The Arizona primary election will be held on August 26, 2014. 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.” In order to vote in the primaries, you must register to vote by July 28 — and can even register online. Make your voice heard in 2014!
[A] competitive House race is underway in Legislative District 29, a West Valley district that includes Glendale and West Phoenix. Four Democratic candidates are competing in next month’s primary election, and the two winners will go on to face Republican challenger Aaron Borders in the November general election. Mr. Borders proudly touts his opposition to abortion rights, so it will be important to support our endorsed candidates in November.
The Democratic candidates are preparing for the primary election, which will be held on August 26. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed three candidates running for House in LD 29: Richard Andrade, Denice Garcia, and Ceci Velasquez. Below is an interview with Richard Andrade — watch this blog for interviews with Ms. Garcia and Ms. Velasquez, both of whom we hope to feature in the Meet Our Candidates series!
Mr. Andrade took the time for an interview on July 16, 2014.
“Our government has no business interfering in a person’s health care decision.”
Tell us a little about your background.
I am a native of Arizona, an Air Force veteran, proud union member with SMART, a certified locomotive engineer. The reason I am running for state representative in LD 29 is I believe we need better paying jobs with benefits and health care. We need to take care of working families, who are struggling every day to make a living. They need the tax breaks, not big corporations and big businesses. Our education is near the bottom and we need to invest more into our education to prepare our children for the 21st century, which was evident in the recent court ruling on Prop 301, where the state has to pay back education in the sum of $316 million to start. Another deciding factor to run for office, legislation that gets introduced, which targets certain groups of people and our rights.
Earlier this year, the state legislature passed HB 2284, the warrantless inspection bill, which permits the health department to inspect abortion clinics without a warrant. What do you think about the need for heightened privacy and safety for patients seeking reproductive health services?
Once again our rights are being targeted. The need for heightened privacy and safety for patients is needed due to HB 2284. Legislation will have to be introduced in order to keep a patient seeking reproductive health services private and safe. Continue reading