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Muscato: I am accountable to serve you in CD8

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Arizona’s Congressional District 8 has a unique historical opportunity to elect a congressman born and raised in this district. This isn’t an election between a Republican and a Democrat; it’s an election between a career politician and one of our own.

The choice isn’t between a Second Amendment supporter and a gun grabber; I’m a former NRA member and a proud, responsible gun owner. The choice isn’t between faith and no faith; I’m a Christian. It’s not between a socialist and a capitalist; I’m a small business owner.

This election isn’t about any of the stereotypes promoted and used to divide us by current politicians. I am in this district and I’m running for Congress to make our lives better and bring us all back together. To provide us with true representation and guardianship rather than division and partisanship.

This election is about doing the job. It’s about electing someone who wants to represent all of us, not just some of us. It’s about working together with the other political party, providing your own ideas to solve our issues, and most importantly, providing all of us with loyalty and accountability, rather than to a political party or its leadership.

For my entire life, this district has voted exclusively Republican.

Doing so without accountability has led to a select few representatives such as my opponent gaining more power and more control over all of us without providing the results. It’s led to her corporate donors raking in millions and billions while we go without improvements to our health care, immigration, national security, education, equality and anything else we fight for.

More than 210,000 Americans are dead from COVID, nearly half a million Arizonans are still without their jobs, thousands of small businesses have been devastated and closed for good — yet our current rep feels herself and the president have done a great job.

In her debate introduction, she pointed out her three flights on Air Force One. How did that make our lives better? It didn’t and, just as I pointed out in my debate introduction, the issues we face and making our lives better is not her priority; being friends with the POTUS is. We must change that this election.

I’m just as frustrated at our Democratic leadership as you are. I’m just as frustrated at the Republican party as you are. But rather than complain, I’m standing up for all of us.

That’s what this district and my parents raised me to do. So, before you simply check that box because it has an “R” next to it, know that in this election for Congress, you have a real choice.

You can choose one of your own, or you can allow the same politicians and those who financially back them to label one of your own everything and anything but who we really are in Congressional District 8.

The choice is yours, as it should always be. I believe in you and I’ll work hard for all of us, given the chance to do so.

Editor’s note: Michael Muscato is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona’s Congressional District 8. Daily Independent invited all candidates for the CD8 seat to participate in this discussion and submit a guest commentary.