Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey speaks with attendees at Sparking Democracy, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 at Old Main in Tempe. The event was sponsored by Undergraduate Student Government to give students a chance to learn about the candidates in the upcoming state election. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
Gubernatorial candidates Democrat Fred DuVal and Republican Doug Ducey headlined the Sparking Democracy forum Tuesday at Old Main and made their stances known on K-12 and higher education funding.
The forum also featured Secretary of State candidates Democrat Terry Goddard, Republican Michele Reagan, unopposed Republican State Treasurer candidate Jeff DeWit, and gubernatorial candidates Libertarian Barry Hess and Independent Constitutionalist JL Mealer.
Ducey said K-12 education is underperforming in Arizona and the education system in general is underperforming across the entire country, but there is some good news for Arizona.
“The good news is we know how to educate children in the state of Arizona,” Ducey said. “We have three of the top 10 public high schools in the country here in Arizona, more than any other state.”
Ducey also said the lack of resources going into classrooms needs to change.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal speaks with attendees at Sparking Democracy, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 at Old Main in Tempe. The event was sponsored by Undergraduate Student Government to give students a chance to learn about the candidates in the upcoming state election. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
“For the past decade, we have put a decreasing percentage of state resources into the classrooms year after year,” he said. “You can’t blame Democrats for that, and you can’t blame Republicans, because that’s in both administrations. My opponent will tell you later tonight that we need to spend more in education, but I will tell you that we need to better spend the $10 billion we are already spending.”
DuVal took his turn on the stage to speak to students about K-12 and higher education funding. He said he would veto any bill that cuts another penny from education.
“What is happening in Arizona is the voters passed a proposition 13 years ago that told the legislators we want you to invest in schools,” he said. “Five years ago, the Legislature stopped doing it, and school districts sued the Legislature, took them to court. Now the Supreme Court said you must enforce this proposition. It is the most important thing we must do.”
DuVal said he applauded the cost of education at ASU because the University has the best cost for a college education among most universities in country.
Hess spoke on a variety of issues involving Arizona and said the reason he is the best choice for governor is because he was a Republican but is now recovering.
“I want to be your servant and not your savior,” he said. “My job is to come in and do it right, and rather than coming in and saying I have all the answers, I can find all the answers, that I can promise you.”
Hess said other politicians want to be saviors but that isn’t him.
Democratic secretary of state candidate Terry Goddard speaks with attendees at Sparking Democracy, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 at Old Main in Tempe. The event was sponsored by Undergraduate Student Government to give students a chance to learn about the candidates in the upcoming state election. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
“I just want to be your servant,” he said. “I’ll put us back on the Constitution, I’ll make sure your government is open and honest so that you can see, that it is out there in front of God and everybody; I have nothing to hide.”
Secretary of State candidates Goddard and Reagan were both asked how they would make voting more accessible to students
“Can you imagine voter registration kiosks on college campuses?” Reagan said. “I can imagine making it easier for people to vote. In fact, why not when you are in high school and before you are even 18 so you can get your registration card when you turn 18.”
Reagan said the office of Secretary of State is the people’s office.
“The Secretary of State office is the one office that should be above partisan politics,” she said. “It is an office that I know an awful lot about and a job I have wanted to do for you for a very long time.”
Goddard said he wants ASU to take a stand in getting students to register to vote.
“We need to persuade President Crow to make registering to vote a part of freshman orientation,” he said. “I have been here on campus trying to register voters in between classes, and it is almost impossible to get people to stop for five minutes and register to vote. We need to make it simpler and that is one way to do it.”
Tempe Undergraduate Student Government President Cassidy Possehl said she was pleased with the forum and the interaction students were able to have with the different candidates.
“I think this was really one of the first times, at least from our perspective, when we got candidates here we had students come here to learn about those candidates and to learn what it means to be something like a Libertarian, a Democrat, a Republican, an independent voter,” she said. “Because we had the availability of these candidates with face to face time I think they really took something out of it.”
Tempe USG will be tabling outside of Memorial Union for the third day of Sparking Democracy and will hold another forum with candidates on Oct. 30.
Reach the reporter at jshanco2@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @joey_hancock
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