Candidates hoping to represent north Tempe in the state House of Representatives faced off Wednesday evening in a debate that covered an array of issues from immigration to the economy.
The debate, sponsored by the Citizens Clean Election Commission, was held inside the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus. Candidates running for Tempe’s state Senate seat were also supposed to debate, but only one candidate showed.
Former Tempe councilman Ben Arredondo and state Rep. Ed Ableser, the two Democratic candidates, are being challenged by write-in Republican candidates Donald Hawker and Steve May, Green Party candidate Gregor Knauer and Libertarian candidate Damien Trabel.
The main dividing issue of the evening was immigration.
May said he strongly supported Senate Bill 1070 but said it was not enough to solve the overall immigration issue.
“I think we should put [illegal immigrants] on a Greyhound bus and take them to Obama’s front door and let him deal with them,” May said, inciting a mixed response from the crowd.
Ableser said he supported reform that addressed the issue on a more local level.
“Passing legislation does nothing if we cut funding to police,” Ableser said.
Arredondo echoed those sentiments by saying it was important to let the employers know they share responsibility with law enforcement to make sure they are hiring legal residents.
All the candidates agreed that education is a huge priority for Tempe, and each person agreed that Arizona’s economy is dependent on the quality of education.
“Our economy isn’t going to get fixed until education gets fixed,” Arredondo said.
The candidates concurred on the need to bring renewable energy to the state in order to create jobs, but differed on the strategy to draw the companies.
Ableser said that after the Republicans in office tried to classify nuclear energy as a renewable source of energy last year, several solar companies chose not to set up shop in Arizona and instead headed to California.
“We could be the Saudi Arabia of solar if we invested in it,” Ableser said.
May challenged the Democrats’ position on tax reform and said that he believed that tax incentives in business should be the driving force behind bringing large companies, including renewable energy companies, to Arizona.
Health care also polarized candidates. May said ever-increasing numbers of people on state-supported health care were putting unsustainable pressure on Arizona’s budget.
Ableser responded by saying the Republicans’ decision to cut state health insurance for children was inexcusable and he was proud to have worked to get it reinstated.
“We should protect the poorest in our community,” Ableser said.
Senate candidate David Schapira had no challenger as Republican candidate Wendy Rogers and Green candidate Anthony Goshorn failed to participate.
Schapira has served Tempe for four years and he highlighted how his experience as a political science faculty associate at ASU has fueled his support for greater education funding.
He said he believed selling state land to support schools was a poor financial decision and that it would lead to overdevelopment of the state and irresponsible use of water resources.
“We have to plan for 100 years from now,” Schapira said.
Reach the reporter at mary.shinn@asu.edu
