Dem primary debate for CD-7 seat in Congress sees candidates push frontrunner Adelita Grijalva

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services

PHOENIX -- Daniel Hernandez says the newest member of Congress needs to be someone who pays less attention to environmental concerns and more to the jobs these sometimes-controversial projects will create.
But the question remains whether that reflects who Democrats want to be their standard bearer in the special election this summer to replace ardent environmental advocate Raul Grijalva who they elected to the U.S. House over and over again -- and might have reelected him again in Congressional District 7 next year had he not died in March.
"When people are struggling to make ends meet, they need someone who will stand up to make sure they have good wages, protections for their families,= and make sure that they have a job to be able to go to,'' said the former state lawmaker during a debate Tuesday hosted by KAET-TV, the Phoenix PBS affiliate. He is one of five Democratic candidates in the special July 15 primary.
Whoever survives will face off on Sept. 23 against the winner of the Republican primary. But the Democratic nominee starts off with a huge advantage of about 176,000 adherents compared with fewer than 93,000 Republicans in the district that stretches from Douglas through Nogales into parts of Pinal and Maricopa counties and west to Yuma.

Hernandez made it clear he supports mining projects like the plan by South32 to extract critical minerals in the Patagonia Mountains, a massive copper mine by Hudbay in the Santa Rita Mountains and even a proposal to build a new Interstate 11, including a stretch that will run through environmentally sensitive portions of Pima County.
That brought him into sharp contrast with one of the other contenders: Adelita Grijalva who is not only a former Pima County supervisor but also Raul's daughter. And she made it clear she does not see the claimed benefits to Arizona from the projects, saying the profits from digging out the ore are being shipped elsewhere.
"And what's left in the aftermath is an environmental destruction,'' she said. Grijalva specifically criticized the plans for a new copper mine at Oak Flat, a project that survived a challenge when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider concerns by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and others that the land was necessary for their ceremonies.
And if the message about what voters could expect wasn't crystal clear, she said she was going to follow in her father's footsteps.
"I am going to be another Grijalva,'' she said. "I don't think you can be too progressive when you're on the right side of history.''
Hernandez found himself -- and his position on jobs versus the environment -- to be in the minority of Democratic contenders. Even Jose Malvido, whose father was a union organizer at Phelps Dodge in Ajo when the miners went on strike in 1983, said much has been lost as environmental concerns were brushed aside in the name of economic development.
"I grew up in a copper mining town where sacred sites were reduced into a giant mine pit,'' he said. "It put food on the table, but at what cost?''
Inventor and former business owner Patrick Harris acknowledged that projects like new mines do create jobs. At the same time, he said, it does destroy the environment.
But for him, the question is a bit difference: Where do the profits go?
"Those are short-term jobs,'' Harris said.
"That profit is being siphoned out of the district,'' he continued. "There are good paying jobs that can be brought into the district.''
And Deja Foxx said that from her perspective -- she is 25 -- not enough has been done until now to protect the environment that was supposed to be preserved for her generation.
"Every year we see summers get hotter here in Arizona, get longer because of the inaction of older generations,'' she said.
"Climate change is not theoretical to my generation,'' Foxx continued. "We will have to live through your plans for 2050 and beyond.''
But Grijalva found herself on the defensive on another issue: taxes.
The contenders each were asked about the wisdom of Republicans in Washington who say that reducing taxes is good for the economy and, more to the point, whether Democrats, who have found themselves losing ground politically, should also consider.
Hernandez responded that the difference is that Democrats believe in cutting taxes for working class families. Or "most Democrats.''
"The reality is people like Adelita tried to raise taxes just a couple of weeks ago in the city of Tucson,'' Hernandez said, referring to a plan on the ballot to increase the sales tax by half a cent. "When we are in the height of inflation and people are hurting, the height of being out of touch was trying to raise people's taxes.''
It failed by a margin of more than 2-1.
"What we have is a problem where out-of-touch politicians who spent almost two decades in office forget what it's like to be able to buy groceries at the grocery store, and know what it's like to have to put something back,'' Hernandez said.
Grijalva was unapologetic for backing the proposed levy, saying that not just Tucson but Pima County have had to absorb more costs to provide government services even as the Republican-controlled Legislature was imposing a flat 2.5% income tax. Local government get a piece of that levy.
"So the needs continue but the revenue decreased,'' she said, saying that the cost of these local needs must be shared by federal and state government.
"You're still trying to raise people's taxes in the height of inflation,'' Hernandez responded.
Foxx took her own shots at Grijalva, describing her own fight years ago with the board of the Tucson Unified School District -- the board on which Grijalva served -- over its sex education curriculum. Foxx said it had not been updated in decades, was medically inaccurate, and never mentioned things like consent.
Grijalva said afterwards that the board already had been looking at making changes when Foxx made her complaints but could not do anything until state law was changed.
If there was a central theme to the debate -- aside from the obligatory criticism by each contender of President Trump -- it was the question of why Democrats are faring poorly among voters. Foxx said part of that is Democrats who have failed to stand up and fight.
"We require activists,'' Foxx said.
"They don't know how to fight,'' Harris said of Democrats. "They don't have a strategy.''
Malvido agreed that Democrats are not fighting back hard enough against President Trump.
"We need to have the courage to really address issues and not worry about the big money people that also fund the Democratic campaigns,'' he said.
"A lot of Democrats, career politicians, all they really want to do is get elected,'' Malvido said. "So they're not really going to address the issues and have the courage to fight in the way we need them to fight, especially now.''
Hernandez said the issue for voters goes beyond whether the Democrats are fighting hard enough.
"It's that we're not delivering results,'' he said.
"You elect people time and time again and yet they come back every two years and they say, 'We weren't able to do that because that other person was in charge, but elect us and we'll do it again next time,' '' Hernandez said. "People are tired of empty promises.''
One position that did stand out was Harris's proposal for what he called "capitated capitalism.''
In essence, it would cap individual wealth at $1 billion. And anyone whose assets exceeded that at the end of any year would have to make use of that through things like investing in research.
All that spending, he said, would help stimulate the economy.
"I'm the only one with an economic plan to fund our shared priorities,'' Harris said.
The three Republicans hoping to clinch their own party's nomination in the July special election will debate at KAET on Thursday. They are Daniel Butierez, Jorge Rivas and Jimmy Rodriguez.
Another set of debates sponsored by the Arizona Media Association is set for next month in Tucson.
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