In a Newsweek op-ed the Chandler Council Member chided Democrats for abandoning the working class in favor of woke priorities.
Rene Lopez is running in the GOP primary for Arizona's 4th congressional district. He is a Chandler Council Member who is not seeking re-election. Lopez chided Biden's open border policies which are especially burdensome for Arizona.
Instead of meaningful immigration reform, President Joe Biden has effectively opened the borders, wreaking havoc in states along the southern border, such as my own state, Arizona. The nonprofit organization that I co-founded—Cece's Hope Center, which works with victims of sex trafficking—has been overwhelmed by the increased demand created by disastrous border policies. And fentanyl, a drug that comes to America from China by way of illegal smuggling through Mexico, has become the number-one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
Lopez continues by criticizing Democrat education policies.:
As our children continue to fall behind academically and struggle emotionally (another crisis felt most deeply among the working class) following the school closures of the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats have focused on implementing social experimentation and politicized curricula that are at odds with the values of many working-class Americans. Educating our children and preparing them for college and the workforce should be the top priority.
Lopez, who is a second generation immigrant from Mexico, also shows us a window into the mind of many first generation immigrants. He writes that around the time Lopez turned 18, his father insisted on registering his son as a Democrat and said to Rene Lopez: "We are Mexican. We are Catholic. We are Democrats."
In the Chandler City Council Lopez is on the right side. He appears to be a budget hawk. He also opposes the establishment of a non-discrimination ordinance that would come with enforcement. In at least one case such an ordinance has been used for religious persecution. The persecuted Colorado Christian baker had to take his case to the Supreme Court to get justice, over his refusal to bake a custom gay wedding cake. The baker has since been fined for refusing to bake a custom cake, blue on the outside, pink on the inside, for a gender transition party.
Chandler Non-Discrimination Ordinance, NDO
The NDO is primarily pushed by council member OD Harris. It is also supported by council member Matt Orlando, who is up for re-election in November. Candidates Jane Poston and Angel Encinas, who like Orlando are endorsed by the woke Chandler Chamber also support the NDO. Mayor Kevin Hartke opposes it. City council candidate Farhana Shifa so far opposes the measure. Candidate Darla Gonzales seems to need more time make up her mind. She stated that she will wait for the results of a survey/review currently being run in the city. The city paid a consulting firm from Sacramento, California $50,000 to run the review. There can be little doubt that the review will conclude that Chandler is not inclusive enough and hence needs the NDO...
Read Lopez's whole opinion piece here.
Other Republicans running in the GOP primary for the 4th districts are:
David Giles
Kelly Cooper
Jerone Davidson
Tanya Wheeless
The winner of the primary will advance to the November general election where he or she will face off with Democrat Greg Stanton who currently represents Arizona's 9th congressional district. Stanton is running in the new district 4 because of a re-drawn district map. The current representative of the 4th district, Republican Paul Gosar, is running in the Republican primary for the new 9th district.