By Staff Reporter |
A Democratic candidate for Congress in Arizona advocated for decriminalizing prostitution in a since-deleted clip.
JoAnna Mendoza, candidate for the 6th congressional district, said in an uncovered 2020 interview that prostitution needed to be decriminalized, especially for marginalized communities like transgender women of color.
That was the year Mendoza made an unsuccessful bid for the 11th legislative district in the Arizona State Senate. Mendoza lost against Republican State Sen. Vince Leach, now representing the 17th legislative district.
Mendoza said in a now-deleted video interview with the executive director of Equality Arizona at the time, Michael Soto, that social services and healthcare needed to replace arrests. Mendoza reframed prostitution as a means of income, not a crime.
“[We need to be] eliminating the discriminatory practices and laws so that every individual has the opportunity to be able to provide for themselves. We need to stop criminalizing people for their situations,” said Mendoza.
The National Republican Congressional Committee first released the found footage.
Mendoza also supported the decriminalization of marijuana, and the reduction of funding to police during her 2020 run. The latter issue Mendoza addressed in a Clean Elections Commission town hall event.
Mendoza said police funding should be reallocated to social service programs, such as those that would provide economic stability, environmental safety, healthcare, housing, and public education.
“I support the reallocation of funding to programs that would allow people to live their best lives,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza’s current campaign denied that her support for reallocating police funding was equivalent to defunding the police.
Last week, Mendoza reportedly held a closed-door campaign event with an organization that has advocated for the defunding of police, Reproductive Freedom For All, who has endorsed Mendoza.
Mendoza’s current platform doesn’t mention decriminalizing prostitution or marijuana, nor does it mention defunding the police. Mendoza’s platform provides a general focus on costs, jobs, healthcare, policing, climate, government accountability, veterans, and foreign relations.
Mendoza did provide some specifics on policy in her platform. On immigration, Mendoza advocates for legal pathways to citizenship for those who enter the country illegally while limiting deportations to violent criminals.
Mendoza also supports increased government subsidization in renewable energy and healthcare.
Mendoza is running to unseat incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Republican. She’s pulled a number of key Democratic endorsements, including Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, Reps. Greg Stanton (AZ-04) and Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), former Reps. Gabby Giffords and Tom O’Halleran, former Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Teran, and former Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel.
The political action committee founded by Gallego’s former best friend and former Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell, has also provided campaign support to Mendoza.
So far, Mendoza has raised over $5.3 million for her congressional run per Federal Election Commission records.
Beyond the political action committee founded by Swalwell, Mendoza has a slate of other top progressive organization endorsements, including EMILY’s List, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Equality PAC, Jewish Dems, and VoteVets.
Part of Mendoza’s popularity with the LGBTQ+ advocacy groups stems from her personal identity as a bisexual woman.
Mendoza formerly worked for former Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran. Mendoza served in the Marines from 1999 to 2013.
Mendoza has also worked for the Arizona Center for Economic Progress and VetsForward.
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