Here’s the recent Clean Elections debate between the eight Democrats running in Legislative District 27, which stretches west from the University of Arizona to Three Points. Candidates include former state lawmakers John Kromko and Sally Ann Gonzales, and Sami Hamed, John Bernal, Dustin Cox, Bob Gilby, Macario Saldate and Eric Bustamante. (For more on Bustamante’s legal troubles, check out Hank Stephenson’s “Punches and Politics” here.)

The most interesting moment to us came about 27 minutes into the debate, as the candidates talked about SB 1070. While most of them decried Arizona’s new immigration law, Kromko had a different take:

People have been asking for comprehensive reform for a long time, and the federal government, the Congress has given us nothing—absolutely nothing. So 1070 was the only way that many people felt they could turn. So here it is. OK, everybody that wants something else: Let’s see it. OK? Isn’t that a fair deal? We’ll have 1070 on the books, it puts a little pressure on you. Whatever it is you want, show it to us. I think the citizens of Arizona have a right to that, and that’s what we need to do. So I think it’s doing good in more ways than one.

Kromko got a round of applause from one audience member: Joe Sweeney, the self-admitted racist and perennial candidate who is seeking a chance to challenge Congressman Raul Grijalva again this year. A few years back, Kromko was awarded an honorary degree from Sweeney’s Alexander Hamilton Evening Law School.

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

4 replies on “Kromko: SB 1070 “Doing Good in More Ways Than One””

  1. “…the self-admitted…” (Posted by Senior Writer Jim Nintzel on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 3:08 PM)

    yep, yep, yep Tucson Weekly!

  2. “Kromko got a round of applause from one audience member: Joe Sweeney, the self-admitted racist and perennial candidate who is seeking a chance to challenge Congressman Raul Grijalva again this year.”

    More punishment by association.

    Here is Kromko getting ridiculed by editor Jim Boegle for suggesting in public that the RTA election was rigged:

    http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/descent…

    Any wonder now why they refuse to report the missing poll tapes?

    http://www.truth-out.org/poll-tapes-other-…

    There was, however, an indication that Boegle was interested in the release of the poll tapes in this following thread:

    http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gyrobase/guest…

    And, for fun, here’s Nintzel’s ass being handed to him over premature “shit-sandwich” remarks to Kromko (this thread is a particularly worthy read):

    http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archi…

  3. He is a self-admitted racist. There’s an awesome article in the TW archives that basically starts off with Sweeney’s quote “hell yes I am a racist”.

  4. Remind me again: Didn’t John Kromko run as a Green Party candidate last time around?
    On the same front, where do Green Party candidates stand on social issues? Or are they only unified with regard to the environment? I can’t say I know as much as I should about the Green Party.

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