I have been posting on this blog throughout this campaign. You can find my insights on a variety of topics on this website. To the best of my knowledge, I am the first statewide candidate in history to post regular blog updates throughout a campaign – directly from me, to you the voter, with no filter — sometimes to the chagrin of my political advisers!
I intend to continue posting. Whether my next posts come as Governor-elect or private citizen is up to you.
Now is decision time.
If you have come to this website unsure of your decision, then let me give you my best shot.
I am a native Arizonan, and I love this state and its people. We have the potential to make Arizona the best, safest and most prosperous place to live in the nation.
I am committed to Arizona’s families. My wife Tracy and I have been married more than 20 years and have eight children. I am a Christian, and I believe faith is an asset for officeholders, not a detriment. One of Janet Napolitano’s top aides called me a “zealot” because of my faith – suggesting a different view of religious commitment from her camp. I am a strong defender of religious freedom for all.
I am not a politician. I’ve been involved in public policy for 20 years based on fighting for values and principles, not partisanship or political power.
I have similar legal credentials to Janet Napolitano. But instead of gaining experience as a political appointee or bureaucrat like Napolitano, I have entrepreneurial experience building a nonprofit organization from scratch into the largest of its kind in the United States.
I have also worked to train prosecutors and law enforcement officials in enforcing laws protecting women and children from sexual violence.
I believe my core values – limited government, lower taxes, strong support for law enforcement, a tough approach to crime, and the centrality of the family – are the core values of most Arizonans.
Janet Napolitano has tried to present herself as something other than what she is – a big-government, cultural liberal with no ideas and no plans for our future.
I have a plan to secure the border. I believe doing so will save Arizona taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually and improve our health care, educational and criminal justice systems. Janet Napolitano believes the border cannot be secured, and has done nothing to stop illegal immigration in four years.
And less than two years after 9/11, she proposed giving drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. She has vetoed every legislative effort to address illegal immigration, and even vetoed a bill that would have stopped our taxes from going to subsidize in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
I have a plan to improve education in Arizona, which has declined to the worst results in the nation under Janet Napolitano’s watch. She has no plan and no agenda other than to throw more money at the problem. I believe in excellent pay for excellent teachers, accountability, and providing more educational choice for parents.
I have a plan to work with Attorney General candidate Bill Montgomery to attack Arizona’s worst crime rate in the nation, and I will appoint tough-on-crime judges.
I have proposed steady downward pressure on income and property tax rates in Arizona because you deserve to keep more of your own money, rather than give it to the government. Janet Napolitano has fought and tried to kill every proposed tax cut over the last four years. When she was finally forced to sign a tax cut, she took credit for it.
Arizona’s economy improved because none of Janet Napolitano’s economic proposals were followed. We didn’t raise the taxes she wanted to raise, borrow the money she wanted to borrow, or spend all of the money she wanted to spend.
I have a record of working with both Republicans and Democrats to advance good policy. Janet Napolitano doesn’t get along with people in either party. She set a record for vetoes in one term, and three of the small number of Democratic legislators switched parties because of her.
She vetoed the rights of gun owners during emergencies. She vetoed efforts to lower health care costs and emergency room wait times by ending frivolous lawsuits against emergency room doctors.
Despite her promises and a huge cash infusion, she has failed to effectively reform Child Protective Services. I am committed to protecting Arizona children from abuse, and to providing sufficient resources for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
Napolitano is a committed liberal on cultural matters. She embraced an offensive, anti-American 9/11 memorial. She is not merely pro-choice, but is an abortion extremist who has backed partial-birth abortion and taxpayer-funded abortion, while opposing parental consent and a woman’s right to know. I am pro-life.
Napolitano opposes preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman. I support preserving the definition of marriage.
I believe in open and honest government. Napolitano has repeatedly vetoed efforts to require that her multi-billion dollar executive budget be opened to public scrutiny.
If you are content to live in a state that is last in education but first in crime, if you are content to have a leader who has done nothing about our most pressing problem – illegal immigration – if you are content to live in a state with a committed cultural leftist at its helm – vote for Janet Napolitano.
But if you believe in mainstream American values, I hope you’ll join Sen. John McCain, Sen. Jon Kyl, and dozens of Congressmen, state legislators and mayors around Arizona in voting for me.
