The Importance of Public Awareness in Politics

Becoming an Informed Voter

It’s vastly important to understand politics in America, especially in the state you live in. Young adults should know which congressional district they live in, who the senators are, and if the state is considered republican or democratic. People who are first-time voters need to care about politics. Even though it may not seem like it, politics do affect everyone, and they do matter. Voting and volunteering also matter. It’s imperative to get involved with politics so people can get educated and grasp their own opinion instead of listening to others. These aspects are vital to the understanding of how government works and how a citizen of America will shape the country. The young people of the country are the future and they need to keep up with real-world events.

My Congressional District and U.S. Representative

I live in Queen Creek, Arizona. Arizona is considered a republican state, having a long tradition of being so. Even though Arizona seems to lean towards a republican status, the state is growing with new people which means democrats could turn the state over. The state of Arizona recently lost John McCain, who was a republican senator since 1987. He was considered a great senator and was a hero. He served in the military before he became a senator and was held prisoner for five years by the North Vietnamese. He was tortured and was almost killed. After his death, a new senator was sworn in for Arizona. The senior senator now is Kyrsten Sinema and the junior senator is Martha McSally. Senators serve six-year terms before another election. Arizona has nine congressional districts. So, there are nine representatives in the United States House of representatives. There weren’t always nine congressional districts in Arizona. The largest district in Arizona is the 1st one. This district has always been a republican vote. But, it's growing rapidly and more voters are becoming democrats. Since I live in Queen Creek, the congressional district I am in is the 5th one. The 5th congressional district contains the cities known as, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Chandler, and eastern Mesa. The 5th district of Arizona has voted for Republicans in the past presidential elections. The 1st district congressman is Tom O’Halleran; he is a democrat. The 2nd district representative is Ann Kirkpatrick; she is a democrat. Raul Grijalva is the 3rd district representative, he is also a democrat. Paul Gosar represents the 4th district, he is a republican. David Schweikert is the 6th district congressman, he is a republican. Ruben Gallego is a democrat and the representative of the 7th district. Debbie Lesko, who is a republican, is the representative of the 8th district. Greg Stanton is a democrat and the representative for the 9th district of Arizona. The representative of my district is Andy Biggs. He was elected in November of 2016, after defeating Christine Jones by 27 votes. Biggs is an Arizona native and currently lives in Gilbert, Arizona. He is 60 years old and he has six children. He served in the Arizona Legislature for almost 15 years. Andy Biggs has won many awards, one being “Champion of the Taxpayer”. He also has been honored many times by the Goldwater Institute. Andy Biggs opposes abortion of any kind. He is dedicated to being part of the pro-life group and has attended many anti-abortion conferences. He has frequently fought to defund Planned Parenthood and to make sure women in the healthcare system will never feel forced to take a defenseless life. Biggs is also against same-sex marriage. He was a former policy advisor to a nonprofit organization that opposes same-sex marriage. Andy Biggs is also pro-constitution. He is pro-border security. Biggs believes that education should be approved by the parents, not the Federal Government. He is an advocate for the military and veterans. Starting with FCR score, he got 100%, ACLU: 26%, ADA: 10%, and ACU: 95%. Based on these scores, I would say that Andy Biggs is a conservative. All the high scores are from conservative organizations and the low scores are from liberal ones. Other than these scores, he displays conservative views. His morals are the same and he believes they don’t simply change as the years go by. He is a very traditional republican. He also believes in a limited government. He doesn’t really show any liberal features. He seems like a true conservative.

Political Background of My State

Arizona first became part of the United States in 1912. The nickname for Arizona is the “Grand Canyon State.” It was the 48th state. The state capital is Phoenix, which is also the largest city in the state. 62% of the voters in Arizona come from Phoenix. 13% comes from Tucson and the rest are all over the state. Maricopa County is anchored by republicans. Pima county is mostly made up of democrats. The rest of Arizona is dependably republican. Arizona has always been considered a conservative state. The republican party has dominated Arizona politics and the state legislature. Republicans have had a major ruling in Arizona. President George W. Bush won the state’s electoral votes by a margin of 10 percentage points with 55% of the votes. In 2008, John McCain won the state with 54% of the votes. Republicans controlled the state legislature until 2018. The voters of Arizona voted for Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. They voted for her over Martha McSally who is a republican. Arizona has always tried to keep its conservative tone. In 2006, Arizona was the first state to vote against an anti-gay marriage amendment. Barry Goldwater was the reason for a huge change in conservatives. He was a senator for Arizona in 1952 and pledged a new agenda for politics. “He preached the cause of modern conservatism… individualism, the sanctity of private property… anticommunism and the dangers of centralized power”. Barry Goldwater wanted to keep political power within its own bounds. Because of this way of thinking he gathered an abundant number of followers. His vision gained an audience and still does. Goldwater set a new way for conservatives to be heard and to be more involved. Barry Goldwater was an amazing conservative leader and set the way for the values Arizona tries to preserve. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was the first Arizonan to run for president. People considered him to be a harsh and competitive conservative. He lost the election to Lyndon B. Johnson. Even so, he still had an influence towards conservatives nowadays and even after his death. Arizona has steadily been considered a Republican state in the presidential elections. Since 1952 Arizona has voted for republicans except in 1996 when democratic president Bill Clinton won the state. The last Democrat to win Arizona in an election was President Truman in 1948. I talked a little about John McCain before, but he paid a huge contribution of Arizona remaining a republican state for all these years. Even though most conservatives didn’t approve of McCain and strongly disliked him, he still endured and accomplished many things for this state. He gained a reputation as a “maverick.” This nickname was given to him because of his sponsorship of bills and leadership on issues. McCain was also rated the second most conservative Senator in the 109th congress. Even though he ran for president in 2000/2008 and lost, he still was respected. When he died, people praised him. Obama and the Clintons celebrated him for being honorable and a great voice this country needed. Another memorable person to note is Sandra Day O’Connor. In 1981, she became the first female member of the U.S Supreme Court. She represented Arizona until she retired in 2006. She was met with obstacles for being a woman and trying to make it in law. Sandra would become Attorney General of Arizona before being appointed the position of U.S Supreme Court. She inspires so many girls to not give up and work hard to be someone in politics. Arizona has had a lot of political events happen. A few notable ones include: Native Americans can finally vote in 1948, Republican Governor Evan Mecham is impeached in 1988, and The Hoover Dam was made in 1935. The Governor of Arizona right now is Doug Ducey, he is a republican. The attorney general is Mark Brnovich. The secretary of state is Katie Hobbs. The state treasurer of Arizona is Kimberly Yee.

