Americans are fed up hearing lies from their elected officials. Whether it is going back on their campaign promises or blindsiding constituents with harmful policies, voters are taking notice.
JoAnna Mendoza, congressional candidate for Arizona’s 6th district, is running to change this. In her chat with Jen, Mendoza revealed that Arizonans are “pissed off” with how her opponent — the incumbent candidate— is voting against their interests. The two discuss Mendoza’s rural upbringing and military service, the devastating Medicaid cuts, and the risky foreign policy that jeopardizes our troops abroad.
JoAnna Mendoza is a Democrat running to unseat GOP incumbent Juan Ciscomani in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. Mendoza served in the Navy, and Marine Corps, where she became a Drill Instructor.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian. We have told you that the House is to be won by Democrats if they can switch red seats to blue seats and hold on to their vulnerable seats. Well, one of the most vulnerable Republican seats is the Arizona 6, and we have with us Joanna Mendoza, who is a Democrat running for that seat against an incumbent. Welcome, Joanna, it’s wonderful to meet you.
JoAnna Mendoza
Thank you, Jen. Happy to be here with you today, and thanks for the opportunity to share a little bit about myself and the race, and how we’re gonna flip this seat from red to blue.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. First of all, where is the Arizona 6th? And you’re from the Arizona 6th, actually. I am! It’s been moved around and gerrymandered. What… where are you from, and what’s the 6th like?
JoAnna Mendoza
Well, I am actually from… born and raised in one of the rural counties, Pinal County. Arizona 6 is actually in the southeastern portion of the state. So, we have 5 counties, Pinal, Pima, Greenlee, Graham, and Cochise County. We’re up against the border with New Mexico, so we share that, and then we share about 80 miles of border with Mexico. So, the district, is actually very diverse. There are, suburbs, we have a little portion of the city of Tucson, and then, of course, we have a large geographic, area, or rural areas, a large demographic of rural, communities in small towns, and border towns, actually. It has about 8,000 veterans. A couple military bases and military families, so, being born and raised in the district and serving my country for 20 years, is certainly the type of candidate profile that will resonate with folks in the 6.
Jen Rubin
And you certainly have roots. Talk to us a little bit about your parents, your upbringing, and then your service in the Marines for a couple decades, and two tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan.
JoAnna Mendoza
Yeah, well, I mean, I always tell people I’m just a small-town girl born in a small, rural farming community. I grew up in poverty, I’m the proud daughter of farm workers, and believe it or not, Jen, I actually worked in the fields with my parents every summer from about the age of about 9 or 10 until I could legally get a job. So, that work is back-breaking work, and yet there are still a a lot of folks who actually work in agriculture in the fields in the state of Arizona. I, left, to serve my country at the age of 17. really to escape rural poverty. I mean, there were just… there was just no economic opportunity, and, you know, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps by joining the military, and first the Navy, and then came back home after one enlistment, and there still weren’t any jobs. The community college was roughly about 35, 45 minutes away, we didn’t have a car, and so I joined the Marine Corps. And my mom was not happy about that. She actually said to me, what is wrong with you? Do you like to suffer? And I said, well… It can’t be any worse than suffering here. I’m gonna take my chances in the Marine Corps, and I did do two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, and had the immense honor of making the next generation of Marines and Marine officers as a drill instructor. But don’t worry.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
JoAnna Mendoza
Here, I’m gonna save it for when I get to Congress.
Jen Rubin
I think that may be actually very good training, when you do get and getting these people in line. You have a background that, frankly, is refreshingly unlike most people who serve, in Congress. Now, you’re… the incumbent is a Republican who previously said he supported things like Medicaid, and he supported healthcare. Has he voted that way? And how do people feel about his actual voting record as opposed to what he ran on?
