Mohave Daily News: Local

The Daily News

BULLHEAD CITY - It's all about the grassroots, according to Republican candidate for Arizona governor Len Munsil. With limited campaign funds and running against what polls have shown to be a popular incumbent governor, Munsil is counting on grassroots support to put him over the top Nov. 7.

Munsil attracted a small crowd of supporters around noon on Friday outside the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce building. The size of the crowd may have been due in part to the fact there was little advance notice or publicity about his one-hour stop in Bullhead City.

Mike Conner, chamber president and CEO wanted it made clear that, in offering the grounds of his building for a Munsil rally, he was not endorsing him, and has not made an endorsement in the governor's race.

Munsil, 42, a longtime conservative activist, is a third-generation Arizonan, with eight children. He was introduced by state Rep. John Allen from Phoenix who said the Arizona Legislature needs Munsil's kind of leadership.

Munsil told the crowd he's faced Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano twice in televised debates, on the PBS stations in Phoenix and Tucson. He said the governor agreed to three debates but he believes she's backing away from the agreement because she can't defend her record, according to Munsil.

Munsil said he told her that Arizona is “last in education, we have the worst crime rate in the country and you've done nothing to secure the borders and have no plan to secure the borders of our state.

“All of a sudden she doesn't want to talk about her record anymore,” saying the election is about the next four years, not the last four years, Munsil said.

“She doesn't want to have to defend this record of mediocrity that she has as governor,” he said.

He's personally met 30,000 voters across the state, according to Munsil, and “without question, the single most significant issue for most people is this issue of border security.”

Munsil has called for deploying 400 more National Guard troops on the border and creating a new 500-member state border patrol under DPS. It would cost the state $500,000 over a 4-year period.

Answering charges from the governor's office that his plan would require a tax increase, Munsil said that's not true.

“We had a billion and a half dollar budget surplus last year. My plan spends $150 million next year,” he said. “That's 10 percent of what the surplus was in the previous year. I will oppose any tax increase.”

In fact, Munsil has proposed a 10 percent income tax reduction because tax cuts spur economic growth, he said.

He told the crowd that for all voters, including Democrats and independents, “The values I'm talking about is a better fit for our state. ... She's running on elements of her record that make her look more conservative than she is.”

Pointing to his primary run against Don Goldwater, Munsil said he's not intimidated by polls showing him way behind the governor. “We were running against the most famous name in Arizona history.

“No poll, even going up to election night, showed us ahead,” he said. “Every poll showed us down by double digits and we won by double digits.”