Governor candidates debate Arizona highs, lows

• Debate revisits ongoing issue of how to boost K-12 funding with grim budget outlook
• Ducey, DuVal challenge each other over tax policies, K-12 spending
• Debate also features Libertarian Barry Hess, Americans Elect candidate John Mealer

The candidates for governor offered their critiques Monday evening of what Arizona is doing right and wrong in what might be the only gathering of all four official candidates for the state's top job.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission hosted the debate, which featured Republican Doug Ducey, Democrat Fred DuVal, Libertarian Barry Hess and Americans Elect nominee John Mealer. The hourlong program was televised on Channel 8 (KAET).

The candidates went over the now-familiar territory of how they would respond to a court mandate to increase education funding, whether they would increase school funding and their stance on taxes.

Here's a rundown of other key issues and telling moments in the debate, beginning with the issue of Medicaid expansion:

Gov. Jan Brewer pushed the Legislature last year to expand the state's health-insurance program for low-income Arizonans, arguing it would serve more people and would not cost the state extra money. It was a hard-won battle, and many Republicans fought it, saying it amounted to an endorsement of the federal health-care law known as Obamacare.

Ducey, who opposed the expansion, said "what's done is done" and said he would live with the expanded Medicaid program for the three years the federal government has guaranteed it will provide the bulk of the funding. (The state's match comes from an assessment on Arizona hospitals that they cannot pass on to customers.)

DuVal said a repeal would be "devastating" to patients and the economy and reminded viewers he worked with then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt to create the state's Medicaid program, known as AHCCCS.

Hess said the program has been so successful that he believes it has become burdensome to taxpayers, so he would end it.

Mealer said he would improve the program and not have people lose their care.

Temporary tax increase

Brewer convinced Arizona voters to support a three-year temporary increase in the state sales tax to bridge the state budget through several years of recession-induced cuts.

DuVal supported the measure, known as Proposition 100, when it was on the ballot in 2010. But he said he would not back a tax increase of any kind today and has put his faith in economic revival to boost the state's tax collections.

Ducey opposed the temporary tax and reiterated his stance that he would not raise taxes if elected governor.

Hess took a position similar to Ducey's: "It's not about the money, it's about restructuring." Both he and Ducey have talked about reconfiguring state government to find efficiencies and savings.

'Dreamer' icenses

Brewer has blocked the state from issuing driver's licenses to children who came to the United States illegally. Ducey supports her position.

DuVal called the policy "mean spirited" and said repealing the prohibition would be the first thing he would do as governor.

Dark money

Money from political non-profit groups that don't have to disclose their donors has been a hallmark of this year's election. Ducey is the only governor candidate still running who has benefited from anonymous outside spending, commonly called dark money.

Ducey said he would support more transparency by such groups but did not offer any details. DuVal called for full disclosure, complaining that anonymous spending erodes confidence in the electoral process.

Hess said there should be penalties for any candidate who is found to have coordinated with an outside group on campaign ads (this is already covered in state law.)

Mealer said disclosure is already in place: "We know who are behind the ads: Democrats and Republicans."

Poverty

Arizona's poverty rate ranks 48th nationally and has risen for three years in a row, to 20.2 percent of the population.

"It's unacceptable," Ducey said, adding that the answer is to grow Arizona's economy to lift people out of poverty.

DuVal ties improvement in this area to better education. That will attract more employers to the state and create the jobs needed to improve the economy, he said.

They said what?

With a statewide audience watching, the candidates took advantage to get in a jab or a soundbite that might resonate with voters. Here are a few zingers:

Ducey, responding to DuVal's charge that it's "tooth-fairy math" for Ducey to say the state can cut taxes and still meet the court mandate to increase K-12 funding: "At least at my house the tooth fairy delivers a buck or two under my sons' pillows. At your house, they leave an IOU."

To which DuVal responded, "My 6-year-old lost his tooth last week, and I can assure you he got his money."

DuVal, when challenged by Ducey to name the clients he represented as a lobbyist: "Doug, they're on your TV ads. They're all on your TV ads."

Hess: "When I was a kid, we used to be able to say 'My school is better than your school' and we could back it up. With Common Core, the kids say, 'My school is just like yours.' Please, don't let the future of Arizona rest on sameness."

Mealer on the prospect of making hemp production a way to boost economic growth: "It's a huge industry. It's untouched."

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.