TUCSON, Ariz. - To help you make an informed decision with your vote, KGUN9 news has been profiling all the candidates to replace Jeff Flake in the U.S. Senate.
Your voice. Your vote. The primary election is the 28th of this month.
Kyrsten Sinema served in the Arizona State House and State Senate. Six years ago she won a seat in the US House representing a district in the Phoenix area.
RAW VIDEO: EXTENDED INTERVIEW
We asked her if she becomes a Senator, how she'd serve Southern Arizona.
She says, “Well, some of the things that are really important for southern Arizona involve protecting on military bases, Davis Monthan base and Fort Huachuca are both in southern Arizona and they provide critical services to our national security all across the country. But they also provide jobs both for military officials and for civilians in our community. So one of my top priorities is ensuring that we're protecting not just the bases but the commerce of those bases."
She says she's worked hard to keep the A-10 part of the Air Force and based here. That's been a key issue for her possible opponent in the Senate race, Southern Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally who flew A-10s as an Air Force pilot and unit commander.
She says Arizona needs strong border security including personnel and tech solutions.
Sinema favors a path to citizenship for undocumented children whose parents chose to bring them to the U.S. Illegally.
We asked what she thinks the government should do when adults and their children cross the border without authorization.
“Well, it's wrong to separate families. I think Arizonans agree with this, that children should not be taken away from their parents. It's also not okay to keep people in camps for indeterminate periods of time, the US government can solve this problem, but they need to be willing to put down the partisan talking points and just focus on solving their problem and unfortunately, the partisan talking points have taken charge."
On the international scale, Sinema calls countries like North Korea and Iran bad guys and says the U.S. should be tough on them.
"It also means we should work closely with our allies to make sure that the United States retains its ability to influence world events, but most importantly, to keep our country safe."
But on international trade, she says tariffs are bad for Arizona businesses.
And when you have new tariffs going up on things like steel and aluminum that makes it more expensive for our companies to manufacture and make the important things that we make. So I'm working to stop those tariffs."
Synema faces Deedra Abboud in the Democratic primary August 28th.
KGUN9 has been profiling all the Senate candidates. On KGUN9.com you can find profiles and extended interviews with Republicans Joe Arpaio and Kelli Ward, and Democratic candidates Deedra Abboud and Kyrsten Sinema.
We will profile Republican Martha McSally Friday.
