On one hand, my opponent, the Governor, our two U.S. Senators and other Republican legislators constantly describe Arizona in the media as a state paralyzed by crime. On the other hand they support spending $250,000 of taxpayer money to promote Arizona in response to the boycotts generated by the passage of SB1070. Maybe if they stopped to listen to themselves, they would see that the campaign rhetoric doesn't jive with their marketing plan. It's as if they can't understand you can't scare people and promote Arizona as a vacation destination at the same time. Never mind that the closure of many of the state's rest stops along our many highways gives tourists another reason to bypass Arizona, and never mind that one of Arizona's largest sources of tourism dollars are Mexican citizens who come to Arizona to shop and visit. The words of my opponent and his Republican colleagues plainly demonstrates they simply don't understand they're doing much more harm than good.

A Strategy for Arizona Tourism

We need a positive campaign to repair our image because we want Americans and other visitors from across the globe to come to Arizona. We also need to ensure that whatever laws and regulations we pass doesn't kill the goose that lays the golden tourism egg and we need to make sure that those destinations and services travelers demand are open and available. Clearly, someone was asleep at the switch and that person is none other than my opponent.

Everyone, even my opponent, understands how important it is to Mesa's economy for the Chicago Cubs to stay in Mesa. As your state Senator, I will get actively involved and work with Mayor Smith, the Cubs' management and the Waveyard developers to figure out how to make this project go in that location or find some other appropriate place. Economic development is a contact sport, not in the context of beating people up, but contacting and communicating with them to find workable solutions for everyone. Creating jobs is creating win-win relationships. I'll get in the game and work hard to winning a commitment from the Cubs to stay in Mesa.

I will support media outreach programs that target individuals and families wanting to visit Arizona provided the rhetoric matches the realities of the marketplace and the political situation. I will lead efforts to ensure that tourism-related business owners have access to a supply of legal workers that will allow them to properly manage and operate their businesses. And I will be the first Senator in LD18 to actively promote tourism as an important contributor to Arizona economic vitality and restore us again to a position of market leadership in the Southwest.