There were not many people in the back room of the Red Rooster Cafe in Cottonwood. Kelly Fryer, the nonprofit CEO turned candidate for the Democratic party’s nomination for governor, was in town to meet with voters, even though only about a dozen showed up.
Fryer sat with voters at a table during her event Thursday, Aug. 23, in the mode of a calm conversation, not a political rally. She listened as much as she talked.
“I’ve been on an endless tour around the state since Feb. 1,” Fryer told the Yavapai County Democrats, estimating her journey at over 32,000 miles. She came alone to the event, without an extensive campaign staff.
This bare-bones approach highlights the type of campaign Fryer said she wants to run. She spoke about her decision to skip high-dollar fundraising events that define much of modern politics, opting instead for a stripped-down, low-fi campaign.
“I’m running to change the way we do politics in Arizona. I’m running in a way that is different than what the consultants will all tell you to do,” Fryer said. She compared the estimate that the governor’s race is expected to cost $13 million with the $13,000 a year that some of Arizona’s poorest residents make.
“Just like being governor will be about people, this campaign is about people,” Fryer said. “Instead of spending all my time building up war chests full of cash, I’ve been going around the state building relationships with people.”
Polls of the Democratic primary show Fryer significantly trailing both of her main opponents, Arizona State University professor David Garcia and Arizona Sen. Steve Farley. But Fryer is bullish about her chances in the race, saying that she is feeling energy from these meetings with voters around the state and expects a close race.
“In some ways I think we’ve already won,” Fryer said. “The conversation is different because I’m in this race. Before I got in, nobody was talking about [Immigration and Customs Enforcment, nobody was talking about changing the narrative around the border. Nobody was talking about poverty. Nobody was even talking about water. They were talking bout safe, easy topics and not saying anything.”
Fryer does not hide her views, and speaks bluntly. She was unabashed with her angry criticism of President Donald Trump, singling out particularly his crackdown on immigrants and refugees.
But Fryer also said she would be able to connect to Republicans and Trump supporters in the general election. She told a story of being in a poor community, South Tucson, and meeting a low-income woman who asked her why she was against the president with the economy doing so well. Fryer responded by questioning that assertion, asking the woman, “How are things for you and your family?”
According to Fryer, her time leading the Southern Arizona YWCA, which advocates for social justice causes and serves as a shelter for domestic violence victims and poor women, directly informs her campaign and her policies.
“I would love to introduce our country to the women and families that I’ve been working with at the YWCA, and to get them to know who these people are,” she said.
Fryer spoke of reaffirming voting rights in Arizona; moving education funding away from private schools and charter schools she felt lack accountability and back toward public education; repealing tax breaks she felt were geared toward the rich; and looking into ways to expand public health insurance as has been discussed in neighboring states like California, Nevada and Colorado.
Fryer nevertheless was hesitant to use the term progressive, or any label that defined her candidacy. This extended beyond her policy positions to her identity.
If Fryer won the general election, she would be the first openly lesbian woman to become the governor of a state. While she said she accepts the importance of that symbol to some in the LGBTQ community, she expressed a desire not to be simply the LGBTQ candidate in the race.
“What I want to do for the LGBTQ community I want to do for everybody,” she said. “I want to do for small business owners in Jerome and Cottonwood and Kingman who are struggling to keep the lights on. I’m running to make visible what has been invisible and make sure every voice is heard in our state.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
