Anti-gay marriage conservative to run for

Arizona Republicans have a gubernatorial candidate to run against Janet Napolitano. His name is Len Munsil and he stopped in Winslow last week to speak to local supporters on his way to the Fourth of July parade in Prescott.

Munsil, a self-avowed Reagan conservative, was a former college newspaper sportswriter and also editor of the Arizona State University newspaper for a while. After ASU, he went on to get a law degree, but is most known for being the founding president of The Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative Judeo-Christian family values organization that grew to be one of the largest and most politically influential state-based organizations of its kind. Since Munsil began CAP in 1996 in relation to Focus on the Family, a nationwide movement, CAP has grown to having a staff of 18 with a budget of over $1.8 million. Munsil was also the architect of the Protect Marriage Arizona Amendment that would define marriage in the Arizona Constitution as being between one man and one woman.

"We battle organizations like Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and gay rights groups that seek to destroy traditional families and traditional moral values," states the CAP website.

Munsil said his decision to run against Napolitano was because people who share his values do not believe themselves to be represented by the current governor.

"We felt like we needed an alternative to our current governor to represent the conservative values that we stand for," Munsil said.

His biggest frustration with the governor was her vetoing of many conservative-endorsed bills pushed by the Republican-controlled state house and legislature.

"I think she has not been an effective leader, but she has also been calculating in her decisions so to not make people mad," Munsil said.

Napolitano appears to be more popular with voters than when she took office in 2003 when 62 percent said they were confident in Napolitano's ability to lead the state, including 20 percent who said they were "very confident."

Last December, 83 percent of the 602 registered voters surveyed expressed confidence in Napolitano's ability to govern effectively, including 39 percent who said they were very confident.

"The legislature is probably a better reflection of public opinion than she is," Munsil said.

Munsil currently has the support of 30 Arizona State legislators along with Congressman Rick Renzi.

Arizona's republican controlled legislature has locked horns with Governor Napolitano many times on issues or proposed bills. Since she took office as governor, she has vetoed 114 bills ­ to tie with former Governor Bruce Babbitt's record.

"Some vetoes are vetoes because it's a matter of principle but some are because there simply has been inadequate communication between the Legislature and the executive," Napolitano said to the Arizona Republic in May. "I wish there were more but I can't communicate with myself, so I need the Legislature to work with me."

Issues of CAP supported bills vetoed by the governor include: abstinence funding; religious exemption and a mandatory contraception law; abortion and informed consent by parents; rights of conscience and health care workers; parental rights information and public schools; marital misconduct amendments and divorce statutes; school choice and vouchers, and corporate tax credit for tuition scholarships.

These are all foundational issues for Munsil whose CAP mission is, "strengthening the family and restoring traditional moral principles to the public policy and cultural arenas."

Beyond the scope of CAP, which is anti-abortion, pro-abstinent, anti-gay marriage, anti-pornography, anti-gambling, pro-home schooling and pro-religious rights, Munsil will be pushing for a few more issues to garner support from Arizona voters.

Munsil said that Arizona border security is lacking and that the state needs to increase its efforts now to prevent more border crossings.

"I would stop illegal immigration by building new fences and using radar technology to identify and deter attempts to cross before they happen," he said. "The National Guard should be deployed to confront and stop illegal crossings."

When asked about where he would get the money to pay for this, Munsil said Arizona which used to be in deficit, now has a billion-dollar surplus and that money could be allocated to guard the border.

"In terms of budget surplus, Napolitano thinks that means the government has more to spend," Munsil said. "I have been in support of tax cuts across the board for income and property taxes."

Munsil is an advocate for increasing spending to accelerate freeway and road construction to reduce the loss of productivity resulting from congested freeways in growing urban areas.

He also proposes increasing spending on areas like law enforcement.

"The first role of government is public safety. We are losing many good people in law enforcement and we need to increase their pay and benefits deserving of those who put their lives on the line," he said.

Some teachers might also be eligible for pay increases on a performance-based pay system under Munsil. He said the current governor just throws money at the school system without holding them accountable.

Munsil would like to see funding follow the children to allow parents a choice to send their kids to charter or private schools, or even by home schooling them.

Competition within the schools would be beneficial. Competition is one of the things that makes our country so great, he said.

After speaking with some Winslow residents, Munsil said the two most obvious concerns of these residents were the state of the city of Winslow's infrastructure and the access to health care.

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