Registered nurse Tricia Hunter is a satisfactory choice in the Republican primary for state assembly district 76. Hunter held the position between 1989 and 1992, and despite failing to win an assembly seat several times since, has over a decade in combined political experience as a State Board of Nursing appointee and lobbyist.

However, it is Hunter’s sole opponent, former Fox 6 reporter Bill Stamps, who makes this endorsement easy. Stamps, the California Republican Assembly endorsee, takes a troublesomely hard-line conservative stance on several issues; he has signed the intolerant “marriage protection pledge,” is pro-life and supports strengthening the border.

While there may be some validity to Stamps’ claims that Hunter has dodged controversial issues in her campaign, her focus on more mainstream issues such as rising housing costs, fiscal responsibility and affordable health care make her a much more appealing candidate.

Hunter’s experience in the health care business gives her unique insight into this often-problematic issue. Her political aspirations, she claims, actually grew out of a first-hand knowledge of California’s health care problems, specifically the growing influence of profit-minded special interests and health care providers in Sacramento. Hunter’s recognition of the need to make health care an affordable service for all Californians is particularly promising, especially coming from a fiscal conservative.

Although her general election bid for assembly in 1996 was marked by claims of carpetbagging and controversy over her ties to tobacco companies — her Democratic opponent Howard Wayne deemed her the Tobacco Nurse for accepting contributions from the industry — Hunter is still the most qualified and trustworthy Republican vying for the seat.

Granted, Hunter’s conservative side shines through in her “no new taxes” pledge and support for No Child Left Behind-style accountability in education, but her promise to be an independent and nonpartisan representative for the citizens of the 76th District is welcome nonetheless.

Tricia Hunter

http://www.hunterforassembly.com

Bill Stamps

http://www.voteforstamps.org