What we learned about David Garcia and Doug Ducey after their first governor debate
Here are three takeaways from the first debate between Arizona governor candidates Doug Ducey, David Garcia and Angel Torres.
What we learned about David Garcia and Doug Ducey after their first governor debate Here are three takeaways from the first debate between Arizona governor candidates Doug Ducey, David Garcia and Angel Torres. Check out this story on azcentral.com: https://azc.cc/2Idc2le
Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic Published 7:34 a.m. MT Sept. 25, 2018 | Updated 8:50 a.m. MT Sept. 25, 2018
Opinion: Here are three takeaways from the first debate between Arizona governor candidates Doug Ducey, David Garcia and Angel Torres.
Gov. Doug Ducey looks back as a journalist asks a question before the Sept. 24, 2018. gubernatorial debate on PBS inside the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)
If you wanted substantive information and a thoughtful assessment of key issues like education, Monday's gubernatorial debate was not for you.
But it taught us a lot about the candidates and how this race is shaping up. Let's recount what we learned:
You're being deceived (!)
Neither Democrat David Garcia nor incumbent Republican Gov. Doug Ducey used the word liar, but they might as well have. Both said repeatedly during the hour debate that their opponent was deliberately deceiving voters on ... well, just about everything. I actually lost count of how many times Ducey touted factcheckgarcia.com, a website created by the Arizona Republican Party and authorized by his campaign.
In reality, both took liberties with facts, which they threw at each other with lightning speed on Monday. But, hey, welcome to politics.
That said, I honestly don't get the vitriol among these two (other than apparently, a bunch of political strategists think it's a winning strategy in this political climate to paint your opponent as evil incarnate).
A telling point: When Garcia pointedly asked Ducey if he was OK with how the attack ads have painted him. Did Ducey really think that Garcia would make us unsafe? Ducey said yes, he believed Garcia's policies would put the state at risk.
Garcia then more or less accused Ducey of blessing ads that have negative racial overtones. Ducey touted his endorsements from other Latinos and said he didn't have problems with Garcia the person, but with Garcia the policymaker.
Neither has an education plan
Though nearly half of the debate was spent on education, it became painfully clear that neither Garcia nor Ducey have a comprehensive plan to boost education funding.
Ducey repeatedly touted his efforts to pass Proposition 123, which helped solve an education funding lawsuit, and his 20by2020 teacher pay plan. Ducey even said there was more that needed to be done.
But we never actually got to what that is. His website doesn't shed much light, either. It recounts what he's already done and notes simply that "Doug wants to see more dollars go to the classroom, and continue to drive up teacher pay, while investing in other key priorities like career and technical education and high-speed broadband in our rural and tribal schools."
Well, jeez. Thanks, helpy helperton.
Ditto for Garcia. He landed a few good jabs on Ducey, saying, for example, that he simply reacted to the teacher walkout, rather than leading the state through it. That's not an off-base assessment. My colleague Bob Robb has called Ducey the "in-box governor," in that he tends to handle issues as they come up, but he has no agenda for proactively solving problems.
But when pressed about how he'd improve education funding, other than going to the Legislature and asking them to craft something to send to voters, Garcia came up blank. He had a lot to say about what's wrong with education but not a lot about what's going right (and, believe it or not, there are good things to tout). Garcia touted his support for teachers but could offer few specifics of how he'd get them what they want (other than noting that he signed Invest in Ed's pledge to support education).
Who looks like the bigger leader
Philosophically, I have almost nothing in common with Green Party candidate Angel Torres. But he was the debate's only pleasant surprise (that is, when he got a few words in edgewise over the sniping between Ducey and Garcia).
He said we needed to be frugal with our tax dollars (wait? Are you sure he's a Green Party candidate?). And he touted border trade with Mexico (in fact, he offered the most measured and specific thoughts on immigration policy).
Torres also was the only candidate to acknowledge the work we need to do to shore up our water supply against looming shortages (OK, it was only one sentence in his closing statement, but that's more lip service than the other two candidates have given to such an important issue).
VALDEZ: Why Angel Torres is Doug Ducey's secret weapon
Torres has no chance of winning the election. But compared to how small Ducey and Garcia made themselves look as they interrupted each other, he reminded me of what politics used to be – and what it needs to be again.
Perhaps that's the biggest takeaway: I kept thinking about people in the middle who don't follow politics as I watched the debate. And I didn't see much that would appeal to them. Garcia and Ducey are still talking to their bases. If they're not careful, both are going to turn off potential voters (if they haven't already).
Reach Allhands at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com.
Poll: Ducey and Garcia are neck-and-neck in governor's race
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