Not happy with the Trump administration? Tomorrow is our chance to make our voices heard. Our health and rights are at stake. If candidates don’t stand with us on access to safe and legal abortion, affordable birth control, care at Planned Parenthood, or health care equity, then they don’t deserve to represent us. Continue reading
Tag Archives: governor
Meet Our Candidates: David Garcia for Governor of Arizona
The time to fight back — and fight forward — for reproductive justice is fast approaching. The stakes are high in this year’s state election, with candidates for governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and other races on the ballot. The Arizona primary election will be held August 28, 2018, and voters need to be registered by July 30 to cast their ballots. Reproductive health has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who put our health and our rights first. Get to know them now in our series of “Meet Our Candidates” interviews, and make your voice heard in 2018!
[W]hen David Garcia ran for superintendent of public instruction in 2014, two friends, independently of each other, told me I would like him a lot. So when he announced last year that he was running for governor, I listened to his reasons and was impressed.
The same groups in Arizona that push anti-abortion legislation so strongly also have other interests, including state funding for religious schools in the form of “vouchers.” The Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which gives money to parents to spend on private or religious school tuition, is already available for children with special needs, or who attend public schools that perform poorly. Last year, these groups lobbied successfully to extend this program to all children. The problem is that these moneys come out of public school funding, hurting the rest of Arizona’s students.
“Without a moderating influence in the governor’s office, Arizona will continue to see bad legislation that chips away at women’s reproductive rights.”
The program, which was scheduled to begin this school year, had just been signed into law when Dr. Garcia decided to run for governor. Although he has been involved in education policy for years, and was looking forward to making positive changes as superintendent of public instruction, he felt he could no longer run for that office. As he said, “The superintendent’s role is to implement the voucher bill, and there’s no way I could put together a full-throated campaign for a position whose responsibility would be to dismantle public education.”
Fortunately, thanks to a strong grassroots effort, enough signatures were collected to get a repeal of the voucher law onto the ballot this November. On the strength of this widespread opposition, the courts put a permanent injunction on the law until voters get to have their say, a decision the Arizona Supreme Court recently upheld.
It is no surprise that Gov. Doug Ducey didn’t just sign voucher expansion into law — he also actively lobbied state legislators to help pass the bill. Ducey is involved with the far-right Center for Arizona Policy, which has been responsible for anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, and religious freedom bills for years. Its director, Cathi Herrod, has been one of his policy advisers since his first race for governor. If Ducey is reelected, we can confidently expect more of the same. Continue reading
Meet Our Candidates: Fred DuVal for Governor of Arizona
The Arizona general election will be held on November 4, 2014, and early ballots need to go out in today’s mail! Reproductive health care access has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who have shown strong commitment to reproductive justice. To acquaint you with our endorsed candidates, we are running a series called “Meet Our Candidates.” Make your voice heard in 2014!
[I]n recent years, many Arizonans have been rightly concerned by members of the Legislature passing bills that are overtly partisan, regressive, and extreme. As part of the executive branch of the government, one of the governor’s roles and responsibilities is to act as a check-and-balance on the Legislature: The governor can veto bills that are harmful. A governor who is consistently on the side of sexual and reproductive health care access could, at the very least, make it much more difficult for members of the Legislature to continue attacking women, the LGBTQ community, and organizations like Planned Parenthood.
Fred DuVal will be that governor. In addition to making education a fundamental platform in his campaign, Mr. DuVal has consistently placed himself in support of equal rights and meaningful health care access.
All of this is of vital importance, but none of it gets at the real reason I’m voting for Fred DuVal on November 4. During the course of this election, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with or meet a number of candidates, including the opportunity to meet Mr. DuVal twice through some campaign volunteer events organized by the Arizona Education Association. What struck me most about him was his willingness to listen — not just stop talking, but really step back and listen — to questions voters were asking or experiences they were sharing.
Put all of that together, and I know he’s the kind of person I want representing me.
Fred DuVal was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of our questions earlier this month.
“Extremism has dominated Arizona’s political landscape for far too long.”
Tell us a little about your background.
