Hi Christine, thank you so much for your time. Your story has been an interesting one; a former Arizona Teacher of the Year turned politician/public servant. For those who are unaware, you first ran for office in 2018, the year of the massive Red for Ed protests in the state. Was there one single catalyst or event that first prompted you to run for office?
I couldn’t get the image out of my head of one of my 11th grade students asking me if kids in Arizona were worth less than kids in other states. I was a bit taken aback by the question and asked him to clarify what he meant. He told me that Arizona’s kids were in last place for education funding, so Arizona kids must be worth less. That was a sucker punch to me, and it never really left my mind, so when I was approached to run for office, even though I was very reluctant to do so, my student’s words kept running through my mind. I decided that I needed to do everything possible to make sure other students don’t feel like they are worth less than kids in other states.
What grade(s) or disciplines did you teach when you were a teacher?
Mostly 11th and 12th grade English, but I’ve taught all grades and levels from 6th grade through 12th grade.
Obviously that is quite a drastic shift in your career, and undoubtedly the reality of life as a State Senator was in some ways different than what you thought it would be. How did reality end up differing from your expectations?
I didn’t expect that most of my students would exhibit more maturity than many of the folks at the Capitol.
Regarding your time in office, what accomplishments are you most proud of? And what do you wish you would have been able to accomplish but were unable to?
There’s a lot I am proud of, and something that certainly ranks near the top is the work my office did on behalf of constituents. People may not realize how often legislators get pleas for assistance from their constituents for all sorts of issues–like having trouble navigating specific tax issues or unemployment, for example–and being in a position to help many of those folks makes me proud.
What’s one thing that you wish the populace knew about the Arizona legislature that they don’t seem to know?
I wish people realized how extremely partisan, sometimes even toxic, that it is at the Capitol. Really great bills that would help average Arizonans didn’t see the light of day if the sponsor was a democrat. Even bills that were small, but could save lives or protect kids, wouldn’t get a hearing (which kills a bill) if the sponsor was a democrat. For example, I ran a bill in two different sessions to require that private schools that accept public dollars need to implement fingerprint mandates on adults who will have direct contact with a minor. That bill is about basic safety, but it didn’t go anywhere.
Tell us about the experience of being a candidate. You’ve only known running in a battleground district, which means you are expected to raise borderline obscene amounts of money and the margins of both victory and defeat have largely been razor-thin. That’s a lot of pressure. What’s that like?
Sure, there’s a great deal of pressure when one is a candidate in a battleground district, but it’s also a significant honor. However, the privilege of running to represent such a diverse constituency doesn’t reduce the pressure on candidates in battleground districts, which meant that I stayed on the campaign trail during my own cancer treatments and within days after my son died.
Obviously public education is an extremely important subject to you. If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change about public education in Arizona?
My magic wand would eliminate the false narrative of failing public schools. The struggles public schools face are a result of systemic and chronic choices to underfund our schools, and it’s been happening for many years. It’s not an accident that we have among the highest class sizes in the nation, the lowest teacher pay, and the least per pupil funding. These were intentional choices the majority party made, which has created a manufactured crisis. Despite all of these challenges, Arizona’s teachers, students, and the parents of those students are working hard each day to achieve success.
For those who are unaware, you are a Democrat, and Democrats have long been in a “close but no cigar” mode in the legislature, having been the minority party by a thin margin for a while now. In those situations, some people negotiate with the majority party, some are willing to vote with the majority, some prefer to point out their flaws. What did you see your role as a prominent member of the minority party as?
I kept my focus on the unintended consequences of bills. Even seemingly great-sounding bills often come with a price that someone, somewhere in the state, is going to pay, and people need to understand those consequences. I tried hard to represent the constituents of my district, which is one reason why I was one of the most bi-partisan voters in my tenure in the Senate. Since I represented more republicans than democrats, it was important to me to be as bi-partisan as I possibly could.
Many of our readers will know you as a former Senator in old District 28 and current District 4, which covers parts of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. Now you are running in District 5, which is just west and is entirely in the city of Phoenix. What prompted this move?
I feel a deep connection to LD5 , partly because I used to represent roughly 30% of it before redistricting (when it was part of the old LD28) and partly because my dad lived about a mile from where I now live in the last years of his life.
However, that is simply a happy consequence of why I moved. I wanted to downsize and get closer to the running trails in the Mt. Preserve, and–due to the real estate market–that was impossible in LD4. When I found an area I liked, and people found out I’d be in LD5, they started suggesting that I run, especially since Senator Lela Alston, the current LD5 Senator, is termed out. After some initial reluctance, I decided to at least really think it through, and—ultimately—made the decision to go for it.
If/when you return to the legislature, what will some of your priorities be? Education is a given, but in your growth as an elected official, going from what some would say was a single-issue candidate to a more well-rounded leader, what else have you grown an advocacy passion for?
I served on the Transportation Committee for four sessions, and I developed a surprisingly strong interest in issues that affect our transportation systems and infrastructure. I didn’t expect to enjoy serving on that committee as much as I did.
I also have a real passion for mitigating the opioid crisis. We lose too many people to overdoses after they take substances that are laced with fentanyl–usually without the person’s knowledge. Fentanyl-laced pills are killing both addicts and young people who may not be addicts but are foolishly experimenting. There is legislation that could save at least some of those lives–like legalizing more devices and equipment that can test substances for drugs (which is right now illegal) or getting narcan more widely dispersed (although, a lot of movement has thankfully started to happen in this area). I ran the bill to legalize drug-testing equipment in three different sessions, but it didn’t go anywhere, and that simply breaks my heart. That bill can’t solve our opioid crisis–not even close–but it has the potential to save a few (or, who knows…a lot) of lives.
And, of course, education remains a passion; however, that’s broadened to include all issues that relate to Arizona’s children.
Finally, we’d love to hear about how you unwind. After a long day of debating bills or raising funds for your campaign, how do you let loose and de-stress for the day?
After a stressful day, I need quiet time, so I’ll draw, read, and run/walk/hike in the Mt. Preserve, which is such a beautiful part of LD5.