Denise Link (Arizona)
Denise Link (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 24. She lost in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2018.
Link completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 (2 seats)
Jennifer Longdon and Amish Shah defeated David Alger Sr. in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jennifer Longdon (D) | 41.0 | 40,520 |
| ✔ |  | Amish Shah (D) | 39.9 | 39,363 |
 | David Alger Sr. (R) | 19.1 | 18,853 | |
| Total votes: 98,736 | |||
 = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 (2 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amish Shah | 28.6 | 10,820 |
| ✔ | | Jennifer Longdon | 21.2 | 8,041 |
 | Ken Clark | 18.2 | 6,890 | |
| Denise Link | 9.5 | 3,605 | ||
 | Marcus Ferrell | 9.0 | 3,402 | |
| John Glenn | 8.9 | 3,377 | ||
| Fred Dominguez | 4.6 | 1,730 | ||
| Total votes: 37,865 (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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 (2 seats)
David Alger Sr. advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Alger Sr. | 100.0 | 7,431 |
| Total votes: 7,431 (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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Denise Link completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Link's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Full funding funding for K - 12 public education and restoration of funding to public colleges and universitites. Create a process for "buy-in" to the state public health insurance system that would result in affordable, comprehensive universal coverage Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and insure equity across all groups for employment, housing, and other areas where there is a need to address discrimination based on race, religion, and sexual orientation/gender expression
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
Access to affordable health care provided by the clinician of one's choice is a particular passion of mine. Barriers to access to care and barriers to practice were the two issues that motivated me to become active in public policy. Authority to practice has always lagged behind ability. There has been and continues to be resistance to allowing qualified professionals into the healthcare marketplace in spite of a large body of rigourous research that documents safety and quality. Public safety is usually cited as a reason for the resistance, when actually it is reluctance to relinquish power and control. Since becoming more involved in the barriers to care and practice issues, I recognized that power and control were really what was driving a lot of resistance to needed change an so became involved in many other policy initiatives.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
Abraham Lincoln - I believe him to be our greatest president. He led our country during a very divisive time and demonstrated restraint, compassion, wisdom, and integrity. We could use more people like that now.
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
Pathologies of Power : Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor by Dr. Paul Farmer
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Integrity, the ability to listen for understanding, evidence-based decision making, an openness to learning
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I am a person-centered individual - that means I put the needs of others before my own. I have listened to the stories of patients, mostly women, and students for many years. Those experiences inform my policy activities and my policy activities inform my practice as a clinician and a facilitator of learning. I look for strengths in people and help them to use those strengths to improve in areas where there is a need for improvement.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
To remember that one is a public servant and who one is serving
What legacy would you like to leave?
That I did my best to make the lives of the people in my district and state better.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
The assasination of John Kennedy. I was eight years old.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
At the age of 12, I assisted with completing the end of the fiscal year inventory for a local department store. I did that for two weekends.
What happened on your most awkward date?
My date and I went to the wrong address for a rock concert. We walked 30 blocks to the right address because he didn't have enough money to get another taxi and have enough left over to get us a taxi home after the concert. I married him anyway.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
Thanksgiving - big family gatherings and the menu is pre-determined
What is your favorite book? Why?
To Kill a Mockingbird. There are many important lessons in that story about integrity, justice, prejudice, respect for others who are different from yourself, and family values.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?
Jane Eyre - intellectually gifted and thoroughly moral
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
The photo gallery in my living room with pictures of family - living and ancestors. It provides me with a sense of history and the importance of the contributions and sacrifices made by others on our behalf.
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
To be patient with those who cling to ideology and cannot bring themselves to appreciate anyone else's perspective than their own.
Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?
I don't perceive much of a difference between the Senate and the state House of Representatives other than there are twice as many House members, which makes it more difficult to get a bill passed and chaptered.
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
As long as a potiential legislator has an open mind and is prepared to be mentored in the legislative process, I don't think that experience as a legislator is important.
What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
The impact on health, our climate, and water supply from climate change. If we don't participate in efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses and develop good water use and storage policies, we are going to be facing serious consequences.
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?
The duties and roles of the executive and legislative branches of our system of government should be complimentary and a source of checks on each other. There should be healthy and productive dialogue between the legislature and the governor in a way that serves the best interests of the people of the state.
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
If there are legislators that share the values of the people of my district, or who can be persuaded to support those values, then it is important and beneficial to have a working relationship with those officials. Legislators who are stuck in their personal ideologies and who only listen to themselves or those who made large contributions to their campaign would probably not be people with whom I could work productively.
What process do you favor for redistricting?
An independent, non-partisan committee
If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
House; Education; Environment
If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?
Not at this time
Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
No
Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?
No, thank you. I think the most opportunities for making peoples' lives better is at the state level.
Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?
As I was canvassing for the primary, I met a young woman who was trying to care for her invalid parents. Both of them needed quite a bit of assistance with their activities of daily living and self-care related to their health conditions. I stepped out of my candidate role and into my nursing role. I promised to make some calls to connect her with services and agencies in the community to help. I was able to provide her with a reference to a social worker in one of the facilities from where one of her parents was recently discharged. She was very grateful for this small service that I performed, which took very little of my time but which I am certain made a great deal of difference to her and her parents.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Arizona House of Representatives
External links
Footnotes
