Election years are always filled with intense advertising by influential candidates making themselves look good and their opponents look bad. It can be difficult to find information on actual policies, so here is a list of all the main candidates running for different positions in Arizona and what their platforms consist of. Note: The listed US House districts are the five districts that comprise the Phoenix Valley.
US Senate: Mark Kelly (D)
Running on a progressive democratic platform, Kelly's campaign is run independently with no funding from political action committees. He's been endorsed by figures such as former president Barack Obama, current US House Representative Tom O'Halleran, former US House Representative Rob Barber, Mayor of Flagstaff Coral Evans, and Everytown For Gun Safety.
Key Issue Stances:
Healthcare: Protecting health insurance for those preexisting conditions, creating a public option for healthcare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs and increasing transparency in hospital bill costs.
Veterans: Improving healthcare and mental health services for veterans and providing job opportunities and housing for homeless veterans.
Economy: Ending tax breaks for the wealthy, further investing in green infrastructure and research.
Social Security and Medicare: Opposing legislation that weakens Social Security and opposing budget cuts and systematic changes to Medicare.
Border Security and Immigration: Investing in better technology and better staffing at the border, improving programs to secure the flow of immigrants across the border and protecting the DREAM program.
Education: Expanding access to early childhood education, raising pay for teachers in public schools, increasing funding for schools, lowering interest rates on federal student loans and fully funding financial aid for university and investing more in trade schools and apprenticeship programs.
Military: Protecting military bases across the state and working with international allies.
Women's Rights: Supporting reproductive healthcare services, increasing family leave and decreasing the wage gap and wage discrimination especially for women of color.
Gun Safety: Passing universal background checks and strengthening gun safety laws.
Environment and climate change: Creating more renewable energy sources
US Senate: Martha McSally (R) (incumbent)
McSally is running on a conservative Republican platform. She has served on the Senate since January 3, 2019, as she was sworn in after the death of Senator John McCain in 2018. McSally is endorsed by political figures like President Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association, the Tea Party PAC and The National Federation of Independent Business. Her positions on key issues aren't expressed directly, so the following information is taken from her voting record and quotes regarding the topics.
Key Issue Stances:
Healthcare: Repealing the Affordable Care Act and supporting paid leave during public health crises like COVID-19
Economy: Increasing defense spending, cutting corporate taxes, lowering public taxes, increasing federal spending to promote economic growth and providing financial relief to businesses negatively impacted during national emergencies.
Border Security and Immigration: Constructing a wall on the Mexican border, opposing sanctuary cities in the US and repealing the DREAM Act.
Education: Not requiring states to adopt federal education curriculums, cutting Pell Grants and opposing Common Core curriculum.
Military: Increasing economic pressure on countries like North Korea and Iran that have nuclear weapons, reimposing sanctions on Iran and helping stop the invasion of Turkey into Syria.
Women's Rights: Opposing abortion, defunding Planned Parenthood and allowing contraceptive methods to be denied.
Gun Safety: Improving mental health services for gun owners, enforcing current gun laws stronger and opposing restricting gun purchases and licenses.
Environment: Increasing efficiency of nuclear power sources, not mandating greenhouse gas emissions and boosting solar energy research and jobs.
US House of Representatives, District 5 -- Joan Greene (D)
Greene is running on a democratic platform to represent the 5th district, which comprises the East Valley, including Gilbert, Chandler and east Mesa. She is a member of the LGBTQ community and a strong advocate for animal rights. She has been endorsed by political figures like former AZ Attorney General Grant Woods, Moms Demand Action and Christian Democrats of America.
Key Issue Stances:
Healthcare: Protecting insurance coverage for those with preexisting conditions, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, allowing sealed and unexpired medications to be donated to clinics who can give them to those who cannot afford them, fighting healthcare discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and increasing transparency in hospital billing costs.
Economy: Protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, providing tax relief to small businesses, investing in public infrastructure and increasing minimum wage.
Veterans: Helping families attain jobs and affordable housing and improving healthcare options.
Education: Increasing Pell Grants and financial aid, lowering student loan interest rates, funding childcare on college campuses for students with children, expanding budgets for public schools, increasing pay for teachers, advocating for students with learning disabilities and increasing spending on preschool education.
Social Security: Increasing monthly Social Security payouts, maintaining Social Security consistent with the cost of living, protecting the age of retirement and increasing transparency in the Medicare system.
Environment: Expanding solar power infrastructure, create new methods of harvesting stormwater and rainwater and creating more renewable ways to improve roads, like using plastic bottles instead of the current pavement.
