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Mesa officials on the race for AZ governor amping up

Posted 6/22/21

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and former news anchor Kari Lake announced their opposing candidacies for governor recently in short speeches posted to their respective Twitter …

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Neighbors

Mesa officials on the race for AZ governor amping up

Posted

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and former news anchor Kari Lake announced their opposing candidacies for governor recently in short speeches posted to their respective Twitter accounts.

The office of governor is vital not only to Arizona as a whole, but to individual local governments. The city of Mesa is no exception.

Mesa has become increasingly diverse, with a minority population that accounts for nearly 40% of the overall population, according to the Arizona Census. With a growing population that is becoming increasingly diverse, it is important to ensure that the people of Mesa are electing a governor who best represents the needs of their population.

“I’m here to solve problems,” Hobbs said in her campaign announcement video.

Hobbs is running as a Democratic candidate on a platform that includes rebuilding the economy, protecting survivors of domestic abuse, ending the backlog of untested rape kits, expanding health insurance coverage for seniors and confronting the opioid epidemic.

Hobbs believes in safe and secure democratic elections and condemns the claims of election fraud as “conspiracies that only make our lives worse.”

“It’s about fairness,” Hobbs said. “That is what I’ve advocated for my whole career.”

Hobbs promised to invest in schools and to “ensure that your race, gender, or ZIP code do not dictate your destiny.”

“It’s been my job and life’s work to make the government work for the people of Arizona,” Hobbs said. “But the jobs not done. Arizona needs to work for all.”

“Arizona has problems and it’s time we got serious about solving them,” Lake said in her campaign announcement video.

“The border is out of control and our police is under attack,” Lake said.

Lake is running as a Republican candidate and promised to “put Arizona first” by improving the curriculum in elementary schools, putting families and small businesses first, and helping to bring back businesses forced to close during quarantine.

“Arizona first means opportunity for all,” Lake said.

Lake, a former news anchor, is highly critical of her former profession claiming that “the media just keeps pushing fear and vision.” However, Lake claimed to have earned the trust of the Arizonan people through her career as a journalist, by bringing news to people every night.

“Arizonans need leaders they can trust,” Lake said. “We need leaders with integrity and a vision and our politicians have failed them.”

“As governor, I’ll bring truth, courage, and integrity back to the state capitol,” Lake said.

Mesa and the governor

Edder Martinez, the communications director for the Maricopa County Democratic Party, grew up in Mesa and has worked closely with the community in helping to organize and recruit members.

Martinez believes that electing a Democratic governor is important to the population of Mesa because the demographics of Mesa are changing.

Traditionally, Mesa has been seen as a “suburban enclave” with a population mainly consisting of Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also commonly referred to as the Mormon church, but “there has been a dramatic change in the last 10 years,” Martinez said.

Mesa has been growing as a technological hub with companies such as Boeing and GoDaddy establishing themselves in the area, Martinez said.

In recent years, Mesa has become increasingly racially diverse and now has a large Latino and Asian-American population. Martinez believes that a Democratic governor can reach these people through the Democratic values of “diversity, equity and inclusion”.

Martinez believes that with these changing demographics, the population of Mesa has shifted “more toward the center and even the left”.
Martinez said that the Democratic Party goes out of its way to reach these marginalized communities that are often ignored by the GOP.

Martinez said that Hobbs is a “fantastic person and advocate for Arizonans.” Through her work as a social worker, state representative and ultimately as Arizona’s secretary of state, Sen. Hobbs has been a great public servant.

Martinez commended Hobbs for her “calling out fraud for what it is.” Martinez believes that people are fed up with the constant recounting of ballots from the 2020 presidential election and want answers. He believes that this frustration will help lead people to vote for a Democratic candidate in the upcoming election.

Martinez is excited for the upcoming election and for all the great candidates the Democratic Party has set forward.

Ian Murray, the Republican chair for the 25th legislative district in Mesa, has lived in the city for 30 years. Murray has served on the transportation board and all of his children have gone to school in Mesa.

Murray believes that the Republican Party in Mesa “cares more about who you are than what you are.”

“If you judge based on race or sexual orientation, we don’t want you,” Murray said. Murray believes that the Republican party in Mesa welcomes people of all backgrounds.

He encourages respectful conversations with people who disagree with his own political opinions and encourages others to do the same in a healthy way.

Murray fears that if a Democratic governor were to be elected the state’s spending would exceed its revenue, as he has seen in the past with former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Murray believes education is essential to the politics of Mesa and the potential overspending of a Democratic governor might cause issues for schools in Mesa.

