Democratic candidate for governor David Garcia says he would raise taxes to boost school funding in Arizona, a sharp contrast with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who has pledged to cut taxes every year he's in office.
In an interview on this weekend's "Sunday Square Off," Garcia, an Arizona State University professor, also echoed other public-school advocates who've accused Ducey of betraying them, by signing off on an expansion of state tax dollars for private and religious schools.
"How can we re-elect Doug Ducey if we don't trust him?" said Garcia, who announced last week he's making his second run for statewide office, after losing the school superintendent race in 2014.
Garcia also discusses the challenges facing Latino candidates running for statewide office in Arizona. Only one Latino - Gov. Raul Castro in 1974 - has won in Arizona's 105-year history.
Also on "Square Off," the roundtable of Laurie Roberts, columnist for the Arizona Republic; Nathan Sproul, GOP consultant with Lincoln Strategy Group; and Jevin Hodge, vice chairman of Arizona Democratic Party, discuss:
-The political fallout from the state's school-voucher expansion. Will Ducey pay a price for it next year?
-Why Republican lawmakers could be punished by voters for clamping down on citizens' constitutional right to make laws at the ballot box.
-Why State Treasurer Jeff DeWit, the first elected official in the country to support Donald Trump, could be leaving for a job in the Trump administration
-What Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema's swelling campaign fund tells us about her ambitions for the U.S. Senate next year.
"Sunday Square Off" airs at 8 a.m. Sundays on 12 News, right after "Meet the Press."