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Republican
Candidate for Arizona Senate in Legislative District 26
Phone: (480) 276-9316
Email: jerrylewiscampaign@gmail.com
Twitter: @JerryLewisAZ
PO Box 332, Mesa, AZ 85211.
Age: 55.
Arizona since: 1982.
Occupation: Asst. superintendent, CEO, Sequoia Distance Learning Schools; senior mgr, Deloitte and Touche; COO, Quorum International; teacher, CES; CEO, TJ Development.
Marital: Married (Janet).
Children: 7.
Religious preference: LDS.
Education: B.S., M.S., accounting, BYU, 1982.
Political experience: Precinct committeeman.
Legis exp: Senate since 2011 (won recall election against Russell Pearce in Nov. 2011).
Memberships: Vice president, Grand Canyon Council of the Boy Scouts of America; former chm, Mesa District, Boy Scouts of America; stake president and bishop, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; treasurer, bd member and coach, Westwood Little League (formerly Mesa Northwestern Little League); coach, Mesa Girls Softball and Mesa YMCA Soccer; member, Whittier Elementary, Carson Junior High and Westwood High School parent groups; chair, Westwood Baccalaureate Committee; president, AZ Drug Abuse Program (formerly the Palmer Drug Abuse Program).
Interests: My wife, my grandkids, running marathons, Boy Scouts, cycling, gardening/yard work, Arizona Diamondbacks, fishing with sons.
Political influence: My Dad, Reg Lewis.
Job creation measures: A plan to consistently market the positives and our strengths around the country and abroad. Targeted incentives to educators to train our students for the 21st century economy and workforce.
Top Issues: Strengthening families and improving academic achievement results.
Prop 100 sales tax extension: The voters were promised that the tax would sunset. Promises are made to be kept. We will need to find other means to adequately and responsibly fund our education system.
Illegal immigration: We must come to an agreement on a plan that defines what we want real immigration reform to look like and then become united to exercise our influence with the federal government to act responsibly to fulfill that plan or something better.
Background & experience: Growing up with many siblings in a “yours, mine and ours” home on an auto mechanic’s wage taught me how to work hard, value education and get along with others. Witnessing the ravages of alcoholism and drug addiction, the difficulty of rehabilitation and the sweet joy of recovery amongst my family members taught me to be patient and forgiving. Being a foreign exchange student in Taxco, Guerrero Mexico as a junior in high school and then a missionary in Hong Kong, China as a young man taught me to appreciate and respect different cultures and people even more than I had previously. Counseling many needy individuals as a leader in the community and church taught me how to listen carefully and that there are always at least two sides to every story. Owning, managing and operating a variety of businesses taught me the importance of living within available means and to thoughtfully plan and budget. Teaching high school and college age students taught me the individual and infinite worth and value of every soul. Raising a family has taught me that I am not always right and that I can catch more flies with honey than I can with vinegar.
Pro-life / pro-choice: Abortion is a serious personal matter that should only be considered in uniquely rare circumstances and only after careful and responsible contemplation.
One last thing: I enjoy creating the best solutions by cooperating with and listening to the viewpoints of others regardless of their political leanings even when we don’t agree.
Campaign finance: private.
