Billy Kovacs
Billy Kovacs (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2018.
Biography
Billy Kovacs attended the University of Arizona.His professional experience includes working as an Entrepreneur. Kovacs' organizational affiliations include the Arizona Tech Council, One Young World,and the Flinn-Brown Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Arizona District 2
Ann Kirkpatrick defeated Lea Marquez Peterson in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ann Kirkpatrick (D) | 54.7 | 161,000 |
 | Lea Marquez Peterson (R) | 45.2 | 133,083 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 69 | ||
| Total votes: 294,152 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ann Kirkpatrick | 41.9 | 33,938 |
 | Matt Heinz | 29.6 | 23,992 | |
 | Mary Matiella | 9.4 | 7,606 | |
 | Bruce Wheeler | 8.4 | 6,814 | |
 | Billy Kovacs | 6.6 | 5,350 | |
 | Barbara Sherry | 2.6 | 2,074 | |
 | Yahya Yuksel | 1.6 | 1,319 | |
| Total votes: 81,093 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- William Foster (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2
Lea Marquez Peterson defeated Brandon Martin, Casey Welch, and Danny Morales in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 2 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lea Marquez Peterson | 34.2 | 23,571 |
 | Brandon Martin | 28.7 | 19,809 | |
 | Casey Welch | 21.0 | 14,499 | |
 | Danny Morales | 16.1 | 11,135 | |
| Total votes: 69,014 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marilyn Wiles (R)
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
When asked the question “Why are you running for Congress?” I always tell people that I’ve never aspired to be a politician. I aspire to make a difference in the lives of those I care about and the people in my community. I believe we used to have leaders and statesman that stood for something. Statesmanship is something of a myth in American politics now. It’s a whisper of a time forgotten, where tribalism was put aside in the greater interests of the whole country. Where great ideas supporting a more perfect union thrived, and were promoted more than the interests of the powerful. I believe true power in a democracy lies within its people, and I choose to fight to give that power back to them. Young people standing up for what was right founded this country, and he intends to carry on this legacy. He will fight for Medicare-for-all, Tuition and Debt free College and Trade Schools, Criminal Justice Reform, Common-Sense Gun Reform, Equal Rights for All, Women’s Rights, A Pathway to Citizenship, Economic Development, Legalization of Marijuana, Trade, Veterans’ Rights, LGBTQ Rights, and will never stop fighting to protect our Environment. The preamble of the Constitution starts with “We the people”, and it’s we the people that are entrusted with restoring the rights bestowed by this document back to the nation it was written to defend. As I go forward in this endeavor, I intend to do just that. On August 28th I’m not just asking for your vote. I’m asking for you to stand with me and help make the change we want to see in our Country, because I can’t do this alone. Is there anything you would like to add? Billy Kovacs, entrepreneur, community activist, and small business owner has long worked for positive change in southern Arizona, and is committed as ever to making the second district a better place to live, work, and raise a family. The second congressional district suffers from an exodus of young talent, and has a massive problem retaining young professionals graduating from the University of Arizona. Billy founded the Connected Communities Forum presented by Cisco Systems at the 10West Festival, which brought together Southern Arizona education, business, and government leaders to discuss real world solutions to urban, economic, social and digital infrastructure challenges in our region and explore solutions to overcome them through technology, innovation and public private partnership models. Billy has invested significant time in mentoring, promoting and working to retain students within Southern Arizona. From high school students through the ‘Young Entrepreneur Academy’s-Student to CEO’ program presented by the Tucson Unified School District and Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to his work as an Ambassador for Tech Launch Arizona at the University of Arizona where he coordinated with top stakeholders to ensure retention of graduates by connecting students, inventors, and entrepreneurs to startup and tech growth programs and resources, and through his actions, he is making a direct impact on the lives of dozens of students and their families and fostering the growth of the next generation of business leaders. His work in Cochise County at his family’s vineyard in Pearce, and co-founding Prep and Pastry, a successful Tucson eatery, has shown Billy understands how to work with numerous stakeholders to bring an idea and a business plan from conception to reality. Active with downtown economic and regional development, Billy is a local businessman with a broad set of leadership experience. He’s also a former ambassador to the Arizona Technology Council; he has worked diligently to promote Arizona’s economy as one of the fastest growing regions in the country for high tech jobs. He specifically focuses on developing new relationships with companies looking to move or do business in Arizona. As a member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Billy works within the organization to bring ideas to attract, retain, and grow high quality and high wage jobs to enhance the quality of life for southern Arizonans. Recently, Billy accepted a highly competitive fellowship to the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership-Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy. During his fellowship, he focused on ways to stop the political gridlock that plagues our government, and how to better apply his business skills to public service and strengthen his civic leadership abilities to better benefit southern Arizonans. When elected, he will take those lessons learned and continue to address the many opportunities and challenges our state and district have. Billy is currently employed as the Operations Manager at the historic Hotel Congress. He was educated in public schools, attending Pima County Community College and the University of Arizona. He currently lives in the Sam Hughes neighborhood of Tucson.[2] |
” |
| —Billy Kovacs[1] | ||
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Arizona's 2nd Congressional District election, 2018
- Arizona's 2nd Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
