My Opinion on AZ’s CD 9 Race
It will be a very tight race in the Democratic primary in Congressional District 9 with three very bright candidates in contention. Ballots will drop this week and I hope if you live in that district you will vote.
If you are registered as an Independent you CAN vote in this primary. You may not know that because our current and past Secretaries of State have not lifted their fingers to publicize the fact. (That is because independents voting in their primaries will make it harder for their extremist base to get elected.)
Anyway, I jumped on early in support of State Senator David Schapira and I want to tell you the top two reasons why.
1) David passed significant legislation in his first years in the legislature dealing with drunk driving. This is not easy to do. But David did it multiple times right off the bat. He passed a bill that paid the student loans of teachers who taught in areas of need. He did this in a legislature where Democrats were at a huge disadvantage. Unlike other politicians, David did not just go down there to throw his weight around and make noise. He got things done. He was not divisive and I know that he can do the same in Congress.
2) David has the best chance of winning the general election . This district leans Democratic and the winner of this primary has an advantage in the general election. While I like Andrei Cherny and think he could be good in Congress, I think that the fact that David’s legislative district overlaps much of CD9 will give him the home field advantage in the general election. Sinema did not live in this district until a few months ago and lacks that home team advantage. Further, her divisive stances and comments over the years make her the target that Republicans feel is the easiest to take down in the general election. While she is incredibly smart and a brilliant tactician, I don’t believe that she is viable in the general election.
Whomever goes to Congress from this district will need to protect our new health care system and hopefully change the tone in Washington. I believe that David can do that.
