Nancy Young Wright

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Arizona State House, District 26

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The Star endorses incumbent Democrat Nancy Young Wright and Republican Vic Williams for the state House of Representations in Legislative District 26.

Young Wright is seeking election for the first time. She was appointed to fill the seat of Rep. Lena Saradnik, who stepped aside for health reasons in January.

Williams is running for the seat vacated by former Rep. Pete Hershberger, who lost a bid for the GOP nod for the Senate seat in District 26.

District 26 is a suburban district that includes the Foothills, Oro Valley, the village of Catalina and Marana.

Also running are Democrat Don Jorgensen, who owns a workplace consulting firm, and Republican Marilyn Zerull, a community volunteer and activist.

Both Young Wright and Williams favor a special legislative session as early as possible so that lawmakers can begin addressing a fiscal '09 budget deficit.

Williams told the Star's editorial board he would join other Southern Arizona legislators to "work together . . . to make sure the budget's not balanced on the back of Pima and Pinal counties." He said he would seek to protect spending for health, education and transportation.

Young Wright said she would not reduce spending for programs for children, the disabled, veterans, K-12 education and public safety.

"It's been 15 years since the budget was done in the appropriations committee" instead of by legislative leaders negotiating behind closed doors, Young Wright said. It is "a secretive environment. We need people who are committed to a public process," she said.

Williams favors a more open process as well, but warned that "you can make it so open that you never get anything done."

We hope Williams will join Young Wright in supporting a process that allows public participation as decisions are made.

On education, Young Wright, who served 10 years on the Amphitheater Public Schools governing board, said the state's schools need to pay market-rate wages and commit to small class sizes.

Over the long term, she said, "We need to end over-reliance on a sales-tax based budget, to diversify sources of revenue." Williams, a real estate investor, agreed.

Neither candidate favors giving families vouchers for the amount of a student's public school stipend to pay for private-or parochial-school tuition, though Williams said he would like to see a pilot program.

On immigration, both favor a state-level guest-worker program. "It will help employers understand who they can employ, and guest workers won't be exploited," Williams said.

Both Young Wright and Williams promise to serve their constituents before serving their parties' interests. Both are well-qualified to serve the district in the state House of Representatives, and that is why we endorse their candidacies.