PHOENIX — The State of Arizona has had a Republican governor 21 of its last 27 years.
It’s a state that has voted red in 16 of the last 17 presidential elections, dating back to 1952. There are also 150,000 more registered Republicans in the state than Democrats.
Republican Primary
Governor Doug Ducey (incumbent)
For the past four years, it has been Gov. Doug Ducey at the helm. Ducey defeated Democrat Fred DuVal 53 percent to 42 percent in 2014. Now, Ducey is running for re-election. Before he gets to the general election in November, he’ll have one challenger to beat in the August primary.
Ducey attended Arizona State University, where he received a Bachelor’s in Science. He is the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery. He was elected Arizona State Treasurer in 2010 and announced he would run for governor in 2013.
While Ducey has a challenger, there’s little doubt he’ll win the Republican primary. The last incumbent governor, of either party, in Arizona to lose in a primary was Democrat incumbent Gov. Dan Edward Garvey in 1950, who rose to the office because he was Secretary of State after Gov. Sidney Preston Osborn died in office.
Since Ducey assumed office in January 2015, the unemployment rate dropped from 6.4 percent to 4.6 percent this July, the lowest it’s been since 2008.
Ducey received a strong endorsement from President Donald Trump Monday, via Twitter, saying Ducey is strong on crime and the border.
Two of the biggest issues leading up to the general election are education and border policies.
Arizona ranks 48th in the country in Pre-K through 12 education and 48th in median teacher salary. This led to the teacher walkouts in the spring of 2018. The walkouts led to Ducey proposing a 20x20 that promised 20 percent raises for teachers by 2020.
That education budget bill passed in the Arizona House and Senate and was signed into law by Ducey on May 3, thus ending the teacher strikes.
In an Emerson College poll from June, 64 percent of voters said there is not enough funding for education, while 20 percent said it was just right and eight percent said it was too much.
Ken Bennett
Challenging Ducey is Ken Bennett. He is a Prescott native and former Arizona Secretary of State and former State Senate President. Bennett also ran for governor in 2014 and was one of the Republican candidates defeated by Ducey in the primary.
Bennett claims that almost every campaign promise made by Ducey has been broken. Read more about Ken Bennett’s goals here.
What the polls are saying
In a general election NBC News/Marist poll of registered voters, just 26 percent said they would re-elect Ducey. About 59 percent said it’s time for a change and 15 percent were unsure. Among Republican voters only, 43 percent said Ducey should be re-elected, 34 percent said they wanted a change and 23 percent were unsure.
Democratic Primary:
On the Democratic side of the Governor race, there are three candidates.
David Garcia:
David Garcia lives in Phoenix and is running for public office for the second time after he ran for state school superintendent in 2014. Garcia is a U.S. Army Veteran, has a doctorate in education from the University of Chicago and is an education professor at Arizona State.
Controversy struck multiple times for the Garcia campaign. At the Netroots Nation gathering of progressives in August, Garcia said, “just image no wall. No wall in Southern Arizona.” Many took that as a call for a completely open border, however, Garcia later clarified that he was only referring to “Trump’s wall.”
Garcia also had a staffer resign after old malicious tweets on her personal Twitter account were exposed.
Read more about David Garcia’s vision here.
Steve Farely
Steve Farley, from Tucson, has been a state legislator since 2008 and is currently a state senator. Farley owns his own graphic design firm as well.
Farley’s top priorities are in affordable healthcare for all people in Arizona and more funding for education. You can read more on Farley’s goals here.
Kelly Fryer
The third candidate is Kelly Fryer. Fryer has no political background, but is the CEO of the Southern Arizona YWCA. Fryer is also a Lutheran Pastor and co-owns a wine and cheese shop.
Fryer’s first priority is “people first,” where she says she’ll use a human rights lens to write policies, sign laws and draft budgets. You can read more on Fryer’s stances here.
What the polls are saying
In a July 2 poll by Data Orbital that asked Arizona Democrat voters who they would vote for in the primary, 33 percent said David Garcia while a whopping 49 percent were undecided. Steve Farley garnered 11 percent and Kelly Fryer six percent.
How to Vote!
Click here to see how to vote, where to vote and other answers to frequently asked questions leading up to the primary on August 28.