Arizona’s gubernatorial race is caught in a deadlock. With Arizona voters still unsure of the best person to lead the Grand Canyon State, the Sept. 10 debate held in Chandler Center for the Arts between Democratic Party candidate Fred DuVal and Republican Party candidate Doug Ducey held a great deal of importance.
Both men provide voters a depth of experience in the business and public policy sector with Ducey being the Arizona Treasurer and former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, and DuVal having served in the Clinton White House and on the Arizona Board of Regents as chairman. The candidates are both well-spoken individuals with resolute stances on the future of Arizona. And wouldn’t you know it, they are both Sun Devils as well, with Ducey earning his bachelor's in finance, and DuVal holding a juris doctorate. This is basically where the similarities end.
If DuVal were to describe his platform in one word, he would most likely say “education.” He stresses universities as key sources of innovation, the main part of ensuring Arizona’s competitiveness. In defending criticisms of his actions at ABOR, which included heavy tuition hikes, DuVal stated, “We can’t have a 21st century economy unless we’ve got strong universities, and I fought to make sure they stayed open.”
If Ducey were to counter with his platform in an equally terse way, he might reply “tax reform.” The Republican candidate would like to lure companies primarily from California and Illinois with low tax rates. In fact, Ducey proposes completely doing away with the income tax in order to provide incentive, citing Texas, which leads the country in economic development while having no income tax, as evidence. He also claimed the need for our tax code to look as though “someone had actually written it.” DuVal, on the other hand, proclaimed to have no intention of tax reform, instead focusing on investment in education.
A particularly interesting point of the debate was centered around the question of returning to the high rates of economic growth Arizona once had. For DuVal, the primary answer is in providing prospective companies excellent human capital by improving our higher education. He cited the consistently lowered tax rates of the past quarter-century as not having had a substantial effect on attracting business. Ducey responded by stating the need to profile our state as an attractive place for economic development and small business. His focus was on the opportunity to showcase the state with opportunities like the Super Bowl and Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Another point of contention arose in discussion of Common Core, a system used to evaluate schools with their national and international counterparts. DuVal supports the system, praising its aid in measuring Arizona against the world, while Ducey finds the system generally restrictive and unnecessary.
A main fault of the debate was dancing around questions with vagueness. Ducey was the main perpetrator of this common feature of political debates. In response to questions that required a certain degree of specificity, he instead replied with nondescript answers that consisted of “tightening the belt,” “taking a business-like approach” or “looking at a different approach.” DuVal’s responses were, in general, more apt to the questions.
Overall, the gubernatorial debate was an informative discussion which allowed the voters to discern which issues mattered most to the candidates. It also allowed voters to observe how deeply the men understood their own intentions.
However, it didn't provide enough answers. With several more debates scheduled before the general election on Nov. 4, we and the rest of Arizona will be waiting to learn more about the two relatively unknown men seeking to replace Gov. Jan Brewer. After all, they're still in a dead heat.
Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
