Arizona gubernatorial hopefuls discussed issues related to education, immigration and the state’s economy on Tuesday as part of a series of five forums for statewide elections.
The forum was held at Central High School, located along the light-rail corridor near Central and Campbell avenues, and drew a diverse crowd of Arizonans interested in hearing what the candidates had to say about the issues.
The GOP, Democratic and independent candidates spoke about the education problems Arizona is facing and explained how those issues would be addressed if they were elected in the fall.
Republican candidates Ken Bennett, Doug Ducey, Christine Jones, Frank Riggs, Scott Smith and Andrew Thomas, along with sole Democratic candidate Fred DuVal and Libertarian Barry Hess, attended the event.
Though the candidates did not agree on how to properly address the issue of illegal immigration in Arizona, all Republican candidates said they would have signed anti-illegal immigration measure Senate Bill 1070 in 2010 and would support similar provisions in the future.
“I absolutely support the provision of SB 1070 that would allow a local law enforcement officer to detain and arrest any individual when they have probable cause to believe that that individual has illegally entered the country,” Republican Frank Riggs said.
Republican candidate and current Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett also would have signed SB 1070, but said an immigration system that allows a “front-door mechanism” to work is necessary to control the border.
“When a neighbor wants to visit a neighbor they call ahead and come to your front door … we are a nation of immigrants and we need to be welcoming people in through the front door,” Bennett said.
Republican Doug Ducey said he was also supportive of Gov. Brewer’s decision to sign the bill into law in 2010.
“I believe that SB 1070 actually crystallized this issue (of illegal immigration) and nationalized it,” Ducey said.
The issue of SB 1070 and other illegal-immigration policies have taken a strong emphasis in this campaign race as recent surges of immigrant women and children are illegally crossing from turbulent Central American countries into the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Other candidates considered Arizona’s education system, which was also discussed at length at a June 6 gubernatorial forum downtown, a matter of primary concern.
“Not all schools are succeeding, and we should be very clear on what’s happened in Arizona over the last couple of years,” Democratic candidate Fred DuVal said.
He added, “We have cut our education spending … deeper on a per student basis than any state in the country … No more cuts!”
Republican candidate Scott Smith said a strong school system breeds a strong economy.
“Every child deserves an excellent education … it is our responsibility to provide (school children) that opportunity,” he said.
Republican Christine Jones, known for her Second Amendment-based platform, said more money should to be put into the classroom.
“(We need to) find places where we’re spending money that we don’t need to spend and take that and get it into the classroom,” she said.
While few disagreed, most candidates said they would not support corporate welfare programs in the state of Arizona.
Republican candidate and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said corporate welfare programs are not an effective way to grow Arizona’s economy.
“I think the way to grow our economy is to keep our taxes and regulations low, particularly compared to states that we are competing with,” he said.
Univision Arizona, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, ABC 15 and the Phoenix Union High School District co-sponsored Tuesday’s event.
Arizona’s gubernatorial primary election will be on Aug. 26 and the general election will be on Nov. 4.
Contact the reporter at Andrew.Catanzariti@asu.edu
