GOP's McClung denies backing 23% sales tax
At a Congressional District 7 debate Wednesday, incumbent Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva said Republican Ruth McClung supports a 23 percent national sales tax - but she says that's not true.
McClung's campaign website includes her answers to a Center for Arizona Policy candidate questionnaire. Candidates were asked to say whether they support or oppose the statements listed. She said she supports "replacing the current federal tax code with a flat tax or national sales tax."
McClung simply answered yes to the two-part question, without specifying whether she favored one or the other or both.
At Wednesday's debate, Grijalva listed several areas in which the candidates diverge, including a 23 percent national sales tax.
People are also reading…
Asked directly about it later, McClung said she does support a flat tax, but she doesn't support a national sales tax. Even then, she said she supports simplifying the tax code with a stepped flat tax, with several levels of flat taxes based on income, instead of a single flat tax across all income levels.
But she said she doesn't support the Fair Tax, a proposed 23 percent national sales tax that would replace all income taxes.
'Single-shot' voting
Tucson Unified School District candidate Miguel Ortega is warning voters not to throw away a vote in the race for the Governing Board.
Voters can pick two candidates among four contenders. But picking just one, known as "single-shot" voting in a race, is a strategy used sometimes to give an advantage to a preferred candidate.
Literature supporting candidate Armand Salese, for example, encourages voters to vote once to make their vote count. And City Councilwoman Regina Romero recently endorsed just one candidate in the race - incumbent Adelita Grijalva.
But Ortega said voters shouldn't be encouraged to waste a vote. "I do not support the undemocratic strategy that asks people to waste one of their votes," he said.
Grijalva challenged him to find that recommendation anywhere in her literature, but she said it's not a new tactic. "I'm sorry he's upset about it, but I'm sure some people supporting him will do the same thing."
Rhonda Bodfield
