The new AZ-06 spans the largely suburban eastern half of the city of Tucson, suburbs, and exurbs to the north and south in Pima County, and sparsely populated rural areas to the north and east. It is a diverse, suburban/rural district that has been trending more purple.
As an attorney, legislator, and mom, Kirsten Engel has always been on a mission to fight for working families and make sure children have a chance to build a future and get ahead. Engel took on corporate lobbyists as an environmental lawyer, and she took on extreme Republicans when they tried to cut funding for public schools in the Arizona State Legislature. She’s running to bring her experience to Congress to fight for Arizona values.
Engel’s opponent is Juan Ciscoman, a former aide to conservative Governor Doug Ducey, who is emphasizing border security issues in his campaign. Ciscomani cheered the end of Roe v. Wade and supports making abortion illegal. He has refused to condemn white nationalism and violent rhetoric from members of the Arizona congressional delegation.
HER BACKGROUND
Kirsten Engel learned at an early age the importance of giving back to her community and protecting our resources for generations to come.
After graduating with honors from Brown University and Northwestern University’s School of Law, Engel held positions at the Massachusetts Office of Attorney General and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She saw firsthand the outsized impact that bureaucratic red tape and corporate lobbyists can have on our laws.
Early in her career, Engel found her voice and saw the ways she could make a difference. She filed an amicus brief in the first case in which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change. She helped force paint manufacturers to include warning labels about the hazards of exposure to lead-paint dust. And she oversaw a brownfield renovation program to clean up and restore contaminated waste sites.
After witnessing the Arizona Legislature’s continued attacks on education and public lands, Engel’s commitment to her community was strengthened, motivating her to run for the State House. As a legislator, Engel has fought Republican attempts to cut education and worked to fully fund our public schools and universities. She’s also fought for affordable community college and stronger workforce development, along with technical education programs.
ON THE ISSUES
As an environmental lawyer, Kirsten Engel understands the threat of climate change, especially to a tourism-rich, water-deprived state like Arizona. As a legislator, she led the fight to protect carbon-free energy rules and safeguard Arizona’s water. She leads the Democratic Caucus on issues related to water and served on the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Steering Committee. In Congress, she would support the President’s agenda on combating climate change, particularly efforts to promote the solar fuel industry.
Engel believes that reproductive healthcare and a person’s right to choose should not be up for debate. The attacks on abortion access and reproductive healthcare in Arizona and across our country are appalling. As a state legislator, she always fought to protect reproductive rights and will continue to do so in Congress.
Engel thinks that the bipartisan gun safety law recently signed into law was a necessary first step, but did not go far enough. Congress must pass common sense gun safety laws that a large majority of Americans support. These include universal background checks, closing loopholes such as those allowing weapons to be purchased at gun shows without a background check, and an assault weapons ban.
