In an interview with Channel 12's Brahm Resnik that will air on the station's "Sunday Square Off" program, Pearce says he didn't secure the votes needed to become president by agreeing to a moratorium on immigration legislation.

Russell Pearce might have hurt his chances for Senate president when he held a press conference Oct. 19 expressing his desire to pursue legislation aimed at challenging the longstanding Constitutional interpretation that children who are born in the U.S. are American citizens, regardless of their parents’ legal status.

The state has borrowed more than $2 billion during the past four fiscal years, boosting its total debt load to $9.7 billion. At least one-third of the state’s debt must be repaid using money from the same account that lawmakers draw upon to pay for public education, Medicaid programs and other basic government services.