JoAnna Mendoza
Yeah, well, you know, what’s really surprising is that Juan Siskamani paints himself as a moderate, and as someone who’s willing to work across the aisle. But the reality is that if you look at his voting record, he votes with Trump 100% of the time. And as you clearly stated earlier, that he will say… he has signed on to letters saying that he’s going to protect programs like Medicaid to ensure that people have access to quality health care. And then he turns around, and he votes against the very thing that he said that he was gonna support. And it really is a slap in the face to all of his constituents, to us. who are really looking for him to do what he was sent to Congress to do. I mean, members, representatives are elected by the people, we pay their salary with our taxes, and to have him come to DC and not do all of the things that he said he’s gonna do is really egregious, and it’s disrespectful, and I’ll be honest, it pisses us off. And so, the sentiment on the ground right now, I mean, there have been ongoing protests outside of his district offices since last year in the spring, because people are really upset by what he’s doing. And I think the worst part of that, of all of it, is that he refuses to meet with… his constituents. He’s not held any in-person town halls. I mean, the government shut down, Jen, for a month and a half. And then during that time frame, he could have been in district, holding town halls, holding small meetings with different organizations who were impacted, agencies that were impacted by the government shutdown, by the federal employees, and he did none of that for a whole month and a half. I don’t know any job that if you don’t do your job, and you don’t show up for work, and you don’t do what you’re paid to do, will allow you to keep that job. And so that’s one of the reasons why I’m running, and that’s why we’re going to take this seat, and we’re going to flip it from red to blue in November.
Jen Rubin
Let’s just take Medicaid for a moment. You have a lot of rural areas, and rural healthcare is one of the places where the Medicaid cuts are really going to impact. What is going on in the rural areas? Are hospitals, other medical providers concerned, or potentially closing because of loss of funding?
JoAnna Mendoza
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, as I mentioned before, I am a product of government assistance programs. I grew up on Medicaid. Here in Arizona, we call it ACCESS. And, you know, just the fact that people already have challenges getting specialized care. So, for example, maternity care, pediatric, when I retired from the military and came back home to Arizona and put down roots in Pinal County, in my home… in my home county, I had a hard time finding a pediatrician that was accepting new clients. And that was 10, roughly about 10 years ago. And today, now, those rural hospitals who have been providing what they can in terms of maternity care and pediatrics and other specialized medical services are on the verge of shutting down. And so what I like to remind people is that if, even if you don’t live in a rural community. and you’re in a district that does have rural communities and a rural hospital, when those services shut down there and are not being provided, people are going to have to drive an hour and a half, two hours into the city. And what do you think’s gonna happen to the hospitals that are in the city? they’re going to become overwhelmed because those services aren’t being offered in the communities where these folks live who need these services. Maternity care. If you have a woman who has a high-risk pregnancy. I was. When I had my son, when I was pregnant, at the age of 39, I mean, I was a high-risk pregnancy, and now those women are gonna have to drive to ensure that they can get access to the care that they need to be able to have a healthy and strong baby. I mean, those are not things that…
Jen Rubin
Crazy.
JoAnna Mendoza
It’s awful! It’s awful! I mean, isn’t government supposed to be about improving the quality of life for its citizens? I mean, it’s just egregious.
Jen Rubin
you can imagine either a woman in labor, or let’s say you have a kid who’s burning up with fever, and you gotta get that kid to a emergency room. You’re gonna be in the car for an hour and a half. These are really life-threatening situations.
JoAnna Mendoza
Data?
Jen Rubin
I want to talk to you because you noted that you have a border with Mexico, and Arizonans know you have to have a strong border. No one’s saying that we should have open borders, no one’s saying that criminals should be able to hide out here.
JoAnna Mendoza
But the administration’s approach has not been to get the worst of the worst. It’s been to grab people who are working in agriculture and construction, family members.
Jen Rubin
What is going on in the 6th, and what kind of impact is that having, not only on the people directly affected, but the entire economy, the entire lifestyle and life experience of people in your district?
