- Speaker #0
This is going to be someone to see potentially for a very long time.
- Speaker #1
You're listening to Beyond the Ballot AZ. I'm Tom Collins, Executive Director of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission.
- Speaker #2
And I'm Gina Roberts, Voter Education Director.
- Speaker #1
In just five days, voters will have the chance to pick their candidates in the special primary election for the 7th Congressional District, or CD7. Candidates who win these nominations will move on to the general election.
- Speaker #2
This special election will fill the U.S. House seat in CD7, which was previously held by the late Representative Raul Grijalva. If you remember, the very first episode of Beyond the Ballot AZ spoke to his legacy.
- Speaker #1
We have what you, the voter, needs to know about all things special elections up next. We're here with Steve Goldstein, who was moderator of our primary debates, and more than that, he's also the advisor to... Clean Elections on Debates. But more than that, Steve has been a longtime Arizona journalist. He's probably familiar to many of you as a longtime host on the Phoenix NPR station. And today, he's more than that. He is from Baja, Arizona to the Mogollon Rim. He is the master podcaster, the king of Arizona media, and the host with the most. Steve Goldstein, thank you for joining us here on Beyond the Ballot AZ.
- Speaker #0
Great to be with you. Thanks for that stunning introduction, but I have a ton of respect for you as well. So thanks.
- Speaker #1
So Steve, you know, here we are in July, which is not a time when folks are used to having congressional votes. And here we have one in congressional district seven, which is Southern Arizona, mostly Pima County, but there are, you know, half a dozen counties that have at least a piece of it. We hosted a debate and you moderated it in June. What were the key issues that you saw coming out of those debates?
- Speaker #0
So, Tom, no real surprise. Southern Arizona, I mean, the whole country now, but Southern Arizona is so close to the border with Mexico. So much discussion about immigration and border security, whether those are the same category. Obviously, people who really think about it know they're not. There's a difference between undocumented immigrants to legal immigrants. Do they come across the border? Are they allowed across the border? What sort of immigration policy should we have as far as? folks who've been here already, guest worker program, a lot of those things came up. But another thing that was really important is how low-income residents are going to be affected by policy changes. Medicaid, obviously, health care insurance for low-income people, that was a massive discussion too, because it would affect potentially more than half the population of some of the areas that we're talking about with this district. So I would say those were really the top two, sort of economy writ large and border security and immigration.
- Speaker #1
Now, we had a Republican debate and a Democratic candidate debate. But were there any moments or candidates in those two events that stood out to you?
- Speaker #0
Well, I think obviously, Tom, we went into the Democratic debate. We have Adelita Grijalva, daughter of the late Raul Grijalva, which is why we're having this special election. She obviously is getting a lot of a lot of attention. Daniel Hernandez, someone who we've known really because of the horrible shooting at that Safeway in Tucson affected Gabby Giffords. unfortunately killed a few other people. Deja Fox, the so-called influencer, only in her mid-20s and had come into the spotlight because she had been a part of the Kamala Harris Democratic Convention just last year. So people like that, but also Patrick Harris and the Republican side, you have Danny Gutierrez, who actually ran against Roger Hovland in his last congressional race. Jorge Rivas, who became interesting because he is... If I can use the term MAGA, which everyone knows what that means, very much dedicated to President Trump and his policies. Jorge Rivas was someone who, he sort of out-MAGA'd MAGA, because one of the things he said was that he thinks those who are involved with drugs, drug trafficking, should face capital punishment. So that was one of those things that really stood out. But as far as the, I guess I'm a little surprised if I can say it this way, without expressing too much of an opinion, that when you have this seat, which is likely because of the way we know how redistricting has done, even with the IRC in Arizona, which has done an interesting job and whatnot. This is going to be someone's seat potentially for a very long time. So I guess I'm surprised that there's not a more dynamism to the whole race. I guess that's it. I don't think there's any doubt that most of the people in this race are competent, but I guess I expected in order to get this seat and hold onto it for who knows, maybe a decade, maybe more, I guess I expected there'd be a little bit more, a little bit something that separated the candidates a a little bit more than what we've seen.
- Speaker #1
You mentioned that the... The person who wins this general election is potentially going to serve in Congress for a long time, although they're going to step right into the Congress that we currently have that's in session. So what kind of impact will whoever wins this general election in this seat have when they get there?
- Speaker #0
Even though it's a very slim majority, the Republicans still have the majority. So I almost feel like at this point, at least, it's really just getting another reliable Democratic vote in there for the Democratic Party. I really, I wish I could say there was going to be a bigger impact, but I think because we're, the margins are so tight and we're seeing, forgive me for mentioning the other state, but Senator Tom Tillis from North Carolina did a lot of work with former Senator Sinema. He decided to maybe not support everything President Trump supported. And now he's, he's not running for reelection.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, that's an interesting thing. I mean, you're right. And we've talked about this on our podcast. You know, that Congressman Grijalva, by virtue of his role as chair of the Progressive Caucus, by virtue of his work at the Pima County Board of Supervisors and in Congress on environmental issues and tribal issues. I mean, he did have a distinct voice and in a period of 20 years where there was more opportunity to have different voices within a the party and then amongst people in Congress. That's, I think, a very interesting dynamic. Another point, and you mentioned this sort of conventionalness, if you will, that might have come through in the debates. Given that, you know, special elections tend to have lower turnout. So this is a special primary for selecting a Republican and a Democratic nominee. What does low turnout mean to somebody who's paying attention to this kind of stuff?
- Speaker #0
Yeah, I mean, low turnout is always disappointing to those of us, obviously, you guys with clean elections and someone like me who's a junkie who really wants people to realize that this is, and I would even say it, even some of the local community races. Like these are really people who are deciding a lot of things for us and the way the primary system works. And I think the idea of the special election obviously is a very good one because that district deserves representation as soon as possible. But it's really difficult because it's you're just going to have low turnout because. How many times, and you and I have been following this stuff for a couple of decades at least, how many times have we seen when Arizona's primary election was even earlier in the summer than it is now? Now it's sort of the end of summer in a typical race. It's usually last week in August or something like that, around Labor Day, let's say. But when it was more in the middle of the summer, and this applies, I think, even to folks in Pima County as well, because schools out, you have periods that people just, they're just not around. And so you may see a situation where such a small percentage of the population is deciding. That could be the one interesting political impact we see from, I'll say, Democratic primary specifically. If turnout is low, you'll have those high efficacy voters, but I'm not necessarily sure they're going to go with the status quo either. So I think that it could really affect things. But it's also, I'll just say it's disappointing because I wish people paid a little bit more attention to the debates and to the idea that, wow, I know it's the middle of summer, but you know, that's what we have. mail-in ballots for. Get that and then respond. And if you need to go to San Diego or somewhere else, that's great. Do it after you vote.
- Speaker #1
Now, Election Day is just around the corner, so here's everything you need to know to cast your vote.
- Speaker #2
Tomorrow is the last day to vote early in person until Election Day on July
- Speaker #1
15th. Polls are open on July 15th from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Make sure you have your ID. And if you're still holding on to your ballot by mail, you can skip the line and drop it off.
- Speaker #2
Arizona has an open primary. So if you're an independent, meaning you're not registered to vote with a recognized political party, you can choose to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. You just have to let your poll worker know when you go to the polls what your preferred party ballot is. That's it for today's Beyond the Ballot AZ. I'm Gina Roberts.
- Speaker #1
And I'm Tom Collins. Remember, you can check out our CD7 primary debates on our website and find out information about the candidates. And look forward to our general election debate this August. We'll see you next time.
