Barbie Brasch
Arizona Senate candidate Julie Willoughby met with Sun Lakes residents for coffee and conversation on Sept. 24 in the Mirror Room at Sun Lakes Country Club. Despite heavy rain, community members attended to learn more about her candidacy and share their views on issues affecting Arizona.
Willoughby represents Legislative District 13 in the Arizona House of Representatives and is seeking election to the Arizona State Senate. An emergency trauma nurse and small-business owner, she describes herself as a Christian, wife and mother who believes public service should put people before politics.
Willoughby said her faith, family and community remain central to her work despite the demands of her professional and public-service responsibilities. Through involvement in her local church and community service, she has observed how government decisions affect residents’ quality of life. Guided by her Christian faith and conservative values, she believes those priorities can contribute to a safer and stronger Arizona.
Her stated priorities include improving affordability, supporting education and parental rights, expanding access to quality healthcare, promoting safe communities and supporting small businesses.
The meeting began with introductions from attendees representing a broad range of backgrounds, including aviation, real estate, information technology, manufacturing, retail, military service, financial services, human resources, executive support, homeschooling, and Silicon Valley leadership.
Willoughby then invited discussion around three questions: what Arizona is doing well, how the state has changed, and what concerns residents have about its future. Participants identified strong infrastructure, a relatively low tax burden, favorable property-tax rates, reasonable water rates, protection of gun rights and limited regulation as areas in which Arizona is performing well.
When discussing changes in the state, attendees noted that population growth has brought retail services closer to residential communities and that the driver’s license process has improved. Some participants characterized the 2022 voting process as problematic and viewed recently enacted election-integrity laws as an initial step toward addressing their concerns.
Looking ahead, residents raised concerns about water security, border security and drug trafficking, abortion policy, policies concerning women’s sports, education quality, socialism, and declining standards in medical training.
Willoughby also discussed her experience as a registered trauma nurse and her efforts to reduce the backlog of professional licensing cases. Residents shared concerns openly during the group discussion and were also given an opportunity to provide private feedback on matters they preferred not to address publicly.
At the conclusion of the event, Willoughby thanked participants and said their feedback would help her to better understand and address constituents’ needs and expectations in the Senate.