Congressional district 1 debate: Rep. Tom O’Halleran and challenger Tiffany Shedd

On this special “election-2020” edition of Arizona Horizon we feature a debate between Rep. Tom O’Halleran and challenger Tiffany Shedd for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District which covers much of the state outside of the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan area, and includes Navajo Nation, the Hopi Reservation and the Gila River Indian Community.

This debate is is a joint effort between Arizona PBS, the Arizona Republic and KJZZ radio. Joining Ted Simons to moderate is Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of the Arizona Republic, and Steve Goldstein of KJZZ.

Topics for the debate included:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• Internet Access for Rural Areas
• Police Reform
• Climate Change
• Tribal Sovereignty

The candidates debated for 30 minutes. The debate ended with the following closing statements. The order of the statements was at random.

Tiffany Shedd went first: 

“To the people of Arizona One, you have a choice. As you have heard here tonight,I have spent my life in the district. I’m a small business owner. I understand what it means to try to make payroll when you feel like everything is heading at you. I’m a mother. A type 1 diabetes.We almost lost her, and now she has preexisting conditions. And we need access to healthcare. We need natural resources. We need forest health. We need water, and the choice you have here is do you trust someone who has spent their entire life working on issues and feeling those issues, experiencing them, or do you trust someone who — who is working for medicare for all, green new deal, and by his own words said he has tried and tried and tried, wrote letters and letters and letters, but still the people of Arizona One don’t have results.”

Then Incumbent Tom O’Halleran gave his closing statement:

“Every one of those issues she brought up in the beginning, I never said I supported. In some instances I worked around them to make sure we could get something done. So I am a former Chicago Police Officer. I am a former businessman.And had a small business, and I do have children that I care for, and young children that I care for, and their futures. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing, and I have been present ever since I moved 25 years ago into this wonderful state with the type of people it has, to be able to help, and that’s what idid when I — before I went in the legislature. That’s what I did between my time in the legislature and congress, and that is what I’ll continue to do into the future.”