Citizen endorses Patterson & Heinz for AZ House

Our Endorsement: Democrats Heinz, Patterson best for AZ House in District 29

Related news: AZ GOP fears Dems will win majority.

Tucson Citizen, Oct 7 08 (excerpts below)

TUCSON -- Only in District 29 did a southern Arizona incumbent legislator fail to make it out of the primary and into the general election.

The district's voters... sending Democrats Matt Heinz and Daniel Patterson to the state House of Representatives.

Heinz is a doctor... He would bring to the Legislature real-world knowledge and a strong advocacy for bettering health care.

Patterson, an ecologist... clearly has done his homework...

Patterson's signature issue, "economic justice" for South Side District 29's working families, resonates loudly in these shaky times.

He recognizes that Arizona's economic well-being is too tied to the sales tax, and has the guts to argue that further tax cuts are not a good idea given Arizona's spiraling budget deficit.

Also, he argues that an increase in the state's gas tax, which has been unchanged since 1996 and is the 10th-lowest in the nation, would increase needed revenues for transportation.

We particularly like his view on the state's prisons. Patterson believes "safe, smart cutbacks" are possible. He calls mandatory minimum sentencing rules set by the Legislature "a costly mistake" that force the state to lock up too many nonviolent offenders for too long.

The Tucson Citizen endorses Democrats Matt Heinz and Daniel Patterson for the state House of Representatives in District 29.