Meet the Candidates: U.S. House 
of Representatives District 4

Name: Mikel Weisser

Age: 53

Hometown: grew up in Raymondville, Texas, lived in Springfield for 15 years, lived near Kingman

Office running for: U.S. House AZ Congressional District 4

Political experience: political writer 20-plus years, Democratic volunteer 8 years, elected party chairman 3 years, state party delegate 2 years, member of the AEA fund council

Family: First wife Lisa (deceased), son Samuel, second wife Beth, stepdaughters Valerie and Victoria, grandchildren Atlantis & Evan

Party: Democratic

Please describe your platform? I am calling for a return to the ideas of the Preamble of the Constitution: unity, tranquility, justice, providing for a common defense and promoting the general welfare. I believe our country and our existing political process has been hijacked by the radical right and turned against the public interest for their own personal and political gain. I am a reform/protest candidate calling for a return to concepts of ethics in economics, social justice and equality of infrastructure. For the last 40 years, our country has been dominated by an extreme Republican Right. And they are dead wrong for America. I want a country for the world we live in today. I want us to build a future.

If elected, what is your first priority? I believe in adjusting our antiquated, prejudice-based immigration laws to reflect the realities of contemporary immigration. I do NOT support turning our southern border into a war zone. Mexico is our number one trading partner, it is disgraceful to turn our relationship with them into an adversarial one to pander to the latent racism of some members of our society. If we are prepared to naturalize the majority of those attempting to immigrate, instead of attempting to bar them, we would not need to militarize our border.

What sets you apart from your opponent(s)? My opponents' agenda is based on lies that promote self-interest, greed, racism, hatefulness and theocratic dogma. They work to dismantle a government of services and I work to enhance it. They are the status quo and I am an iconoclast.

What would you do to achieve more transparency in government, and should government officials be in charge of managing those efforts? I would work to change the election process to public funded elections, removing the money chase from the political process. I would also propose improving access to Congressmen's voting record and calendar. I would promote more of the town hall meetings when back in the district to give the public a chance to address their representatives. I feel the public should be in charge and call for increased citizen action and awareness to reduce these abuses that flourish due to our apathy.

What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans? Immigration and labor laws. Right now too many businesses exploit undocumented workers (immigrants or no) and drive down wages and quality of working conditions. Second is funding for education.

What would you do, if elected, to help change that? I propose a sweeping reform of immigration policies to allow economic refugees a method of immigration, resident undocumented immigrants a non-punitive way to become registered and expediting the immigration paperwork for immigrant currently in the naturalization process.

How would you rate how the current office holder is doing, on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest), and why? -10: I consider my current U.S. representative, Trent Franks, to be acting as an enemy of the state, working against the best interests of the public in favor of the plutocrats and theocrats. As for foreign policy, I see Franks' pursuit of military aggression as reckless, exploitative and anti-Christian

What is one of your strengths? Weaknesses? My greatest strength is my compassion for the lives of others and the energy and determination they give me to work for the common good. My communication skills are good and I am quick witted and very, very funny; but all of this comes from my caring about the lives of others. My greatest weakness is my tendency to overreach to try to accomplish too many things at once.

What is one thing that you want voters to know? I want the voters to come to realize the destructive nature of the GOP agenda. They want to public to stay ignorant, sick and poor and fearful, because if you can keep a people ignorant and sick and poor and fearful then they are easier to control. Their so-called “conservative values” agenda that has been driving our nation has been driving it into the ground, 28 of the last 40 years we've been battling their poison to our nation. They've been wrong on social issues. Move mountain and mole hill alike to save Terry Schiavo, but vote 33 times to throw 30 million Americans under the bus, because they have to repeal Obamacare. Abstinence-only sex-ed in the country that leads the world in unwed teen pregnancy. Make sure the LBGT community is forever made to always feel queer. Cut arts funding, cut ed funding, cut veterans benefits, decimate the social service network in our country and brag about their morality? Throwing 800,000 Americans a year in jail for cannabis possession and then installing the world's leading opium producers, the Karzai family, into office in Afghanistan.

They've been consistently incredibly wrong on fiscal issues. I may not have all the answers and I certainly cannot claim to be an expert, but their experts are the ones who have put us in this position. They may know what they're talking about but they obviously don't know what they're doing. I am dedicated to the people not to their money and won't ruin the world for the sake of short term profit.