An incumbent and two challenging candidates are racing to serve as governor of Arizona. It is a four year term, earning $75,000 annually.
Democrat Eddie Basha is the Chairman of Bashas' Inc., a Phoenix grocery store chain. He received his bachelor's degree in history from Stanford University in 1959. He is married and has four sons from his first marriage, and two sons with his present wife. Basha has served on the Arizona Board of Regents since 1990.
The focus of Basha's campaign has largely been to improve and reform education. As he said jokingly in a question and answer forum at the University of Arizona last week, because he has so many children in a broad spectrum of age, he could feasibly spend 40 years in the Parent Teacher Association.
Basha thinks education is the first step toward mending the state's problems. He has promised not to raise taxes but to attain the funds necessary to meet his goals through reform. He has pledged to not accept the governor's salary if elected.
His stand on key issues:
ù Education: Basha thinks year-round school or extended day programs will improve education and wants to reform funding on a statewide level, rather than through local property tax.
ù Crime: He want to put emphasis on early prevention and rehabilitation of present convicts by putting them in some kind of employment capacity, for example. He says, "Criminals are made, not born."
ù Health Care: Basha wants to offer Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) statewide.
ù Environment: He will leave the decision up to individual communities for deciding whether stricter laws should be made.
ù Abortion: Basha is pro-choice and supports further education to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Incumbent Republican Fife Symington faces re-election. He received his bachelor's degree in history and art history from Harvard in 1968. He is married and has two sons from his first marriage and three children with his present wife.
The focus of his campaign has mostly been based around his achievements as governor. He boasts of consistently cutting personal income tax and bringing new business into the state.
He says his record for not raising taxes supports his promise to not raise them again.
His stand on key issues:
ù Education: Symington supports public school vouchers, which would allow parents to choose which school their child attends, and opposes major reform in education finance. He thinks year-round school would be too expensive.
ù Crime: He supports prison expansion and trying more juveniles as adults. Symington touts his success in passing juvenile gun ban.
ù Health Care: He wants to offer AHCCCS to more Arizonans. He says his record shows his success in reforming mental health care, and promises to continue with reform.
ù Environment: Again, Symington believes the federal government is not in tune with Arizona; for example, dust problems associated with the desert are not considered in clean-air regulations.
ù Abortion: He thinks there should be "reasonable regulation" of abortion.
Libertarian John Buttrick is an attorney running against Basha and Symington. He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Denver in 1973. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1976. He is married and has three children from his first marriage.
He concurs with much of the Libertarian philosophy to rid government from private lives and business. He has admitted doubt about winning the upcoming election, but wants to send a message about the two opposing parties.
He says both Republicans and Democrats want government to interfere with Americans lives in some form or another and he thinks there is no place for it.
His stand on key issues:
ù Education: He favors vouchers, including all public and private school students.
ù Crime: Buttrick supports stricter enforcement of violent crime, and says the key to solving the problem is to change the law.
ù Health Care: He is against government involvement, and would replace AHCCCS with a charity program.
ù Environment: He opposes stricter laws and regulations.
ù Abortion: He proposes getting rid of all anti-abortion laws, but
Incumbent Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe faces Democrat Gary Auerbach and Libertarian Phillip Murphy in the race for District 5, which covers most University area voting sites.
Democrat Gary Auerbach is a photographer and the owner of a pistachio farm, as well as a retired chiropractor. He received his bachelor's degree in accounting from the UA in 1971 and his doctorate in chiropractics from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa in 1975. He is married and has three children.
In an interview with the Wildcat, Auerbach stated his support for education. He said in opposition to Kolbe, "Very fundamentally I believe that the United States must produce the finest educated children and young adults. We're living in a global economy where our (young adults) are going to have to be competitive with (young adults) from around the rest of the world."
He supports extending the school year, intersession programs and developing improved vocational training. "Education is the key; education needs to be a focal point; and education need to be the foundation of our society."
He also wants loans and other aid to more accessible to students, including those whose parents are in a category where their children are ineligible for aid.
Auerbach is critical of Kolbe because he says he is too dedicated to wealthy business professionals. Auerbach thinks he better represents the issues, including health care and crime prevention, that the middle class and small businesses care about.
Incumbent Republican Jim Kolbe was elected to Congress in 1984. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Northwestern University in 1965, and his master's degree in business administration from Stanford in 1967. He is divorced and has no children.
Kolbe voted in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the crime bill and recently helped establish the Saguaro National Park, the third national park in the state.
As a member on the Appropriations and Budget committee, he plans to reduce the deficit and reorganize financial affairs.
Libertarian Phillip Murphy is a freelance writer on gun control issues. He attended the UA from 1979-80, and is single with no children.
His stance on gun control issues is that the government should play no role. Gun control issues has been a prime focus of his campaign.
without government funding.
Three candidates are fighting to fill Senator Dennis DeConcini's seat in the U.S. Senate. It is a six year term earning $133,600 annually.
Democrat Sam Coppersmith, 39, has served in the House of Representatives since 1992. He is married and has three children. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard in 1976 and his law degree from Yale in 1982.
Coppersmith visited the University of Arizona last Thursday and touted his plans to improve education.
Coppersmith supports Pell Grant funding, the National Service Program and the Vocational Educational Reform Act.
In criticism of his opponent's history in the senate, he said, "Kyl has one of the worst records on education in Congress. Over 16 times Jon Kyl has voted to slash education funding."
He is pro-choice, supports health care reform; he sees crime reduction as a preventative issue, supports the Brady Bill and assault weapons ban; he supports pro-environment issues and campaign reform.
Coppersmith was the former director of Planned Parenthood and an attorney. He said he returns the recent pay raise approved by the House to the U.S. Treasury.
Republican Jon Kyl has served as a senator in Congress since 1986. He is married with two children. He received his bachelor's degree in government from the UA in 1964 and his UA law degree in 1966.
Kyl has focussed on his support in Congress to cut spending, and has criticized Coppersmith for backing President Clinton too often. He said Coppersmith has helped pass measures inflating the deficit by over $500 billion.
Kyl wants to get away from "big government." Some of the things Kyl proposes to do in his first 90 days in office include: enacting a balanced budget amendment with the line item veto, reform health care without more government intervention, stricter law enforcement, welfare reform and repealing the tax on Social Security recipients.
Kyl worked as an attorney and as a lobbyist for the Phoenix Chamber of Congress. Kyl voted for the congressional pay raise and accepts it.
Libertarian Scott Grainger is the owner of a fire protection engineering firm. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1971. He is married and has two children.
Grainger has been critical of his opponents' promises and supports the basic ideals of Libertarians to free government into the hands of the people.
Grainger worked as an engineer before starting his business.