Ducey elected to Republican seat in Arizona gubernatorial election

PHOENIX — Voters elected Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to serve as the Republican Party’s nominee for the gubernatorial race on Tuesday.

Ducey took home the vote with nearly 70 percent of the votes from Republican voters.

BREAKING: Doug Ducey wins Republican nomination for governor in Arizona primary election. #APracecall at 9:24 p.m. MDT. #Election2018 #AZprimary pic.twitter.com/46yyreDvnM

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) August 29, 2018

Ducey will face off Arizona State University professor David Garcia, who won his Democratic primary.

BREAKING: David Garcia wins Democratic nomination for governor in Arizona primary election. #APracecall at 9:33 p.m. MDT. #Election2018 #AZprimary pic.twitter.com/XLEJmEm7ld

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) August 29, 2018

Garcia won Tuesday’s primary with 48 percent of the vote, perhaps unsurprisingly: An OH Predictive Insights/ABC15 poll from last week found that 40 percent of likely Democratic primary voters were set to vote for the education professor.

The Republican primary election was likely to be handed to Ducey, but that does not mean it did not come without controversy: Former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, another Republican running for the seat, released a school safety plan that rivaled Ducey’s — only his included arming teachers.

As part of the plan, Bennett pledged to train “willing, competent and capable” staff members on carrying firearms in schools, create a task force to focus on student safety during emergencies, train school officials on “basic emergency operational control skills.”

The plan would, according to Bennett, “not remove guns but will put guns where necessary to protect our children. The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Ducey’s plan, on the other hand, would increase mental and behavioral health resources, restrict access to firearms and tighten background checks.

Ducey also scored the sought-after President Donald Trump endorsement. Trump said Ducey was doing “a great job” in a tweet Monday at 10:22 a.m. Arizona time.

Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona is doing a great job. It would be really nice to show your support tomorrow by voting for him in Tuesdays Primary. Doug is strong on Crime, the Border, and our Second Amendment. Loves our Military & our Vets. He has my full and complete Endorsement.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2018

While Ducey was projected to win the Republican primary, he may face an uphill battle through November against the education professor.

Ducey has cast himself as a champion of public schools, pointing to a three-year plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise in this year’s budget. And he pledges that he’s not done yet. But he’s coming out strong against any proposal to raise taxes, saying it would harm business climate.

But Garcia, a second-time statewide candidate after running in the 2014 superintendent of school race, is adamant in his support of the Invest in Education Act.

The proposal seeks to raise the income tax rate to 8 percent for individuals earning more than $250,000 and households earning more than $500,000 for the portion of their income above those cutoffs.

Individuals who earn more than $500,000 and households who earn more than $1 million would pay 9 percent above those cutoffs.

In addition to income tax increases from the proposal, Garcia supports cutting back corporate tax credits to raise more revenue. He said Arizona should stop advertising itself as a cheap place to be.

“This state has been selling itself as cheap for a long time,” he said. “I think we’re underselling our state. It’s a beautiful place to be.”

For results and reaction, listen to KTAR News 92.3 FM’s primary roundtable program Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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