David Garcia is the democratic candidate running to replace Governor Doug Ducey. If elected, he would be the first Latino governor in decades.
"We're going to serve all of Arizona because I'm an Arizonan born an raised. I understand our state and I understand the issues facing our state and the number one issue that is impacting all of Arizona is public education."
Garcia says Ducey has not done enough to fund public education and says that's one of the reasons why teachers walked out in the first place.
"They walked out not because of TUSD. They walked out and they went to the capital because of the governor and the legislature who is not funding public education."
Garcia says part of his plan to fund public education is by using existing revenue.
"Second, there are tax credits that are taking public money and putting it into private schools, we need to close that. Third, there are tax loopholes, exemptions, that we need to look at and ask ourselves...are these exemptions still in the best interest of Arizona or should these dollars be best used for public services like public education."
Lastly, Garcia believes Arizonans are ready to vote for a dedicated revenue source to fund public education. This comes after the Invest-In-Ed measure he supported was removed from the ballot by the Arizona Supreme Court.
On border security, Garcia says it's an issue handled at the federal level with unique state responsibilities. He says more technology on the border is the answer.
"Immigration has been used in this race as a fear-based issue. So even though we can talk about it all day this is going to be addressed at the federal level. I think we need to get smarter about border security. If you talk to agents at the border they will tell you most of the activity, drug activity in the last decade is coming right through our ports and they're looking for more resources at the ports of entry, not in the isolated parts but in the ports of entry."
As for Southern Arizona's biggest issues, Garcia says education is top of the list.
"Because there are Southern Arizona communities looking for opportunities and economic development and recognize that education is central to those efforts."
