Sometimes in life you see things that make you embarrassed for someone else. That happened the other night at a gubernatorial forum in Chandler. As is reported here, two of my primary opponents chose to mock Janet Napolitano for being unmarried and childless. The third opponent, Don Goldwater, was given an opportunity to repudiate their statements and refused to comment.
As you will see from the article, I was asked at a news conference months ago to comment on this same issue. As I said at the time, while marriage and parenthood provide me with unique experiences and perspective, this campaign should be waged on the issues, not someone’s marital status.
The disparaging tone and cruelty of the remarks was deeply disturbing.
I strongly repudiate these inappropriate comments by my primary opponents, and ask them to refrain from bringing further embarrassment to their campaigns and to the Republican Party. They should apologize immediately.
Politics is a contact sport. We will aggressively confront Janet Napolitano’s stand on issues and her record as governor. Drawing distinctions is a critical part of educating voters, and we are willing to hit hard, but above the belt.
Mocking Janet Napolitano’s marital status is way out of bounds.
