV or radio or I can skip an ad in a newspaper or magazine, but I cannot close my eyes while I’m driving and the signs are usually on the side of the road. The reason politicos put up signs used to be to get name recognition. Now the current attempt is to blame an opposing candidate for a specific problem.
Most of the issues facing the voters today are much more complex than a one-word accusation. Our system of governance is not served by reducing these issues to a fleeting glance at a sign.
Cynthia Soffrrin
Northeast side
Plan for GOP to move forward
There appears to be enough election results to know that the GOP has a very slim majority in the House, but not control of the Senate. As an independent voter I would like to suggest a plan to move forward. Continue the January 6 committee’s work until it is concluded; if you must broaden the scope, carefully do so. It is clear that the former president is unacceptable to independent voters and should be retired. Continuing the January 6 committee will provide a ramp for more acceptable GOP candidates to move into leadership roles and demonstrate that the GOP has the best interests of the country at heart rather than pushing a set agenda.
Ronald Nowicki
Green Valley
“Election denier”
English is an expansive language that generously welcomes some 4,000 new words each year. Many of these new terms add to the language’s richness. Others, like the current “election denier,” are unnecessary since we already have the term “sore loser.”
Robert Varady
Foothills
America selects the worst
Whether we’re pleased or upset with mid-term election results, we must address the elephant in the room: while our election process is much discussed, it’s we voters that are the biggest problem. For example, in the last three presidential elections, we have chosen an egotistical, racist ideologue; an unstable paranoid; and a barely sentient antique.
Maybe we’d better serve our nation by selecting our presidents from a list of all registered voters via lottery!
Jeffrey McConnell
West side
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