Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett met a nearly full house when he attended a meeting of the Verde Valley Women Republican’s Club in West Sedona on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Bennett told those in attendance for the meeting about his interest in a run for the governor’s office in 2014, though he said the announcement is not yet official. Sedona City Councilman Dan McIlroy, along with Ariz. Rep. Karen Fann [R-District 1], were among those in attendance for the Sept. 21 meeting.
“I can’t officially announce a run for governor until I’m in my last year as secretary of state; otherwise, I would have to resign as secretary of state. What I have done is what’s called an exploratory committee and I am starting to raise a little bit of money, but more importantly, I am going around the state talking to people, explaining where the state is and how to get out of where we have been,” Bennett said.
Bennett, born in Tucson, grew up in the Prescott area before attending college at Arizona State University. He said he’s currently formed an exploratory committee when it comes to a possible bid for governor of Arizona.
“Arizona has been home to our family for a long time,” Bennett said.
Fann showed her support for Bennett and offered her support for his possible bid for governor.
“I hope that Secretary Bennett will consider the idea of moving forward and running for our next governor, because he’s got the right ideas,” Fann said. “We’re going to pay off our debt, and we’re going to move the state back in order, and he’s the kind of guy to do it.”
Bennett made a presentation on the state’s budget during the recent meeting, which he said is slowly improving. For the presentation. Bennett used tissue boxes marked with various funds, such as school districts, college, health care and more. Each box represented $1 billion.
“It’s back in the black,” Bennett said. “Of the $10.5 billion that gets spent in the general fund, about half of that, slightly less, went to the K-12 school system. This is all 227 school districts around the state, all of the charter schools.”
Of those that receive over $1 billion is the court and prison system, and law enforcement agencies.
“The biggest chunk of that goes to the state prison system run by the Department of Corrections. We have about 40,000 prisoners in our prison system and a little over $1 billion goes to that.”
Higher education and the prison system comprise about $2.5 billion, Bennett said. Health and welfare comprise roughly $2.5 billion in funds as well, he said. Besides the general fund, the state also receives money from other areas, such as tax from tobacco and alcohol.
As secretary of state for Arizona, Bennett said he has four primary responsibilities. Those include obligations as the chief elections official for the state, operating the business services division, record keeping for the state and serving as lieutenant governor.
Patrick Whitehurst can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or email pwhitehurst@larsonnewspapers.com
