Former Arizona Supreme Court Judge joins race for 2022 election
Andrew Gould officially begins campaign for Arizona Attorney General - 13 On Your Side's Arlette Yousif reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - We are just about one year out now from another big election, with more and more candidates officially joining the race.
Andrew Gould kicked off his campaign for Arizona Attorney General Monday at the front steps of the historic Yuma County Courthouse where he started his career in the mid-'90s.
Gould is a former Yuma judge who eventually sat on the Arizona Supreme Court. He says Yuma never left his heart and he wants to help fix the immigration problem along the southern border.
"Immigration is something that people can debate about, what our laws should be. We do have laws on the books. The federal government’s not following those laws and because they’re not, it’s destabilizing the border and now we have a border security issue. That was bad before, but it’s far worse," says candidate for Arizona Attorney General Andrew Gould.
Friends call him Andy but Gould is known for upholding the law. Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls has known and worked with Gould for nearly 20 years.
"He’s always just been a man of integrity, a man who does what he says, is logical, someone you could talk through issues with," explains Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls.
Gould says he wants to implement a no trespassing law so that anyone in violation can be legally prosecuted. He also wants to build election integrity.
"I want to have eight or 10 or 12 attorney’s in that unit, just like any other unit at the ag’s office, to not only enforce election laws statewide but also where the law mandates it, make state officials, such as the secretary of state follow the laws that they’ve sworn to uphold," says Gould.
Yuma Sheriff Leon Wilmot spoke at Gould's campaign in support of him.
"If you don’t like a law, change it. Until then, you’ve sworn an oath to uphold it and do your job, and that’s what andy’s about. Andy is about doing what’s right," explains Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot.
Gould says that the letter of the law must be upheld and that’s why he retired from the Supreme Court to run for Arizona Attorney General.
