By Staff Reporter |
A border security champion is seeking to return to the Arizona Legislature for her second term in office.
State Senator Justine Wadsack, a Republican, is running for reelection in Arizona Legislative District 17, which covers Pima County, north of Tucson, including Marana and Catalina. She has resided in Pima County for more than four decades, living in several of its cities throughout this time.
Wadsack is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and a member of the Government, Health and Human Services, Judiciary, and Senate Ethics Committees. Previously, she served as a member of the Director Nominations and Elections Committees.
On her campaign website, Wadsack lists “border security” as her number-one issue. She writes that, “Pima County is on the front lines of America’s immigration crisis. The Democratic Party is allowing our people to become dispossessed from our own nation as it allows hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to violate our sovereignty every month. Arizona’s border is the largest crime scene in the United States, and so many of our domestic problems are symptoms of this core crisis. Until this invasion is stopped and the rule of law upheld, the border must be every Americans’ first priority.”
To that end, Wadsack sponsored SB 1608, which “classifies the unlawful use of an electronic device to smuggle human beings as a class 2 felony and prohibits a person from being released from confinement, if convicted” – according to the purpose provided by the Arizona State Senate. The bill passed with a 16-13 vote (with one member not voting). All Republicans voted in favor of the proposal.
In a statement after the vote, Wadsack said, “Human smuggling is at an all-time high. Cartels are recruiting people, often our children, to participate in smuggling operations using various apps such as Snapchat and WhatsApp. The use of social media platforms to carry out these crimes has grown exponentially and contributes to the humanitarian crisis caused by Biden’s open border policies. Our children, our law enforcement, and our communities are being targeted, and it won’t be tolerated.”
Last year, Senator Wadsack had introduced the same bill, which passed out of both chambers. Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation, writing that it “is yet another attempt by the majority to criminalize organizations and individuals who aim to support immigrants and refugees.”
Over the years, law enforcement officials, including Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, have warned of the dangers on these social media platforms posed to American teenagers, who are highly sought-after targets by cartels and smugglers for illegal couriering activities. In a 2022 op-ed for Fox News, the two officials wrote that “drug cartels are now using SnapChat, Instagram, and other social media apps to recruit American teenagers from around the country to transport migrants and drugs from the border,” and that “high-speed pursuits between these teenagers and local law enforcement have become daily events.”
The two officials concluded their piece by sounding the alarm about the reality on the ground, saying, “As law enforcement officials in our state, we can say with full confidence that we have never seen anything like this crisis at the border and how it is affecting everyday Americans in their communities. While many media outlets have declined to show the American public the disturbing images of increasing high-speed pursuits and other border-related devastation here at home, the death and danger they present are very real; lives are at stake.”
Senator Wadsack, the first-term legislator, also voted for HCR 2060, the Arizona Secure the Border Act, in May. Thanks to its successful passage out of the state House and Senate, this measure will be on the November General Election ballot, giving voters an opportunity to take some border security options into their own hands and to empower law enforcement with more resources to protect Arizona communities.
In August 2023, the Arizona Republican Party named Wadsack as its “Freshman Senator of the Year.” The release from the political organization noted that Wadsack “has persistently fought for common sense laws that benefit all Arizonans, not just those in her district,” and that “Her achievements reflect her ability to work effectively across party lines, embodying the true spirit of bipartisan collaboration.”
The Arizona Coalition of School Board Members also selected Wadsack to be its “Elected Official of the Year” this past February. The group wrote that “While only one of her bills successfully made it through the legislature (later to be vetoed by the Governor), the effort cannot be denied as Senator Wadsack demonstrated a passion for parental rights in the education space. Her bills reflect the AZ Coalition of School Board Member values of academic excellence and transparency.”
Arizona Legislative District 17 leans Republican, with an 8.3% vote spread between Republicans and Demcorats in the past nine statewide elections, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. In those statewide contests, Republicans have won all nine of the elections.
Wadsack is running against former legislator Vince Leach for the Republican nomination in the upcoming July 30 primary election. She defeated Leach in a three-way primary two years ago. The winner of this primary race will face off against John McLean, who is running unopposed for the Democrat nomination. McLean is a third-generation Arizonan, who has lived in Pima County for more than three decades.
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