Ann Kirkpatrick heads to the Desert Southwest before Election Day

“We put Arizona first,” says Ann Kirkpatrick, candidate for Arizona State Senator. “Not Washington D.C. Arizona.”

Kirkpatrick is running to take John McCain’s seat in the Senate. McCain is seeking a sixth term and Kirkpatrick says that his interests are not with the state of Arizona.

“If he’s not gonna stand up to Donald Trump, he’s not gonna stand up for us,” explains Kirkpatrick. “What happens when somebody’s in Washington 33 years like John McCain, is they become beholden special interests, not the folks back home.”

Both candidates support immigration reform, but where McCain supports stricter borders Kirkpatrick says she favors a more comprehensive approach that lets who she calls the “Dreamers” live their dreams.

“I’m a former prosecutor, so I have zero tolerance of the criminal element that comes across the border,” Kirkpatrick explains. “But if we pass comprehensive immigration, then Border Patrol and law enforcement could focus on drug smuggling, human trafficking, and criminal activity at the border.”

And as a native of agricultural Arizona, Kirkpatrick says she would ensure that Yuma remains the agricultural haven that it is.

“I want to work with our farmers here in Yuma. They’re our future,” stresses Kirkpatrick. “This is the salad bowl of the world and we want to keep it that way.”