On Nov. 6, 2018, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar [District 4], easily won reelection to his seat in the House of Representatives.
On a day when, nationwide, Democrats beat Republicans in Congressional elections by a margin of nearly 9 percentage points, Gosar trounced his Democratic challenger, Dr. David Brill, by nearly 38. It seems highly unlikely that any Democrat could unseat Gosar in the heavily Republican-leaning district any time soon.
If anyone were to beat Gosar in an election, it seems, it would have to be a fellow Republican running in the primary.
Last month, a challenger to Gosar in the Republican primary emerged. Anne-Marie Ward, a former business consultant from Prescott Valley who had previously worked for U.S. Sen. Martha McSally’s office, threw her hat in the ring, with a glossy campaign announcement video posted to YouTube and her website.
“I’m running for Congress because I believe in fighting for a legacy that we can be proud of,” Ward said in her announcement video.
This past week, Ward made a visit to this side of the district in Cottonwood on Tuesday Dec. 17. Ward stopped by the Cottonwood Journal Extra newsroom for an exclusive interview about her candidacy and goals for the district.
Running against a fellow Republican, Ward did not make a strong distinction against Gosar in terms of policy. The only major difference she pointed to between her and the incumbent when it comes to her views on policy was her support of the United States-Mexico- Canada Agreement — the revision to the North America Free Trade Agreement negotiated by the White House this year that was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, Dec. 19 and awaits a Senate vote.
Ward argued in favor of the trade agreement, speaking of her support for “free and fair trade” and saying it was a better deal than NAFTA and would bring jobs to industries in the 4th district.
On Thursday, Gosar voted in favor of the USMCA trade deal and spoke in favor of the agreement on the House floor.
Though Ward did not highlight policy as a main place of difference with her and Gosar, she attempted to draw contrast by saying that she would represent the district more ably as a Prescott Valley native who knows the area well and can relate well to its residents.
“One of my goals is to be strongly present and avail- able in all of our communities, regardless of size or geographic location,” Ward said. “I cannot truly represent the people of Cottonwood if I’m not here, and so I do plan on being here not only through the campaign but after I’m elected to make sure that I’m doing the job that the people of Cottonwood and the rest of the district are going to elect me to do.”
Ward said that one of her main goals in Congress would be to “go toe-to-toe” with the rising democratic socialist movement on the left side of the political spectrum, but also highlighted her commitment to civil discourse in politics, a subtle contrast with Gosar’s sometimes combative political style, although she refrained from attacking her opponent outright.
“When I travel the district, the concern I hear is that there aren’t any results, there aren’t solutions,” Ward said. “There are 10-, 15-, 20-, 30-year problems and the citizens of our district are tired of rhetoric, they are tired of the argumentative behavior at every level in government. They want to see the federal government get back to work on behalf of the people.”
On policy, Ward said that one of her main goals is to lower health care costs, through “open and competitive markets,” tied with a desire to more aggressively fight the opioid crisis.
“We need transparency in pricing,” Ward said. “Prescription drug prices are completely unaffordable. The whole system needs to be looked at. In addition to that in the health care world we need to address the need for behavioral and mental health care, increasing that focus. We need to address how the opioids have disproportionately affected our rural communities. That health care umbrella covers so many different facets that we need to start looking at and driving towards solutions.”
On opioids, Ward said that her aim is to bring together as many different stakeholders, including law enforcement, health cares professionals, governments and nonprofits in order to find a comprehensive solution, and said that the government prescribe a clear solution for the far reaching solution without the cooperation of many different relevant parties.
Ward said the 4th Congressional District’s rural landscape as a major challenge for its residents, highlighting her view that water preservation must be done with the federal government as a seat at the table in negotiations between local municipalities, the state, businesses, environmental concerns and Indian tribes, though acting as an honest broker but not through federal mandates. She similarly advocated for more forward- thinking planning on fire mitigation in the many National Forest areas that cover much of the district and are at frequent risk from wildfire.
“I think the greatest priority is discussing what needs to be done,” Ward said. “In our areas we need to look at what steps need to be taken and then follow suit with actionable items to make sure that that happens. That may be funding, it may be private-public partnerships, whatever it takes to solve it. That conversation needs to happen.”
However, Ward argued against more funding for fire mitigation.
“We know that more funding means increased burden on taxpayer,” she said. “The funding over the years has not resulted in healthy forests. It’s time to look at ways find solutions for forest mitigation that would not have a heavy impact on taxpayers beyond what they’re already doing.”
Ward is a first-time candidate, having never run for lower office before seeking a spot in the U.S. Congress. But she argues that her business experience, which includes some time as a public school teacher, as well as her connections to the local community, make her a good choice for the job. In her view, her lack of time in Washington, D.C. is an asset, not a liability.
“Being born and raised here I knew a lot about what our issues were, and our concerns,” Ward said. “Let’s start giving our voice back to ‘we the people.’ On the national level, the dialogue has been taken over by socialists. In our local areas, we want to be represented by somebody who is not entrenched in the establishment. People want to see results. They want to see solutions. And that’s not happening any more.”
