As a native Arizonan, I have been all over this state. As I travel the state as a candidate for Governor, there is one common concern no matter where I go — respect the rights of rural Arizona.
I just returned from Yuma, which is one of the fastest-growing small cities in the country. The increase in construction, business and tourism is astounding. But there is concern there, as in many other parts of Arizona, that the “State of Maricopa” tends to believe it knows better than those outside Maricopa County.
As a conservative, I believe strongly that the most effective government is government that is closest to the people. We need to defend state sovereignty against continual incursion by the federal government. But at the state level, we need to respect the rights of rural counties and cities to self-determination. A “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work, whether it’s imposed by Washington D.C. on Arizona, or by Phoenix on our state’s rural communities.
