In a debate peppered with accusations of lying and treason, U.S. Senate candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema took shots at each other Monday in their only public debate of the 2018 election, each calling out the other’s voting record as proof that the other candidate is not a true representative of Arizona.

Sinema used the debate, which was broadcast live on Arizona PBS, to portray herself as an independent, echoing the campaign ads supporting her candidacy. She painted herself as someone willing to step over party lines, embracing the fact that she had voted largely with President Donald Trump’s agenda since 2017.

“Over the past six years, I’m proud to say I’ve taken the time to learn and grow and occasionally even change my opinion,” said Sinema, who has served three terms in Congress. “Over time, I think it makes sense for individuals, who are willing, to learn and to grow.”

She attempted to dodge questions about how she would have voted during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, calling the event a “circus.” She expressed disappointment with the way the Senate handled the confirmation, but ultimately said she would have voted no because it appeared to her that Kavanaugh lied under oath.

On other issues, she attempted to downplay that some of her positions are Democratic, pointing them out as good for Arizona. She referenced the price of beer cans when saying she opposed the Trump administration’s tariffs on aluminum imports because they hurt the state’s people.

“That’s something I think we should all agree on, that beer shouldn’t cost more,” she said.

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"Channel your fury." That was the subject line of one of the hundred-plus Democratic fundraising emails in my inbox on Sunday. Was it from MoveOn? Nope. From Bernie Sanders 2020? Nope again. It was from the Democratic Governors Association.

And that's why Republicans are making such a big deal about Democrats being angry, or one of the reasons anyway. Sure, they want to use the "Democrat angry mob" attack to rally their base by conflating the Democratic Party with their usual grab bag of scary people, the immigrants and gangs and just about any people of color — you know, the usual suspects in the Republican "Be very afraid, they're coming to get you!" campaign. But as important, they don't want Democrats to use anger to rally their base. The DGA email says Democrats have to "channel all our fury into fighting as hard as we can for the next 23 days until Election Day," so Dems will vote in large enough numbers, they'll win close races. Republicans expect that kind of talk from lefties like MoveOn and Bernie Sanders. But when it comes from the usually staid, measured Democratic Governors Association, that's scary.

Anger and vitriol are supposed to be exclusive Republican weapons used to pummel Democrats into submission, according to Republicans anyway. They know anger works. It gets voters' adrenalin pumping. It's especially effective when Democrats respond as they have historically, with measured tones, using logic to explain why Republican anger isn't justified.

"See?" the aggressors crow after a weak Democratic response. "Republicans are strong, we know how to fight! Democrats are wusses."

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On this edition of Zona Politics: Crystal Kasnoff of the Just Fix The Roads Committee stops by to explain why voters should support Pima County's Prop 463, which would generate $430 million to fix Pima County's troubled roads; Bruce Burke of the Yes on 407 campaign, which would generate $225 million to improve Tucson parks; and Tom Collins, the executive director of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission.

Tune into Zona Politics Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and Sundays at 9 a.m. on the Creative Tucson network, Cox Channel 20 and Comcast Channel 74. Listen to a radio version of the show at 5 p.m. Sundays on Community Radio KXCI, 91.3 FM. Or watch online here!

Legislative District 11, which straddles Pima and Pinal counties, has enough Republican voters it might look like an easy win for Republicans who have held it since 2013. But don't try to tell that to Hollace Lyon, a Democrat making her second run for a house seat in the district.

Lyon started campaigning and fundraising last September and has amassed a war chest of $150,000 and counting, larger than the two Republican candidates put together. The campaign funds combined with her targeted, persistent ground game—volunteers have knocked on 13,000 doors—put her solidly in the running, especially in an election season which continues to be full of surprises.

I sat down with Hollace Lyon over coffee where we discussed the campaign and her stance on the issues.

Full disclosure: I've known Hollace for years and would love to see her pull out a win in LD-11. This post is certainly an endorsement. It's also a way to let readers know who she is.

Hollace Lyon is a moderate Democrat who has a detailed platform on her website laying out her stands on the major issues facing the state. However, she says her main focus is fiscal responsibility. She developed skills with budgets and negotiation during her 26-year career in the Air Force, and she wants to bring those skills to the legislature.

Lyon says her Air Force experience taught her she's a moderate. "One of the more important aspects I took out of the Air Force was, I learned I don't always have the answers I think I have," she said. "When I think I'm right about things, I've learned I'd better stop, get some input, weigh things and see the consequences of certain decisions before I press forward."

