By BRIAN WRIGHT, Staff Writer | Casa Grande Dispatch
CASA GRANDE — Familiar and not so familiar faces made their case to be a Republican representative in Congressional District 1 during a forum on Monday night.
The forum, unlike a debate format, was entirely cordial. No one challenged any of their counterparts or even openly disagreed on the issues.
There was near 100 percent consensus on a variety of topics including jobs, border security, government spending, health care, the role of the Environmental Protection Agency, the veterans health care system and the treatment of veterans in general.
Six of the eight Republicans running for the open seat attended the forum at Central Lutheran Church in Casa Grande, hosted by the Western Pinal County Chapter of the Arizona Republican Assembly. About 75 people attended the event.
Familiar faces included Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett and rancher and oilman Gary Kiehne. State Sen. Carlyle Begay, R-Ganado, retired Air Force Col. Wendy Rogers and Navajo businessman Shawn Redd also participated.
Two others running for the seat did not attend: Arizona Speaker of the House David Gowan, who was at the Legislature working on finalizing a budget, and Thomas Whipple, a network security engineer and the most recent candidate to enter the race.
