Democrat candidate in key House race vowed ‘full support’ for cutting police budget in half
By Jim Ryan, The Arizona Republic
A Democrat running for Congress in a key swing district said he would raise taxes on the wealthy and cut the police department’s budget in half if elected to Congress, in what would be a rebuke to more established political parties.
The comments from Tom O’Halleran, who is running for an open seat in the House of Representatives in Arizona, were reported by The Arizona Republic and The Arizona Daily Star.
O’Halleran declined to say whether he was campaigning in the district that has been described by some as the most vulnerable of the nation’s House districts.
“I have a very, very strong record in the State Senate representing the 2nd district,” O’Halleran said. “If elected, I will fight for the 2nd Congressional District.”
He said he would bring “full support” to cutting the police department in half.
“This is a very close race, if not the closest race of 2018,” he said.
O’Halleran is one of five Democrats running to replace retiring Republican Rep. Trent Franks, who has been embroiled in a scandal since the beginning of the year. That has put the seat in play as the Democratic Party battles for the House majority in November.
O’Halleran said he was inspired to run after seeing the effects police departments across the country and the country as a whole are having on communities.
“It is a big issue,” he said. “The 2nd District is a very close race and I think it’s going to be an all-out close race.”
He said it would be a huge honor if he is called upon to run for Franks’ seat and that he could not ask for anything more because it would be “the most important thing in my career.”
But in a statement issued