Technology: Funding high-speed internet in rural and poorer areas, supporting net neutrality, and enforcing and prosecuting cybersecurity breaches.
US House of Representatives, District 5 -- Andy Biggs (R) (incumbent)
Biggs is running on a conservative platform. He has sat as representative since 2017 after a previous 41 years in Arizona State Legislature. He is endorsed by figures such as the National Rifle Association, the National Right to Life Committee, the Arizona Medical Association and the American Conservative Union.
Key Issue Stances:
Immigration: Constructing the Mexican border wall, ending illegal immigration and securing the border with the National Guard.
Economy: Cutting taxes for the public, balancing the federal budget and reducing economic regulations.
Women's Rights: Banning abortion, defunding Planned Parenthood and criminalizing performing abortions.
Healthcare: Repealing Obamacare, reducing insurance premiums, permitting group insurance and allowing terminally ill patients to try treatments that have passed only basic FDA testing.
Veterans: Supporting the VA MISSION act
Education: Allowing families to decide which kind of education to have their children pursue and increasing flexibility in school systems.
US House of Representatives District 6 -- Hiral Tipirneni (D)
Tiperneni is running on a democratic platform. She is a physician and boardwoman of the Maricopa Health Foundation. She is endorsed by former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, AZ Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, AZ Representive Tom O'Halleran, the Human Rights Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Key Issue Stances:
Healthcare: Expanding choice in healthcare, reducing costs of medication and treatment, expanding Medicare and protecting popular Affordable Care Act aspects.
Economy: Highlighting each region's economic specialty, expanding apprenticeship programs, effectively incentivize programs that will help the future economic landscape, reforming taxes so to benefit the middle class and guaranteeing equal pay for men and women.
Social Security: Protecting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Education: Raising the level of postsecondary education to 60% by 2030, opposing school privatization, funding public schools, supporting federal financial aid and forgiving federal student loans.
Immigration: Supporting DACA, opposing construction of the Mexican border wall and improving staffing and technology at borders to reduce drug smuggling.
Gun Safety: Increasing funding for gun violence research, requiring background checks on all gun purchases, forbidding those on the No-Fly list from purchasing a gun and improving mental health resources for those with guns.
Women's Rights: Keeping abortions legal and safe, implementing comprehensive sex education in schools and provide effective contraception methods.
Environment: Shifting to renewable energy like solar and reentering the Paris Climate Accord.
LGBTQ Rights: Adopting anti-discriminatory laws federally.
US House of Representatives District 6 -- David Schweikert (R) (incumbent)
Schweikert is running on a conservative platform and has sat as representative for District 6, which encompasses Scottsdale and the northeastern Phoenix Valley, since 2011. His endorsements include Senator Ted Cruz, the National Rifle Association, the National Right To Life Committee, and the House Conservatives Fund.
Key Issue Stances:
Economy: Lowering taxes on businesses, reducing regulations, balancing the federal budget, keeping taxes low and lowering government intervention on businesses.
Immigration: Opposing amnesty for illegal immigration and enforcing illegal immigration laws more.
Gun Safety: Supporting the Arizona concealed carry law.
Women's Rights: Opposing abortion.
US House of Representatives District 7 -- Ruben Gallego (D) (incumbent)
Gallego is running on a progressive democratic platform and has sat as congressman for District 7, which encompasses the central Phoenix Valley into parts of Glendale and Tolleson, since 2015. He served in the Marine Corps and he is a first generation immigrant. His endorsements include AZ Representative Raul Grijalva, Everytown For Gun Safety, the Sierra Club and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Key Issue Stances:
Environment: Reporting on lead in drinking water, opposing heavy mining and requiring GMO labelling on foods.
Healthcare: Covering costs of COVID-19 testing, legalizing recreational marijuana and supporting the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration: Supporting DACA, preserving citizenship rights for children of veterans, opposing wall on Mexican border and increasing family and high-skill visa caps.
Economy: Supporting equal pay, increase spending for troops overseas and spending more on stimulus for the economy.
Veterans: Providing suicide prevention and mental health services to veterans, allowing reenlistment if veterans admit to using marijuana, supporting LGBTQ service members and more transparency in the VA.
Education: Relieving student loans for new entrepreneurs, improving diversity of teachers, increasing access to full-day kindergarten programs and opposing private school voucher programs.
US House of Representatives District 7 -- Josh Barnett (R)
Barnett is running on a conservative platform, supporting the idea of a small government. He is very vocal about supporting President Trump on social media. He is endorsed by the Constitutional Rights PAC.