JoAnna Mendoza
Yeah, thank you for the question, because this is an issue that’s top of mind for Arizonans. And especially in this district, because we do share that border with Mexico. And we have border towns, we have, you know, farmers and ranchers who live near the border. And let me be clear, Jen, first and foremost, I believe in a strong border, secure… border security. Secure border, but we can also ensure that we are following procedure, and that it’s constitutional, and that it’s lawful. And that we’re ultimately keeping our community safe and keeping criminal, criminals and criminal organizations like cartels and human traffickers out of our country and out of our communities. But what we are seeing right now with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE enforcement operations is not public safety. Juan Siskamani ran on securing the border and keeping our communities safe, so I asked the people, especially the people of Arizona in this district, do you feel safer today than you were I don’t know, maybe 2 years ago. Ciscomani has been in Congress for 4 years, and I don’t feel safe in my community, even though he ran off of that specific promise to Arizonans in this district that he would keep our families safe. And we have had a couple of, ICE enforcement operations already in the district. And I will share with you that people are afraid to leave their homes. If you do not look like what they consider an ideal American, then you could be stopped, you could be snatched up and detained. As a woman of color, as a Hispanic woman, as a Chicana. Taking my son to school. I could be stopped, and I could be detained, and what’s gonna happen to my son? I’m a single parent. I mean, these are the things and the reality that are facing our communities right now, and they are not going… Out to catch criminals. As a matter of fact, it’s the complete opposite, and they’re even killing American citizens. I mean.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
JoAnna Mendoza
There’s… what we’re seeing right now with the Department of Homeland Security is unconstitutional and is unlawful. And really, you know who is to blame for that? Leadership. Because leadership starts at the top. If your subordinates, if people who you are responsible for leading, are committing crimes, are committing are violating the standard operating procedures or the regulations, they need to be held accountable. We can do all of these things without, without targeting our communities, without detaining children and American citizens. Jen, non-citizen veterans are being deported. And what I mean by that is that in this country, you have people who are not citizens who are willing to die for this country because they believe in our values, and they love this country, and they’re leaving the military after their time in the military, and are not citizens, and they are being snatched up by ICE agents that May I add, have masks. They have no badge number, they’re not really identifiable. We don’t know if it’s somebody actually just dressing up as ICE, but they’re being snatched up, and they’re being deported, detained and deported. Someone who is willing to die for this country is not even treated with the respect and the dignity that they deserve for the willingness to put their life on the line for this country. Can you believe that?
Jen Rubin
It is absolutely heartbreaking, and I think you as a veteran, you as a woman of color, can really speak to this, with a great deal of, veracity and, integrity. Last question I want to ask you, as a veteran. Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth really use the military like props. They come out there, they give political speeches, they have dreamed up these operations in Iran and Venezuela without really explaining what they’re doing. Are you concerned as a veteran about the safety, the reputation of the military, and the politicization of the military, which has never been a political pawn in this country? Republicans, Democrats have understood that, but that seems to be very much endangered right now.
JoAnna Mendoza
100%. Listen, I mean, the foreign policy under this administration, what we see happening, or what happened in Venezuela, Greenland, and even potentially in, Iran now. is the answer from this administration, and from all the Republicans who remain complicit through their silence, is that we’ll just send troops over there, and it’s no big deal. This administration, which is wrong, let me be clear, this administration ran on no more wars. They said, we’re gonna get out of the Middle East, we’re not gonna have any more wars, and then they blamed Democrats for all of that. But the reality is, is that they believe that service members, people who are sacrificing time with their families, birthdays, I mean, missing out on key moments. that they’re willing to send our sons and daughters into harm’s way for no reason at all, other than just this administration got a wild hair and feels like doing it. And they just say, we’ll just send… we’ll just send troops. After the Middle East, we were there for 20 years, Jen. After that, we had service members who had lost their lives, families, military families who suffered, because guess what? It’s not just the service member who serves, it’s the family as well. They make huge sacrifices. We have people who have PTSD, who have other traumatic injuries and experiences from the military that require healthcare. And our system right now, the promise that we have made to those service members is that when you come back and you leave service, we promise to take care of you. And this administration has attacked the Veteran Affairs. department, and all of the services, those promises that were made to service members. I will tell you, the American people do not want to see their sons and daughters come back in flag-draped coffins. Our service members, our troops, are not expendable, they are not pawns, they are real people, and we need responsible, accountable. Lawful leadership Number one, to ensure that we’re not just sending them into harm’s way for no reason, and two, that if they have to go, that we are taking every measure, that we are exploring every option to address any conflict with diplomacy first. And that if they have to go and come back, that we take care of them.
Jen Rubin
Well, folks, this is one of those seats where they’re choice could not be clearer. You have just heard someone who’s a veteran, who has an experience growing up in poverty, and obviously has a very different outlook than the incumbent. So, if the House is going to flip, it’s going to flip in places like the Arizona 6.
JoAnna Mendoza
That’s right.
Jen Rubin
Best of… Best of luck, Joanna, and if people want to find out more about your campaign, where do they go?
JoAnna Mendoza
Yes, please! Visit my website at JoannaMendoza.com, and I will tell you, many hands make a light lift. We need everyone in this fight. I don’t care if you’re a Republican, Independent, Democrat, or you don’t vote. If you love our country, and you want to save our democracy, join our team. You have a seat at our table. Thank you.
Jen Rubin
Thank you as well. It is, truly an act of immense patriotism to put your life on the line for your country, so thank you for that as well. We’ll look forward to having you back. Take care.
JoAnna Mendoza
Thanks so much, Jen. Bye.
