State Representative John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills faced off with his opponent for the State Senate seat in District 23 at a Tea Party meeting.

Kavanagh and Democrat Paula Pennypacker are seeking the seat made available after Michele Reagan chose to run for Secretary of State this year.

Kavanagh, a New York native, has served in the Arizona House of Representatives for eight years. Kavanagh also served as a member of the Fountain Hills Town Council.

Prior to coming to Arizona Kavanagh was politically active since high school in New York and New Jersey.

He described himself as a social and political conservative.

“I have never voted for a tax increase and don’t think I ever will,” Kavanagh told the Tea Party audience.

Pennypacker is an Ohio native who came to Arizona in 1998. She said she cut her teeth challenging machine politics and running for mayor of Toledo, Ohio. When she arrived in Arizona she became a founding member of the Scottsdale Tea Party.

“For 30 years I was a party activist,” Pennypacker said. “The party let me down. They are missing the voice of the people.”

Pennypacker said there are center right conservatives and center left progressives who are being ignored by both parties.

She said she is particularly concerned with attempts to dictate what goes on in the bedroom and how a woman should take care of her body.

When asked about the relationship between the State Legislature and local municipal government, Kavanagh said there is no option, the relationship is outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

“The states wrote and adopted the Constitution, and it states the duties of the federal government,” Kavanagh said. “Whatever the federal government doesn’t do is the responsibility of the states.

“The states created county and local government.”

He noted that municipal governments can act to establish a charter, giving them more latitude in running local government – something he noted Fountain Hills has chosen not to do.

“As a legislator I have worked very closely with local government,” Kavanagh said. “This year I received the League of Arizona Cities and Towns’ champion award.”

Pennypacker said she was very involved in the City of Scottsdale’s effort to ban political sign clutter in the rights-of-way.

“The legislature over-rode a vote of the people to reinstate the use of political signs. Who would have thought it would be Democrats to champion greater personal liberty for all?”

Kavanagh noted that the sign issue is a First Amendment issue.

“Don’t blame me, I respect the First Amendment,” he said.

Pennypacker was asked about a comment she made regarding the “insanity” of government.

“What I said was ‘restore the sanity,’” Pennypacker said. “We need to come together as in the past and have a respectful conversation. I have never seen a more polarized government.

“Center left and center right are where we find the solutions, we need to restore the voice of moderation.”

“There is not really that much polarization in the Legislature,” Kavanagh retorted.

“We work hand-in-hand across the aisle. There are some surprising alliances between Republicans and Democrats. I worked on issues where I found common ground on civil liberties with the ACLU.”

When asked about their positions regarding Common Core and Medicaid, Pennypacker said she supports the position taken by Governor Jan Brewer regarding Medicaid.

“How can we as a people be opposed to affordable healthcare?” Pennypacker said.

She said she does support Common Core.

“Is it perfect? No, but it is about fundamental standards, it is not about curriculum,” Pennypacker said. “This is a conservative idea.”

Kavanagh said he opposed both Common Core and Medicaid changes.

Pennypacker said she would not cut another penny in education funding.

“The object has been to drown public education in the bathtub,” she said. “We need to improve education’s outcome.

“I support (Democratic candidate for governor) Fred Duval’s position to take Arizona from the bottom to the top five in education.”

“Arizona school funding is very distorted,” Kavanagh said. “The system is complex and you have to chase money all over the place.

“If you just look at scores, Arizona is in the middle of the pack. If you take out the immigrant kids who have difficulty with the language, we are even higher.

“Money is not everything. We have already restored funding cut by the recession, even before the lawsuit (ordering the restoration). There is no reason to cut funding when we are increasing.”

“If elected I will be a senator for all of the people,” Pennypacker said in closing.

“I can be a meaningful, respectful voice in a moderate debate.”

“I’m very proud of what I have done in the Legislature,” Kavanagh said. “I have won a lot of awards for protecting the taxpayers’ dollars, education support – even the Humane Society.

“I’m a damn good legislator with knowledge and experience and consistency.”