Pearce, Lewis mainly split on immigration enforcement

by Alia Beard Rau - Oct. 7, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The differences between Senate President Russell Pearce and his recall opponent Jerry Lewis aren't vast: Much of what distinguishes the two comes down to tone and illegal-immigration enforcement.

Pearce and Lewis, both Republican Mormons, on Thursday night faced off in the only scheduled debate of the Nov. 8 Legislative District 18 recall election. The debate was held before a rowdy, capacity crowd in the auditorium of the East Valley Institute of Technology in west Mesa.

Candidate Olivia Cortes, who dropped out of the race earlier in the day, did not attend.

The debate was hosted by the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and issues focused on education, business, taxes, the economy and immigration. On most things, Pearce and Lewis differed little.

Pearce has a background in law enforcement and state government. Lewis has a background in accounting, business and education. Pearce describes himself as a member of the "tea party." Lewis describes himself as "a conservative Republican."

Both candidates said they were open to a conversation about whether Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus in Mesa should remain part of ASU or be somehow separated into its own university. Both support bringing more health-care and technology jobs to Mesa, as well as helping Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport grow. Both said Arizona needs to do more to pay teachers based on their performance.

"We need to make sure our dollars are spent well," Pearce said. "One thing we must do is move our dollars out of administration to the classroom."

Lewis agreed.

"Funding of education has to become a top priority. We need to make sure, though, that those dollars are being used to compensate great teachers," he said.

Both supported reforms that were made this year to the state's retirement system.

"We need to make sure we keep the promises we've made to government employees," Lewis said. "But we also have to make sure we have retirements we can afford."

Lewis said additional reforms could be made. Pearce said the changes made this year have created a "good system."

Neither candidate directly answered a question about whether the state should educate illegal immigrants in public K-12 schools.

Both were strong in their opposition to government regulation of businesses, specifically mentioning the timber industry.

"We have to get out of the way of business," Lewis said. "We need to listen to business leaders and find out what regulations really are not necessary."

Pearce said cutting taxes for businesses is part of that.

"If you want to get out of this recession, you've got to get Arizona back to work," he said. "Get government out of the way."

Both opposed extending the temporary sales-tax hike voters passed last year. Pearce suggested more could be done to continue to keep Arizona in the black by seeking out fraud and abuse in state agencies. Lewis suggested more could be done by growing business in Arizona. Pearce also later mentioned efforts to grow business.

The split between the two candidates came with the discussion of illegal immigration and Senate Bill 1070.

Lewis said immigration laws such as SB 1070 have given the world the idea that Arizona hates minorities.

"We need to change the image we have in Mesa and Arizona," he said. "We are seen as a very unfriendly business state. We are seen as something akin to 1964 Alabama. We need to change that."

Lewis said he will work for a more cohesive immigration-reform plan.

"We need to focus our resources on working with the federal government to solve the problem they created," he said.

Pearce said it is a "myth" that Arizona has suffered from its illegal-immigration efforts.

"Arizona suffers from a great reputation, not a bad reputation," he said.

He said tourism is up and dozens of states are creating their own legislation modeled after SB 1070.

"We're at the front of the parade," Pearce said. "We are doing everything right from jobs to safe neighborhoods. I don't know how much better it can get."

He said that while it's the federal government's job to regulate, it's the state's job to enforce those laws.

"States have the inherent right to enforce the law," he said. "We don't hear the same noise when we enforce our gun laws. We don't hear the same noise when we arrest bank robbers."

At the end of the debate, Lewis told the crowd that he was not a career politician.

"I am a Mesa resident who will listen to you and represent you in a fair way," he said. "But do not mistake my kindness and simple tone with weakness. I know how and when to be bold and when to stand up for conservative principles."

He said he has been told by some that he should have waited until Pearce's current term was up to run against him.

"Our students cannot wait another year for our schools to improve. Our economy cannot wait another year to be fixed," he said. "Mesa's image cannot take another year of the beating it's been taking. We need a fresh voice, a civil tone, a thoughtful perspective to build a better Mesa and a better Arizona."

Pearce told the crowd that he stands by his record.

"We have a constitutionally balanced budget. We lead the nation in school choice. We lead the nation in Second Amendment freedoms. We lead the nation as a state in protecting the unborn. I've been part of all those issues," he said. "States across this entire nation are proud of us and modeling what Arizona had achieved. I've kept every promise I ever made to LD 18."

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