Let’s boil the three-candidate race for the two Legislative District 9 House seats down to essentials.
If you vote for Democrats Victoria Steele and Randy Friese, you’ll be represented by two solid progressive legislators. Randy Friese emphasizes education as his most important issue. Victoria Steele emphasizes mental health issues, along with a focus on “women’s issues,” a term she uses to encompass a wide range of issues which benefit all Arizonans. If you lean toward supporting Democratic principles, vote for both of them. If you lean conservative, they’re not your candidates.
If you vote for Republican Ethan Orr, you’ll get a legislator who votes for the NRA agenda (he has a 92 percent approval rating from the gun lobby), votes against abortion (he signed a fetal personhood proclamation which states that embryos are people, meaning that abortion should be illegal, including in cases of rape and incest) and votes for expanding private school vouchers (he supports private school tuition tax credits and “Empowerment scholarship accounts,” aka vouchers on steroids). You’ll also get someone who occasionally votes with Democrats on health care (he was one of the Republicans who gave the Democrats enough votes to expand Medicaid), education (he believes in giving money to public schools with one hand while taking it away for vouchers with the other) and some budget items. If you like the Ethan Orr grab bag, he’s your man. If you’re thinking about voting for him but have trouble with his stands on gun safety regulations, abortions and vouchers, don’t. The two Democrats are far better choices.
Orr says you should vote for him anyway, because he’s a sane Republican — meaning he votes like a Democrat — if, of course, you forget his votes on guns, abortions and vouchers. It’s a questionable piece of logic. Democrats vote like Democrats. With both Friese and Steele in the legislature, you’ll still get two people making the votes Orr congratulates himself for, and you won’t get his “Nothing to see here folks, move along now” conservative votes.
On a number of bills every session, a few Republicans simply can’t stomach voting for their colleagues’ right wing agendas. Get enough of those renegade Republicans voting with Democrats and you can block a bad bill, or pass a good one. If you take one Republican out of the legislature and replace him with a Democrat, that means Democrats need one less Republican to cross the aisle on a close vote. Without Orr, some of the worst gun/abortion/voucher legislation might not make it into law next session.
And if DuVal wins in the too-close-to-call governor’s race? With a veto pen in his hand, DuVal will block the worst excesses of the Republican majority as Napolitano did during her time as governor. And also like Napolitano, he’ll play “Let’s make a deal” with the legislature, giving Republicans some of what they want in exchange for more progressive legislation. His hand will be strengthened with every Democrat who replaces a Republican and shrinks the size of the GOP majority. Orr might be an occasional ally for DuVal on those issues where Orr tends to vote like a Democrat — meaning sometimes he’ll be almost as good as a Democrat — but more often, he’ll be fighting DuVal from the other side of the aisle, making it more difficult to nudge Arizona from being what John Stewart calls “the meth lab of Democracy” toward taking more reasonable stands on vital social and economic issues.
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2014.
Yes, to protect women’s rights, fund our public schools, make it easier to vote, protect our environment and find real solutions to gun violence we MUST elect Dr. Randy Friese and Victoria Steele to represent LD-9. Dr. Friese and Ms. Steele very clearly articulate where they stand on the important issues.
Mr. Orr’s history of ‘saying one thing and doing the opposite’ is a sharp, and disconcerting, contrast.
Some examples:
–At the LD-9 debate said ‘there is a misconception that i’m against background checks for guns’, next day the Arizona Daily Star printed his questionnaire where he said he was AGAINST BACKGROUND CHECKS. He voted for the ‘guns everywhere bill’ and in 2014 has 100% NRA voting record.
–implies that his opinion on abortion doesn’t really matter by stating, ‘it is settled law’. But then signs the Center for Arizona Policy proclamation stating that he believes Roe vs Wade is unconstitutional and that he will work to protect the life of the fetus at every stage.
–In 2014 he voted for bill that would have thrown over 450,000 people off Medicaid. A bill so horrible, Jan Brewer vetoed it. (This was after his loud announcement that he voted for Medicaid in 2013.)
–Says he stands up for education but has voted five times to take taxpayer money out of public schools and give the money to private and religious schools.
–Very quietly voted YES in committee on SB 1178 (a bill that would have allowed discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs) but loudly publicized his NO vote on SB 1062 (same bill content) when everyone had already come out against the bill.
Please make an informed choice. Vote for Dr. Randy Friese and Victoria Steele.
Kill two birds with one stone:
Get the NRA to shoot babies. Wouldn’t that make you happy?
Why is Orr so desperate to stay in a $24K a year job?
Mr. T, I think you’ve outdone yourself with that comment. I tried using all the skills I developed as an English teacher deciphering what students meant in their often-garbled writing, and I’m stumped. What the hell are you talking about?
RatT, that is a disgusting thing to say. As a long time pro-choice, pro back ground checks for all people woman, what you said is abhorrent!
Thanks for the informative review of the three candidates. The problem too few people will read it. Honestly, wouldn’t it be refreshing and welcome if such an editorial actually made it into all voters hands.
People across Arizona must realize we are at the crossroads in direction for Arizona. So many important issues to be faced. The correct answers, the future direction on a broad spread of meaningful programs to enhance and move the state forward are at stake this election.
The 2014 election is so close and has real meaning for years to come. From the election of the next Legislature to Public Corporation Commissioners, the leader for Public Instruction, all across the statewide elected officers the choices are quite remarkable.
