A Democratic state House incumbent and a Republican challenger clashed in an Aug. 20 debate over how to make housing more affordable and how to add accountability to Arizona’s universal school voucher program.
The debate pitted Republican David Richardson against Democrats Armando Montero and Rep. Stacey Travers.
Richardson is trying to win one of two state House seats up for grabs in Legislative District 12, which spans Ahwatukee, west Chandler, southwest Tempe and a portion of the Gila River Indian Community.
Democrats have consistently won by large margins in the district, including 2022 in which Richardson lost the Senate race in a landslide.
Legislative District 12
The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission sponsored the debate, which included a question-and-answer session with Democratic Rep. Patty Contreras after her No Labels Party opponent, Anthony Ramirez, declined his invitation. Voters go to the polls Nov. 3, and early ballots go out Oct. 7.
The most spirited disagreement came when the candidates explained where policymakers should draw the line between addressing Arizona's housing shortage and allowing cities to control their own development.
Richardson said the state needs to build more homes and he’s in support of policies the Legislature has already enacted such as allowing the construction of casitas, duplexes, triplexes and townhomes in certain areas. He added that speeding up the process to obtain building permits and removing unnecessary regulations would speed up construction.
Republican House candidate David Richardson
Richardson got under Travers’ skin by twice referring to housing surges in politically conservative Texas.
“Don’t Texas my Arizona,” Travers said, sarcastically referring to a popular political and cultural slogan of “Don’t California my Arizona,” used by longtime Arizona residents and conservative groups to condemn the influx of newcomers from California who bring progressive ideas and tax-and-spend policies.
Richardson asked her if she meant there should be no new home construction.
Democratic Rep. Stacey Travers
“You keep citing Texas. This isn't Texas. This is Arizona,” Travers said.
Richardson said: “Economics is a fundamental principle. More supply equals lower price.”
Travers said homebuilders are part of the state’s housing crisis because they’re sitting on a housing supply they “have decided not to exercise their right to.” She said lawmakers need to be careful about putting mandates on cities to encourage construction and the state shouldn’t be dictating building regulations to cities either because they are necessary for safety.
“I don't like regulations, but I also don't want 40 people in a building collapsing because we cut corners so that we could make permitting fast or more convenient for a home builder or for a construction company,” she said.
Democratic House candidate Armando Montero
Montero said he’s for local control and against heavy-handed state mandates and it’s up to lawmakers to speak with their mayors and city councils to know what they think is best to encourage homebuilding in their respective cities.
When the subject changed to the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, or vouchers, which pays public funds for students to attend private school, Richardson said he supports it. But he said anyone caught stealing from the program should be severely punished.
The program has become a political football at the Legislature as its cost ballooned to around $1 billion and state auditors found fraud, waste and abuse. Democrats want the program to be available only for students with special needs, while Republicans want to keep all students eligible. Democrats also want to enact accountability and transparency measures.
“I am an emphatic supporter of choice for parents,” Richardson said. “I think it's the most just use of funds for the funds to follow the student, and I believe that we can fund public schools and all forms of education.”
Travers and Montero said the program has no financial or academic accountability and it’s detrimental to the budget. Travers said supporters sold the universal program — it began for just special needs students and the Republican controlled Legislature added new groups over the years — as costing $300 million.
“And when I spoke to a colleague, they said, ‘We knew it was going to be more, we didn't care, we just wanted to ram this through anyway,’” Travers said. “So they knew it was going to cost up to a billion dollars, and they lied to the public about it.”
Democratic Rep. Patty Contreras
Contreras said in a separate interview after the House candidates’ debate that the program has gotten out of control and she’s spoken with people whose children never went to public school, but they joined the program for the “free money.”
Contreras, who wants to move from the House to the Senate to replace the retiring Democratic Sen. Mitzi Epstein, said the state could increase K-12 funding by renewing Proposition 123, a 2016 ballot measure that tapped into the state’s land trust to pay for inflation on state funds for schools. The ballot measure expired in 2025, and the Legislature has been drawing from the general fund to make up for the lost funds.