Arizona’s Senator

The senior senator in Arizona is Kyrsten Sinema. In 2018, she won her election and beat her rival Republican Martha McSally. Kyrsten Sinema is very controversial towards conservatives. She is the first woman senator Arizona has ever had. Also, she is the first openly bisexual person elected to the U.S Congress. She is a democrat and began her career in politics as an activist for different organizations. She is the first Democrat elected to signify the state of Arizona since Dennis Deconcini. He held his seat until 1995. Sinema had also worked for the DREAM Act. Kyrsten Sinema was born in Tucson Arizona and has explicitly said that she grew up struggling and living in poverty. However, it is noted that both her parents always paid their bills and have court documents proving so. Her answer to this is that she knows what she knows and how she grew up. She went on to graduate valedictorian at 16 and became a social worker. She went back to school and later became a criminal defense lawyer. Sinema also co-hosted a radio show and was not very appropriate during that time. Even though she did get voted to be our senior senator, it’s not surprising to why people are still unsure about her. She has said in the past that both Reagan and Bush were “the real Saddam and Osama lovers.” Though, she has grown up and has been ranked as one of the most independent voices. She wants what’s best for Arizona and to ensure affordable health care, help veterans, and make sure everyone is safe. She believes that everyone deserves a shot at the American dream, and she’ll work on that until she dies. Now onto the scores: ACUL- 64%, FRC-25%, ADA-65%, and ACU- 15%. Based on these scores, I believe Kyrsten Sinema is a liberal. Her highest scores are the liberal ones and the low ones are the conservative ones. Her morals seem to change, and she believes that everyone should be equal, even those who don’t work. She also believed that the law is a human creation. Kyrsten Sinema is quite the opposite of conservative even though she says she is both.

Throughout the paper, I learned many things about my state. I think that with this new profound information, I will be able to use it to my advantage. I am more educated on politics and I know that it will help me when I begin to vote. It’s important to vote because one vote can make a change. Without learning about politics, people may not care and not vote for anything. I think everyone should learn from the events happening right now. Without politics, our country would be a lot different. Young adults need to take more action when it comes to politics because sooner or later, they will be the only ones left to make the decisions for this country.

References

1. “Arizona.” Conservapedia, www.conservapedia.com/Arizona.
2. “Arizona.” GovTrack.us, www.govtrack.us/congress/members/AZ.
3. “Barry Goldwater of Arizona.” U.S. Senate: Barry Goldwater of Arizona, 24 Jan. 2019, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/barry_goldwater_of_arizona.htm.
4. “Biography.” Congressman Andy Biggs, 18 Mar. 2019, biggs.house.gov/biography.
5. Blufish. “10 Top Political Events in Arizona's History.” AZ Big Media, 20 Aug. 2017, azbigmedia.com/business/politics/top-10-political-events-arizonas-history/.
6. “Home.” Sinema for Arizona, 6 Nov. 2018, kyrstensinema.com/home/.
7. “Issues.” Biggs for Congress, biggsforcongress.com/issues/.
8. “John Sidney McCain III - 1936-2018.” John Sidney McCain III | JohnMcCain.com, www.johnmccain.com/.
9. “The Voter's Self Defense System.” Vote Smart, votesmart.org/candidate/biography/28088/andy-biggs#.XT5Ix-hKhPY.
10. “The Voter's Self Defense System.” Vote Smart, votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/28338/kyrsten-sinema/31#.XT91B-hKhPY.
11. “The Voter's Self Defense System.” Vote Smart, votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/28088/andy-biggs/11#.XT5Nb-hKh