Why this former Reagan administration employee is running for office as a Democrat

What would make a former Republican who once served in the Reagan administration run for office as a Democrat?

“I said I’d given up politics,” said Deborah Howard with a laugh, “but I realized I wanted to do absolutely everything possible to defeat Donald Trump, starting with helping candidates for the state legislature flip their seats.”

She had the skills, having spent much of her career working in communications, first in Ronald Reagan’s Department of Labor and later for the American Association of Retired People (AARP).

As a volunteer leading voter registration and redistricting drives in Maricopa County, she was appalled that state Republicans ignored the will of the majority on many issues, including abortion rights, school vouchers, and taxes.

“Arizona voters twice told the state legislature they didn’t want universal school vouchers,” Howard said, “but the legislative majority said, ‘We don’t care; we’re doing it anyway.’

“Voters also passed Prop 208—essentially a wealth tax to support public education—by a wide margin. It was remarkable. And instead of actually listening to voters, the same group avoided implementing that tax by rewriting the entire tax code.”

Those two acts alone took Arizona from a budget surplus just last year to a $1.4 billion deficit this year.

In addition, Howard realized that her district, Arizona’s 27th Legislative District, was represented by three election deniers.

“Our state senator Anthony Kern is not only an election denier,” she said, “he was also a January 6 participant and a named fake elector.” Discussing how Kern should be removed from the senate, Howard and several Democratic candidates decided she should run for office.

Howard talked with Copper Courier about the joys of service and making sure Arizona’s voters are heard. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Copper Courier: Volunteerism and service seem to have been major themes in your life.

DH: I blame my parents for that because they talked at the dinner table about politics as an honorable profession. One of their core democratic values was that you serve workers; that sense of right and fairness is deeply imbedded in our family story.

And when I worked for AARP, the belief that volunteerism is a huge component of our American heritage became part of my DNA. I like to think I’ve carried that forward.

CC: You’ve done that even when times are tough. 

DH: Yes. When I was 56, my husband died just three weeks after we learned he was sick. After muddling through a few years, my way of rejoining life was to volunteer for the Peace Corps in Madagascar—until their health screening turned up cancer. (I love to say “President Kennedy saved my life” because he created the Peace Corps, which led to that checkup.) And as the chemo fog from my last cancer treatment lifted in 2019, I moved on by working for political change.

CC: As you talk to voters, which issues do they say are most important? 

DH: Right now, abortion access and education.

CC: What did they say when you canvassed to get the abortion amendment on the ballot?

DH: Some of the stories were heartbreaking. A pregnant woman with a small daughter began to cry as she signed the petition. “In my last pregnancy,” she said, “my water broke at 20 weeks. If the 1864 ban had been in effect, I might not have been able to get the care I needed to save my life—both to keep being a mother for my child who’s here and to be able to grow my family next time.”

Another woman said that because of a genetic issue, her daughters had had 12 miscarriages between them. Terrifying, right? Her daughters’ lives could be in jeopardy. That made her a strong advocate.

We’re going to do everything we can to make that better. Pregnancy should be a time for joy, not for terror.

It’s the same with contraception. They [Republicans] are absolutely going to limit contraception, as well as IVF. When and whether a person chooses to grow their family, or not, via in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, or abortion, is their decision. That right should be embedded in the Arizona state constitution.

CC: Have you gotten much anti-abortion blowback?

DH: Very little, and I hope it stays that way. But I can become defiant if challenged on issues that I think are quite straightforward. And I think a woman’s right to self-determination and liberty over her own body is pretty straightforward.

CC: What can be done to fix Arizona’s education system, which now ranks 49th in per pupil funding?

DH: We can elect a pro-education majority. I’ll be part of that majority, which will restore school funding and recruit and retain certified teachers for every classroom. We’ll also increase affordable options for people after high school, including community college and technical school.

CC: You’ve also been focused on affordable housing? 

DH: Absolutely. Arizona is one of the 10 most expensive states in which to buy a home. Corporations now buy three out of every ten homes on the market, which jacks up prices, and rents are skyrocketing. Working with legislators, Governor Hobbs, and local governments, we can create a better Arizona where first-time buyers can afford homes, renters are protected from uncontrolled rent hikes, and the homeless get comprehensive services.

CC: How are you different from your Republican opponents in this race?

DH: It’s a stark choice. There’s only one candidate in this LD 27 race who supports a woman’s right to reproductive freedom, including access to abortion; only one who strongly supports fully funding and restoring public education so it is truly available to every community throughout the state; only one who embraces a clean energy future, including solar energy. And that’s me.

One thing that every Arizonan can agree on is we get enough sunshine. The fact that we are not a leader in the solar energy industry is a policy choice.

And that’s what we have to focus on. All of these very tangible issues are policy choices. You make these choices at the ballot box by who you choose to represent you.

CC: Do you think you can win in this traditionally Republican district?

DH: Senator Mark Kelly came within 400 votes of flipping this district in 2022, and that was a better showing than 2020, so we’re moving in the right direction.

I say to Republicans, “If you’re going to use both your votes, you could vote for your favorite Republican and [pointing to herself] vote for your favorite Democrat.”