Lyon puts her Air Force service front and center in her campaign. "When I knock on doors," she told me, "I say to people, 'I'm a retired Air Force colonel with 26 years experience. I commanded two squadrons. I did strategic planning. I ran the NATO satellite system during the Bosnian War. I negotiated with Microsoft to save the Air Force $200 million. I negotiated fielding the NATO nuclear planning system between Turkey and Greece.'"

Lyon continued, "I want to use my skills in budgeting and negotiation to figure out where the money we've been paying into the state has gone, money that we thought was going to fund schools and fix roads." Voters have seen their taxes go up, most often at the local level "because the state has stopped paying for things they're supposed to pay for." The reason state funds have been insufficient? "You've heard this before, it's the cumulative tax giveaways. And every year, the Legislature and the governor add more."

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On Arizona’s last day for voter registration, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick and Republican Lea Marquez Peterson stood before a packed room at the Jewish Community Center and answered questions from a panel of journalists about the most pressing issues in Congressional District 2.

These two candidates are running for Congresswoman Martha McSally’s seat in the US House of Representatives, hoping to represent a district that is quite evenly divided politically. As of August 2018, there are 136,268 registered Democrat voters, 132,730 registered Republican voters and 121,090 independent voters, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s count.

This was the first and only time that they will debate each other before the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Kirkpatrick is an attorney who represented northern Arizona in the Arizona Legislature for one term and in Congress for three terms. After losing a Senate race to Republican John McCain in 2016, she moved to Tucson to help her daughter during the arrival of a new baby and decided to run for Congress in CD2.

Marquez Peterson has lived in CD2 for more than 40 years and has been the CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce since 2009. This is her first time running for elected office.

Here’s where the two candidates differ on hot-button topics:

Transnational Trade/Immigration/Border Security
While both agreed that maintaining strong trade relations with Mexico is important, Marquez Peterson said that she supports the NAFTA agreement despite President Trump’s criticisms. Kirkpatrick said there are always winners and losers in any trade agreement, so Congress needs to re-evaluate each trade deal to see where changes should be made.

Marquez Peterson said she supports DACA recipients achieving legal status, but that should not include a path to citizenship. She wants to focus on reforming the immigration process to “be something that’s merit-based, that includes a family and also includes border security.” This is a reversal for Marquez Peterson, who had previously lobbied on behalf of the DREAM Act as well as the Senate's Gang of 8 2013 immigration bill, which did provide a path to citizenship for both Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants in the United States.

She repeatedly said she supports a border wall “where it makes sense” and wants to give as many financial resources as possible to Border Patrol operations and the two Port of Entries. Marquez Peterson added that she was in favor of keeping Operation Stonegarden funding, which the Pima County Board of Supervisors declined last month, and claimed that Sheriff Napier is now disadvantaged financially.

Kirkpatrick is against a border wall, and used this portion of the debate to express concern over the Trump administration’s family separation policy and its fallout. She said the testimonies of immigrants were “emotional and tragic,” and that “if Capitol Hill could hear these stories, we’d get immigration reform done.”

She claimed border residents believe that Pres. Trump is inflating the problems of transnational relations with Mexico, while Marquez Peterson countered that drug smuggling and human trafficking are still rampant problems that affect border residents and it cannot go unaddressed any longer.

NextGen, a nonprofit political-action organization, has registered 21,051 new voters between the ages of 18-35 ahead of the registration deadline in Arizona.

To do this, organizers in Arizona have knocked on 43,069 doors and sent 43,285 texts through Oct. 9 to entice the youth population to vote in the upcoming election.

Since its founding in 2013, NextGen has worked to raise support for political issues such as immigrant rights, affordable healthcare, equal rights and battling climate change.

Jalakoi Solomon, NextGen Arizona State Youth Director, said that young people are the largest voting block and may be the deciding factor in the upcoming November election.

"Young Arizonans hold incredible potential and power and are ready for political change," said Solomon. "Now is the time to flex our muscle and show Trump and his Republican allies, like Martha McSally, that their time is up."

The youth organization in Arizona has employed more than 50 organizers and has recruited nearly 2,437 volunteers across 23 campuses to politically empower young people.

The Our Lives, Our Vote program is a joint initiative between NextGen, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and Everytown, which is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country. The nationwide initiative was created in order to register young voters and start a conversation about gun reform before the 2018 midterm election. The program has since registered 3,442 high school students to vote in Arizona.

For more information about NextGen's initiatives, click here.