Representation Matters.

Help get Tucson Election Equality Act on the Ballot!

Go to any of the following locations and our team will be there ready for you to sign!

Wed June 28 - Fri June 30: 6 am - 10 am

Stacy Tool

4112 E Grant (Grant Rd halfway between Columbus and Alvernon)

July 1: 8 am to 2 pm

Sunoco

3095 E Irvington at Country Club

July 3-5: 6 am - 10 am

Arizona Chiropractic

601 N Craycroft (Craycoft/5th St)

It is time to update the outdated election system of the City of Tucson. Our bipartisan coalition is working together to get the Tucson Election Equality Act passed so all Tucsonians have fair Representation on the City Council.

The Act would create a system where councilmembers would be elected in their Wards in the August and November elections giving full say on who represents a community to that community.

What exactly the Tucson Election Equality act does:

This change is 2 simple changes and very straightforward.

  1. The language changes the name of Council MEN to Council MEMBERS.

  2. The language also changes the General Election voting from citywide to ELECTED BY WARD.

This change returns to voting for only the people that live in the area to be represented.

Why support the Tucson Election Equality ACT?

1. This initiative is about bringing true, local Representation to the City Council.

2. You want your council member to be accountable to you and your neighbors.

3. This change will bring true accountability to the City Council.

Who are we?

Our leadership team brings years of experience and all political persuasions to the table to ensure Representation for all of Tucson. The Tucson Election Equality Act is unpartisan and is an issue all of Tucson can agree on.

Co-Chair Luis A. Gonzales is a Native American/Hispanic of Yaqui Indian descent and a lifelong resident of Tucson, Arizona. Gonzales is a disabled Air Force Veteran who served during the Vietnam era. Luis A. Gonzales, a Former Arizona State Senator, is a product of the University of Arizona. Luis is a longtime community activist and businessman working to improve the lives of Tucsonans.

Co-Chair Ted Downing is a two-term Arizona State legislator (Democratic Party turned Independent), Ted spearheaded election integrity, drafting and passing into law the nation’s first risk-limiting audits of elections, founding and chairing the State Democratic Party’s Election Integrity Committee.  Ted was awarded one of two national Anti-Corruption Awards for his work attempts to reduce hyper-partisanship in federal and state elections.  A U of Az professor for 52 years, Ted specializes in governance systems.  www.TedDowning.com offers samples of his writings and activities. 

Co-Chair Dru Heaton is a 26-year resident of Pima County who has been a vocal advocate for government transparency and informed medical consent. She has earned the respect of her community as a peaceful activist promoting the return of liberties to ALL ARIZONANS by way of holding the government accountable to its sole responsibility of defending THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS. She supports the Election Equality Act initiative in Tucson because she believes that if the government is anything, it should be small and local.

Co-Chair Fernando Gonzales - Fernando is the son of first-generation immigrant farm workers. Fernando is one of 8 children that traveled between Arizona and California working in the agricultural fields. Fernando has volunteered in our community for approximately 40 years and served on many non-profit organization boards including sitting as a member of the Board of Governors for the Arizona State Bar, member of the Character and Fitness committee for the Arizona State Supreme Court and Border Action Network Fernando ran for public office in 2012 and again in 2020 Fernando believes in giving back to the community and as a business owner, he has donated, his time and money to over 50 non-profits. He has been married for 50 years and has two daughters and seven grandchildren.

Treasurer Roman Campuzano - Business Developer, Business Owner & former VP of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Roman is native to Tucson & has helped candidates campaign for office on the Democrat, Republican, and Independent tickets. Currently on the Council for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Arizona Bowl Blue-Blazers & also serves on the Board of Directors at the Rillito Racetrack Foundation.

FAQs

  • The Hybrid system has two parts. The first is that partisan candidates for Council run in a Primary only in the Ward they live in. The second is where the winners of the individual Primary races run citywide in the General Election. This system means that you are nominating candidates by Ward in a Primary but all Council candidates in all Wards run citywide.

  • Electing a representative is based on a geographic area. In other words, the people that live in that area have the greatest interest in who represents the people in that area. Allowing others who do not live in that same area to vote for that representative actually dilutes the basic idea of local representation. The city is separated into 6 different areas or Wards. Each Ward should decide who is best to represent their specific area of Tucson.

  • The Mayor of Tucson election will not be affected by this change. The Mayor represents all of Tucson and is elected by all the citizens.

  • Electing Council Members at the local level will increase the responsiveness to the concerns of the voters in that area of Tucson.

  • Maintaining the current system allows the majority across the city to determine the representatives of a specific Ward. In doing so it effectively silences minority opinions, ethnicities, and backgrounds from serving on the Council.

    - Every city that changed from the Hybrid system of elections to a Ward/District only system saw dramatic increases in the diversity of people and opinions elected to their councils.

    - When San Francisco changed their system in the 1970’s the number of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and even Gay representation on the council had a significant increase in that representation.

    - When Phoenix changed its system, it too had a dramatic increase in the diversity of its council.

  • Representative government requires a full range of ideas. It also requires that the competing interests achieve compromise to make progress. Electing Council Members in the neighborhoods where they live means there are the most accountable for their decisions in office.

Join us today!

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