Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik said today that he would not accept campaign funds in his bid for reelection this year.
He said it would be better to give money to a local nonprofit or business.
“People are working hard to get
back on their feet as we hopefully see an off-ramp to COVID-19,” Kozachik said. “If you have
extra cash to invest in a cause, please consider supporting our local
businesses, or find a non-profit that is aligned with your beliefs. People want
money out of politics. That’s what my campaign will model once again.”
Kozachik said he filed more than 750 signatures today to secure his spot on the ballot.
Two Democrats have launched campaigns to knock Kozachik out of the Ward 6 seat he’s held since 2009, when he was first elected on the Republican ticket. After a number of political skirmishes with Republican state lawmakers, Kozachik switched to the Democratic Party before running for a second term.
Democrat Miranda Schubert, a UA academic advisor and radio host at community radio station KXCI, has said she will focus her campaign on housing affordability and police reform.
Democrat Andrés Portela, who formerly worked as a policy and community development director for Kozachik’s colleague, Ward 1 Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz, has said he is running “as a progressive Democrat with an emphasis on H.O.M.E. Housing, Opportunity, Mobility Justice and Environmental Justice.”
Signatures for a spot on the Aug. 3 primary ballot are due by April 5.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2021.
Easy to find things to criticize Kozachik about, but the fact he is turning down campaign contributions is a good enough reason to vote for him.
If more politicians did the same thing, this country would be a helluva lot better off.
Will he run as a Democrat, a Republican or an unemployed liberal socialist?
Steve and his staff were very responsive helping my neighborhood with two big issues. That’s tried and true and you bet he’s got our support.
Will Steve Kozachik support the residents of Ward 6 & citizens of Tucson, or wealthy Reid Park Zoo visitors (many from outside city limits) & out-of-town contractors? Everything he has said & done recently shows support for the confiscation of land owned by the people of Tucson, the destruction of old growth trees, Barnum Hill & the south duck pond to give to a few tigers & the greedy, exorbitant-fee-charging zoo. He claims the 2017 Prop 203 tax increase & a tiny 50.38% majority was the equivalent of permission from voters to take & destroy one of the nicest parts of Randolph/Reid Park. Many of the very tiny majority of YES voters now say they would have never supported the tax increase if the zoo’s unscrupulous & devious plans for the tax increase had been clear to voters. No doubt the opponents to the tax increase would have also liked to know the secret plans to use in arguments against Prop 203. Steve’s support for the hidden agenda & political games is driving some Libertarians & Republicans to register as Democrats so we can vote for one of his opponents in the upcoming Ward 6 Primary Election.
I don’t think the 2 other candidates are going to be nearly as interested in neighborhoods as Steve is. He is really on the radar with the big corps and their
5g towers being put in front of peoples houses. I don’t agree with him about the
zoo expansion going ahead, but you can’t expect to agree on everything.
The other 2 candidates are going to be all about the focusing on getting rid of police
(the neighborhoods need them, and want to have officers they know by name and can speak to) and all those national issues which will take all their time….