I grew up in Tucson, Arizona. After graduating from Occidental College, I returned to Arizona, where I earned my law degree from Arizona State University. I went on to serve in Bruce Babbit’s office, helping craft our Medicaid system and bringing the highest levels of education funding in state history. I have dedicated my life to making my state a better place to live and raise a family. I intend to continue that as Arizona’s next governor. My wife Jennifer and I live in Phoenix with our 4-year-old son. Our older son, Will, attends college and is an ROTC cadet.
Outgoing Gov. Jan Brewer had a major accomplishment when she pushed through Medicaid expansion, despite opposition from within her own party. What will you do to build upon that success and ensure that every Arizonan has access to quality health care?
I applaud Gov. Brewer’s decision to continue to fund Medicaid. Arizona’s AHCCCS system has been praised as one of the best in the country, and as governor I would keep it that way. I fully intend on keeping Medicaid expansion; ensuring all Arizonans have access to high-quality, affordable health care is one of the main goals of my administration. Continue reading
TIED! DuVal and Ducey TIED With Two Weeks Until Election Day!
The following guest post comes to us via Kelley Dupps, political engagement coordinator for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
Fred DuVal trusts women.
Tea Party Republican Doug Ducey acknowledged this weekend that despite all of the support from the Koch brothers, he and his Democratic opponent, Fred DuVal, are tied in the polls with two weeks left until Election Day. This revelation comes on the heels of the marriage equality court case decision on Friday.
We’ve all heard about the issues in this campaign — education, jobs, veterans — and we can all agree that these are important issues that will face the next governor of Arizona. But it’s what we haven’t heard that really sets these two candidates apart: women’s health. We have yet to hear from Mr. Ducey how he believes that the government should ban abortion in all cases — even those cases of rape, incest, or health of the mother. And that is just the start of Mr. Ducey’s long list of how he doesn’t trust women, or their families, and how he would like the government to intrude into people’s lives.
Women’s health and reproductive justice have barely been a blip on the screen. This is unfortunate because reproductive rights are the single largest set of issues distinguishing the candidates. Doug Ducey has installed Cathi Herrod from an extreme lobbying group, Center for Arizona Policy, as a key adviser on his campaign. Though he has tried to sell himself as a “moderate,” he seeks the advice of Ms. Herrod, who has been behind heinous discriminatory bills — such as this year’s SB 1062, widely regarded as an attack on the LGBTQ community — that have made our state a laughingstock. Continue reading
BREAKING: Look for Return of SB 1062 if Doug Ducey Wins, azcentral.com Predicts
Photo: Devon Christopher Adams
Editor’s Note: The following article was originally posted on azcentral.com at 4:53 p.m. MST on August 27, 2014. It was authored by Arizona Republic columnist Linda Valdez, and can be found here.
On Election Day, Tempe took one step toward expanding LGBT rights and Arizona potentially took a giant leap back by nominating Doug Ducey as GOP candidate for governor.
If Ducey becomes governor, institutional discrimination could become law when Cathi Herrod returns with “SB 1062, The Sequel.”
Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy is a key Ducey supporter, who lists his commitment to “traditional marriage” as one of the reasons.
She was a top backer of SB 1062, which would have allowed a business to deny service based on religious beliefs. It was a direct assault on the LGBT community, and the outcry against it led to Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto.
Herrod called the veto “a sad day for Arizonans who cherish and understand religious liberty.”
She said it was vindication for SB 1062 when the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby. The court said employers could not be mandated to provide contraception in violation of their religious views.
You can bet SB 1062 will be back in the Arizona Legislature next session.
If Ducey is governor, will he cross a key supporter and veto it?
The return of SB 1062 may be just the start.
Herrod’s Center for Arizona Policy’s website says “No scientific evidence has been found to prove a genetic cause for homosexuality. . . . Even if a specific genetic marker were found which indicates a propensity towards homosexuality, it is hardly a case for creating special rights for homosexuals. Whereas race is based on physical, outward characteristics visible to all, homosexuality is a behavior, and behaviors are not visibly apparent to another person. Behaviors can also be modified or even stopped.”
In other words, back in the closet, people.
As for Tempe: It voted to change its charter, becoming the first Arizona city to protect its employees from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. One step forward that could be negated at the state level.