Southern Arizona candidates in 2022 election share their views

OPINION: "Nature, economics and fairness all argue in favor of the Biden administration acting quickly to provide at least the framework of an equitable plan requiring the states and Mexico collectively reduce 2-4 million acre-feet from their Colorado River diversions. The river can’t wait, and nor can we in Arizona," writes Kirsten Engel, a candidate for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.

OPINION: "This housing crisis has combined with gentrification to wreak havoc on housing affordability and all the human suffering that goes with it. Lower-income communities get hurt first and worst. Huge rent increases have led to many more people living undignified lives on the streets of Tucson and South Tucson," writes Brian Flagg, a candidate for South Tucson City Council. 

OPINION: "As your state senator, I will make sure that these decisions are made by pregnant women and their doctors, not by legislators, many of whom will never be faced with having to make this heart-wrenching choice about their own bodies," writes Michael Nickerson, a candidate for state Senate in Legislative District 17. 

OPINION: "Although the regional water supply situation has improved in recent years, the future is not rosy with Colorado River water shortages, groundwater contamination issues and there is still the 1.8 million acre-feet deficit from past over pumping," writes Mark Johnson, candidate for Marana Town Council. 

OPINION: "I share the voters’ concerns, for I was recently pregnant. I had my second child almost four months ago, and watched with concern–bordering on panic–as our state Legislature passed laws during my pregnancy impacting the health care I could receive," writes Priya Sundareshan, candidate for Arizona Senate in Legislative District 18. 

OPINION: "As long as they can control our bodies, they control our lives," writes Nancy Gutierrez, a Democratic candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in LD 18. 

OPINION: "Losses of this scale always hit financially marginalized Americans the hardest, and the fallout from the Durbin Amendment was no exception," writes Consuelo Hernandez, candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in LD 21. 

OPINION: "Looking back, what the Army was doing with all this training was building a culture of respect for these weapons that is built from an understanding of the power they hold and the responsibility that comes with having access that power. That culture of respect is supported by policies," writes Morgan Abraham, a state representative from Tucson and a candidate for the Arizona Senate in Legislative District 18.

OPINION: "What I witnessed during the pandemic was alarming. Our people were evicted from their homes and there were no decent alternatives, no way to re-establish family stability, no way to help the family’s mental health after being uprooted," writes Roxanna Valenzuela, candidate for South Tucson City Council. 

OPINION: "Contrary to our shared public values, the gun lobby stomps its feet like spoiled brats while our children are forced to grow up too quickly; participating in active shooter drills and learning how to apply tourniquets to their classmates and teachers," writes Dana Allmond, a Democratic candidate for the Arizona State House of Representatives in Legislative District 17.

OPINION: "With the current budget surplus, Arizona has the opportunity to radically invest in the future without raising a single dime in new taxes. Let’s not waste this opportunity," writes Nathan Davis, a Democratic candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 18.

OPINION: "Our elections are secure. But at the state Legislature, the Big Lie of election fraud persists. We can ask Gov. Ducey to veto these bills, but he has not yet rejected a voter suppression bill sent to him. Make no mistake - we need a new Legislature with a Democratic majority if we are going to escape this whirlpool of lies," writes Priya Sundareshan, candidate for the Arizona Senate in LD 18.

OPINION: "As we explore the ruins of this place, I look at the boarded up windows, and imagine Rachel looking out at the street. Maybe holding my mother. I picture that winter, when she would hold her baby for the last time," writes Kat Stratford, a Tucsonan running to be a state representative.

OPINION: "I believe water conservation should play a major role in our efforts to solve this crisis," writes Morgan Abraham, state representative for District 10. 

OPINION: "I was a text book salesperson in 2002 in California. I sold books to middle and high schools. These were high-quality books with new literature and state standards built into them. When I got to my current school in 2013, I was shocked to see those very same books that were from 2002 on the shelves of the English classrooms," writes Nancy Gutierrez, a teacher in TUSD and a candidate for the Arizona House in LD 18.

OPINION: "This debate isn’t difficult to understand. Democrats, Independents, business leaders and the majority of voters believe one of the state’s principal responsibilities is to educate the future workforce of Arizona. The state budget should reflect this priority," writes state Rep. Christopher Mathis.

OPINION: "Immediate action should be taken to cancel student debt. It’s time for the Biden administration to show their appreciation for educators and other public servants before student loan repayments restart," writes U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva. 

OPINION: "Students who could be the next innovative scientists or successful small business owners or great teachers themselves are in classrooms that don’t have full-time teachers assigned to them. How does that help make Arizona competitive?" writes state Rep. Morgan Abraham. 

OPINION: "We are, once again, witnessing the rollback of voting access across the United States and right here in Arizona. The recent efforts to restrict or eliminate mail-in voting and to undermine the confidence in the outcome of our elections typify the current attacks on the democratic process," writes Nathan Davis, a Democratic candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 18.

OPINION: "President Biden should withdraw this nomination and consider other options. In particular, he should consider nominating one of the many highly-qualified, experienced, and capable Hispanic telecommunications experts that the White House ignored in its initial consideration," writes Consuelo Hernandez, secretary of the League of United Latin American Citizens Council #1209 and president of the Sunnyside Unified School District Governing Board.

OPINION: "If this Roe-guaranteed right falls, a whole host of implied Constitutional rights that we take for granted will no longer be safe either," writes former state Sen. Kirsten Engel.

OPINION: "All of the United States’ major economic competitors, and particularly China, have made significant and strategic investments in the production and deployment of these technologies. If the U.S. fails to make proportionate strategic investments over the next decade, America’s manufacturing and renewable energy sectors and its workers will fall even further behind in the most important global economic race of our time," writes State Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr.

OPINION: "There’s still a lot of work to do and legislation that the Senate needs to address. But I am proud of the transformative investments in the government funding bill we just passed and President Biden signed into law that will help the middle class and working families in Arizona," writes U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva.

OPINION: "In my short time in the Legislature, I realize that there is no clear separation of church and state in our Legislature. Many Republican legislators in the majority craft policy to legislate morality cloaked in religious language as if the religious views of the proponents are the only ones that matter or hold the corner on truth," writes state Sen. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton.

OPINION: "In the same week that the world watched Russia’s abhorrent attack, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida recently outlined an 11-point plan that laid out policy priorities for a potential Republican Senate majority. The plan should worry every Arizonan," writes Morgan Abraham, who represents LD 10 in the state Legislature.