Key Issue Stances:
Immigration: Securing borders and lowering rates of drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
Women's Rights: Banning government-funded abortion, defunding Planned Parenthood and ending abortion in cases of medical issues.
Economy: Reducing economic regulations, cutting taxes and balancing the federal budget.
Gun Safety: Defending the right to keep guns and reducing gun legislation.
US House of Representatives District 8 -- Michael Muscato (D)
Muscato is running on a progressive democratic platform for District 8, which comprises the northwest Valley including Peoria, Surprise and Sun City West. His endorsements include the Sierra Club, Moms Demand Action and the Communication Workers of America.
Key Issue Stances:
Immigration: Strengthening ports of entry, funding visa applications, improving border inspection technology and staffing and supporting DACA.
Education: Funding special education programs, increasing educator pay, fully funding pre-K through 12 and deduct a percentage of student loan debts.
Healthcare: Allowing private and public healthcare options, protecting preexisting condition insurance coverage, reducing cost of medication and treatment and creating a new healthcare option: AmeriCare.
Environment: Changing energy sources to solar and wind power, improving infrastructure to support electric cars, making agricultural processes more efficient and restoring land ruined by deforestation.
Equality: Automatic voter registration of eligible voters, women's reproductive and economic rights, outlawing gerrymandering and decreasing wage disparity across minority groups.
Gun Violence: Passing gun safety legislation, requiring universal background checks for all gun sales, funding for CDC gun violence research and requiring mental health services to be part of insurance coverage and educational curriculums
US House of Representatives District 8 -- Debbie Lesko (R) (incumbent)
Lesko is running on a conservative republican platform and has sat as congresswoman since 2018. Her endorsements include Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Congressman Andy Biggs, Congressman David Schweikert, National Right To Life and Arizona Police Association.
Key Issue Stances:
Healthcare: Repealing Obamacare and privatizing healthcare.
Immigration: Building a Mexican border wall, increase funding for staffing of border agents, reducing chain migration and only allowing visas based on merit.
Education: Supporting federal block grants for state education.
Economy: Cutting taxes, simplifying the tax return process, reducing economic regulations, balancing federal budgets and protecting Social Security and Medicare.
Gun Safety: Supporting legislation against gun regulations.
Women's Rights: Prohibiting federal funding for abortion.
US House of Representatives District 9 -- Greg Stanton (D) (incumbent)
Stanton is running for reelection on a democratic platform. He has represented District 9, which encompasses North Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Ahwatukee and part of Chandler, since 2019. He was Mayor of Phoenix from 2012-2018. He is endorsed by groups such as Sierra Club, Everytown for Gun Safety and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Key Issue Stances:
Economy: Boosting tourism in the Southwest, giving federal financial relief to universities during COVID-19 and investing in local block grants.
Transportation Infrastructure: Funding a rail line in Mesa, improving water infrastructure in rural areas and funding highway infrastructure improvements nationwide.
Healthcare: Loosening blood donation restrictions for gay men, supporting cities with COVID-19, lowering the cost of medications and fighting the opioid crisis.
Veterans and Military: Improving veterans' quality of life and funding good equipment for military troops.
Immigration: Supporting DACA, opposing Muslim ban on immigration, expanding farmworker visa and green card access and improving treatment of migrants in detention centers.
Environment: Moving to 100% clean energy by 2050, increasing sustainability in Phoenix, banning uranium mining near Grand Canyon and improving the sustainability of energy sources.
US House of Representatives District 9 -- Dave Giles
Giles is running on a conservative republican platform. He is very vocal about his support of President Trump on social media. His endorsements include Congressman Andy Biggs, Congressman David Schweikert, the Arizona Republic and the Patriot Movement AZ.
Key Issue Stances:
Immigration: Securing borders, deporting illegal immigrants and building a wall on the Mexican border.
Economy: Balancing federal budget, eliminating debt, reducing economic regulations, lessening government intervention on businesses and cutting taxes.
Healthcare: Repealing Obamacare, increasing hospital cost transparency, insuring preexisting conditions and allowing insurance purchases across state lines.
Veterans: Improving medical care for veterans and increasing transparency within the VA.
Environment: Building an oil and gas pipeline and not supporting renewable energy sources.
Gun Safety: Teaching individual accountability and responsibility of gun ownership.
Women's Rights: Banning abortion and eliminating federal funding for abortion.
Education: Allowing choice in type of schooling method and improving funding for schools.