Choices are as clear as the difference between forward or back, black or white. Seven days left for the voters to determine if the cream will come to the top. As voters go to the polls, is it forward or reverse? Are we to remain in this pit or with determination to improve our lot and move forward?
The one thing really remarkable, I have seen very little honest comparisons of the candidates on our ballots. Lots of negative political ads, much too much mud and no honest appraisals as we see here of the Legislative District 9.
Make no mistake the reelection of Victoria Steele and the election of Dr. Randy Friese to our two legislative positions will add much to the prospect of progressive future legislative actions.
Your “real solutions to gun violence” is about as bogus as the day is long. That is the deal breaker. Other than that, they seem reasonably sane.
I can deal with his stupidity on personhood, and other women’s rights issues,because almost all Republican legislators in this state have to deal with Cathi Herrod and her power bloc. And, most of her stupidity that actually becomes law, gets overturned by the courts anyway.
Other than that, Orr is a reasonable guy. Unlike the author of this article, I am in favor of the voucher system as it gives the poor and disadvantaged a way out, and a chance for a good education.
The issue of school vouchers is tough one because school choice sounds good. It makes sense to involve parents in education decisions for their children.
It is true Arizona schools are in desperate need of improvement and public education in Arizona has been sliding down hill for a number of years. It is almost like state political leaders want to close or at least limit neighborhood schools in an effort to force parents into choosing other educational options.
Real or imagined? No question funding for district schools have fallen over the past few years. Voters have not neglected schools. Over a period of time increases in funding for public schools have been mandated by the voters.
The voter mandates have been ignored by the Legislature to the point of a court order to go back and correct the underfunding by the Legislature that was approved by the citizens of Arizona in an election.
Again a temporary increase in the sales tax was approved by the voters of Arizona. Time and again special “Override tax elections” are approved by the voters in local district school budget considerations. The voters of the state have been very generous in their approval of funds for education.
Now comes the recurring question of funds for privately owned public schools vs funding for district public schools. Some look at this as elitist school selection or accomplish even wider school selection efforts by other means. We see efforts to divert state funds to all forms of private schools by vouchers.
Here are a few problems with school vouchers.
School vouchers take money away from public schools, where it is desperately needed to fund educational programs for all students. Emphasis all students.
Handicapped, learning disabilities, all students not by student selection methods used by private schools, all.
A number of private schools are religious, so through school vouchers, tax money would be going to support a religious institution, violating the separation of church and state. Not necessarily bad, but to do it properly change the State Constitution.
School vouchers are elitist and would not benefit all students equally; private schools could still turn away students and discriminate against some groups.
School vouchers would serve to further divide Arizona, while public schools help to unite it. Even pride in sport team competition unites Arizona citizens.
Wide gaps occur in what is taught. Which touches on another issue, watch out who we elect to the local district governing boards. Lots of damage to education has been a problem of many school districts across the country from school board decisions.
Private schools would just increase their tuition if vouchers were instituted, meaning they would make more money, and still turn away poor, handicapped or otherwise disadvantaged students.
Poor quality private schools would pop up to take advantage of unsuspecting families with school vouchers. No, vouchers are not the answer.
It is the political leadership of the state working with parents and educational leaders in the communities across the state to pull public education into the world as it is and prepare all young people to be able to make choices for their futures.
Mr. Hunter,
I think if you understood the voucher program, you would want more accountability for your tax money. The voucher program has zero accountability over the giveaway of state tax monies. Voucher monies are being used for private and or religious school tuition (which poor children still can’t afford), pocketed for “home-schooling,” or even saved and accumulated to be used for college in the future.
Inherent in the legislation is lack of accountability.
“Arizona forthrightly rejects accountability for its Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. Its governing statute declares that the program “does not permit any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school” and that”[a] qualified school shall not be required to alter its creed, practices, admissions policy or curriculum” as a condition of participation.”
http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcont…
The state owes schools $1.3 billion dollars. Ethan Orr and his colleagues have no business giving away state money with no accountability.
Pima Mujer,
I understand your arguments, and they are valid points for discussion. However, I think it a bit funny when you talk about accountability, when TUSD has been fighting accountability since I moved to the Old Pueblo many years ago. Or do schools get a pass on accountability because they are public?
Over the years, I have both opposed and supported school bond elections over the issue of how they were going to spend their money.
Part of the dissatisfaction many conservatives have with the public education system is accountability, and how their tax dollars are spent. To many, all they see is a black hole. Maybe the public school systems need to take a long look into the mirror and get their house in order.
Mr. Hunter, TUSD is a whole other discussion. We are talking about state policy. I don’t believe you see TUSD”s problems mirrored across the state.
Ethan Orr’s voting record is hardly as radical as are those of some Republicans who represent constituencies very different than those of LD 9 or Pima County generally. They don’t have any reason to vote the way a Democrat would. Orr’s conservatism is genuine; his occasional progressive votes perhaps not quite so much. In any event, he appears to be the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time for the district he has represented — sort of — for the term about to end. For the next term, keeping Victoria Steele and sending Randy Friese with her to the State House will assure the district and the area of representation of our people’s political will.
Abortion is killing. I make a comment about killing babies, by the left, and I’m abhorrent? You are an interesting group.
What would you say to these?
http://www.numberofabortions.com/
Someone hire Rat T! He’s clearly in need of work! Rat, what are your qualifications, aside from being able to type nonsensically? I’ll be your headhunter.
Stop, no personal attacks. Just honest discussion. Love to hear the other side, it firms up my own convictions. The light comes through so much better keeping the unnecessary personal referral out.