Murray attributes the growth of Mesa’s population to the business environment of the state and believes that electing a Democratic governor who promotes increased taxes will drive those businesses, and consequently the incoming residents, away.

“Support for the police and fire department as well as responsible water management are a huge need for Mesa,” Murray said.

Because the water reserves along the Colorado River are at some of the lowest points they have been since the dam was built in the 30s, Arizona and especially Mesa need to focus on water management, Murray said.

Murray believes that former news anchor Lake is one of the front runners for the Republican nominee. Because Lake is a TV personality and her name is well-known her chances of being elected are better, Murray said.

Murray believes that people should “judge politicians on what they do, not what they say.”

Because Lake does not have a history in politics and consequently does not have a voting record, it is harder to make a judgment on what kind of candidate she will be, Murray said.

However, Murray is hopeful that Lake will prove to be a good candidate and believes that the Republican Party has put forth some good competitors for the upcoming election. He is looking forward to meeting Lake in August and finding out more about what she can do for Mesa.

Michael Martinez, the Democratic vice-chair for the 26th legislative district in Mesa, is an Arizona native. His family has lived in Mesa since the 1940s when “Victory Acres was the only place that would sell land to Mexicans.”

Michael Martinez has been involved in the community in various ways including, but not limited to, running for Justice of the Peace and working with the Mesa Arts Center Foundation.

He believes that Mesa has become a more moderate city with a changing electorate that “simply promotes good ideas” rather than a certain political party.

Michael Martinez used to be an intern with Katie Hobbs and sees her as a moderate who has positioned herself on either side of the aisle.

When asked about Lake’s candidacy, Michael Martinez responded “I don’t think Kari works with Mesa’s ideals. She has positioned herself as an extremist.”

He believes that Lake represents “Trump-era politics” and that the diverse population in Mesa may feel targeted by her policies. He believes that if Arizona continues down this road, with Republicans similar to former President Donald Trump, minorities will continue to feel disenfranchised and attacked.

Michael Martinez believes that having only one side of the aisle involved in a discussion causes division. “We need to heal,” he said. “And electing Lake won’t help.”

Michael Martinez believes that Mesa needs a governor who will bring Mesa “back to the middle” in order to find solutions.

He believes that electing a Democratic governor will be a sharp contrast to the previous administrations of Republican ones. He believes that electing a Democratic governor, such as Hobbs, will send a message to the Republican party in Arizona that they need to become more moderate.

The most important thing for Mesa to get out of a governor is a focus on education and funding for local municipalities to be able to self-govern, Michael Martinez said.

Michael Martinez is working hard to engage with the minority population of voters in Mesa. He believes that state and county elections can be won or lost in Mesa alone, depending on whether or not people engage at the polls.

He believes that Mesa has been overlooked as a conservative stronghold, but that in recent years it has actually become quite progressive.

“Are you happy with where Arizona is going?” Michael Martinez asked. “If the answer is no its time to make a change.”

If you are unhappy with the progress of the state, the response to the pandemic or cuts to education, the governor has power to veto these policies, Martinez said. “If you think that the state needs to go a different way, register to vote, register to vote early if you can, and actually go out and vote,” Michael Martinez said.

Chuck Coughlin, the president of a Republican consulting and lobbying firm, believes the Mesa community has experienced the most significant change in east Mesa as it has grown exponentially.

Coughlin said that this massive expansion dominates electorally. Where other parts of Mesa have become more diverse and younger which has caused a shift in the electorate, Coughlin maintains that Mesa remains heavily Republican.

Most of the electorate is still comprised of older voters and especially in the primary elections these voters tend to turnout the most, Coughlin said.

Education, more specifically K-12 education, economic and tax policies and safety are the most important factors when Mesa voters decide who to elect, Coughlin said.

A democratic candidate cannot be perceived as a progressive leftist and must instead remain a centrist in order to get elected, Coughlin said.

Lake is the most recognizable name on the Right so far, and she has positioned herself on the alt-right, Coughlin said. Because there are so many Republican candidates that can be seen as valid contenders, Coughlin believes that the candidates will wound each other in the primaries making it more difficult to get elected in the general election. “It’s a circular firing squad,” Coughlin said.

As long as Hobbs positions herself as a centrist and can avoid being painted as a highly progressive candidate, she may have a good chance, Coughlin said.

“It’s a matter of appealing to the more conservative or progressive voters in the primaries and then being able to shift to a more centrist view in the general election,” Coughlin said.

Normally Coughlin believes he can make election predictions with fairly good accuracy, but in this “crazy cycle” he said it’s impossible to tell.

Editor’s note: Savanna Lee is a student journalist at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.