Gregory Whitten

[{"question": "Ballotpedia survey responses", "answer_html": "<p>See also: <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a></p>\n<div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-xs-10 col-md-6 col-xs-offset-1 col-md-offset-3\"><p><a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\"><img align=\"middle\" alt=\"Candidate Connection\" src=\"https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/8/88/Candidate_Connection_Logo.png\" width=\"90%\"/></a></p></div></div>\n<p>Gregory Whitten completed <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a> survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Whitten's responses.</p>\n<p><span class=\"expand-all\">Expand all</span> | <span class=\"collapse-all\">Collapse all</span></p>\n<div aria-multiselectable=\"true\" class=\"panel-group\" id=\"accordion\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" id=\"heading-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWho are you? Tell us about yourself.\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-bio-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tA third-generation Arizonan, Greg Whitten has worked for more than fifteen years to keep America safe serving as a biosecurity expert. His experience is rooted in getting groups and people from all perspectives to work together to solve problems.\r\n<p>At the Pentagon Greg oversaw a broad portfolio, but is proudest of leading a multi-year, agency wide effort to acquire and standardize electronic health records at the Department of Defense and drive information sharing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This work dramatically improved the speed and quality of care provided to our nation’s active duty military, veterans, and their families.\r\n</p><p>Greg returned home to Arizona to care for his mother, who like so many, became a victim of the larger opioid issues affecting our healthcare system. His mother’s suffering and death has fueled Greg's passion to take on the drug companies who make massive profits at the expense of patients.\r\n</p><p>Greg believes every Arizonan deserves to feel safe, secure and protected. Safe from threats at home and from abroad; secure in a retirement that’s been under threat.\r\n</p><p>Greg is a proud product of Arizona’s public schools, including the University of Arizona. He also has a Master in Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.\r\n</p>\nAfter his service at the Pentagon, Greg has continued working in national security, healthcare, and pandemic preparedness.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" id=\"heading-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tPlease list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-key-message-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><ul><li>Greg will put people above partisan politics.</li><li>Greg has built a career of solving problems by bringing groups and people from different perspectives together.</li><li>It's beyond time for a change. Debbie Lesko is failing our district, our seniors, and our future.</li></ul></span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-203375-2023-09-24\" id=\"heading1-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse1-203375-2023-09-24\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading1-203375-2023-09-24\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse1-203375-2023-09-24\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tGreg's top three priorities are:<br/><br/>\n<p>- Job creation in the district that focuses on wages and benefits that ensure working families can thrive, not just survive.<br/><br/>\r\n- Building and repairing the district's infrastructure such as highways to accommodate new jobs and improve the quality of life by spending less time on the road.<br/><br/>\r\n- Access to proper healthcare, including lower drug prices for seniors and improved care for veterans.<br/><br/>\n</p>\nAfter his service at the Pentagon, Greg continued working in national security, healthcare, and pandemic preparedness.<br/></span></div></div></div></div></div>\n<div class=\"small\" data-nosnippet=\"\"><p><i><b>Note:</b> 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.</i></p></div>", "answer_text": "See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection\n\nGregory Whitten completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Whitten's responses.\nExpand all | Collapse all\nWho are you? Tell us about yourself. A third-generation Arizonan, Greg Whitten has worked for more than fifteen years to keep America safe serving as a biosecurity expert. His experience is rooted in getting groups and people from all perspectives to work together to solve problems. At the Pentagon Greg oversaw a broad portfolio, but is proudest of leading a multi-year, agency wide effort to acquire and standardize electronic health records at the Department of Defense and drive information sharing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This work dramatically improved the speed and quality of care provided to our nation’s active duty military, veterans, and their families. Greg returned home to Arizona to care for his mother, who like so many, became a victim of the larger opioid issues affecting our healthcare system. His mother’s suffering and death has fueled Greg's passion to take on the drug companies who make massive profits at the expense of patients. Greg believes every Arizonan deserves to feel safe, secure and protected. Safe from threats at home and from abroad; secure in a retirement that’s been under threat. Greg is a proud product of Arizona’s public schools, including the University of Arizona. He also has a Master in Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. After his service at the Pentagon, Greg has continued working in national security, healthcare, and pandemic preparedness. Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office? Greg will put people above partisan politics. Greg has built a career of solving problems by bringing groups and people from different perspectives together. It's beyond time for a change. Debbie Lesko is failing our district, our seniors, and our future. What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Greg's top three priorities are: - Job creation in the district that focuses on wages and benefits that ensure working families can thrive, not just survive. - Building and repairing the district's infrastructure such as highways to accommodate new jobs and improve the quality of life by spending less time on the road. - Access to proper healthcare, including lower drug prices for seniors and improved care for veterans. After his service at the Pentagon, Greg continued working in national security, healthcare, and pandemic preparedness.\nNote: 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."}, {"question": "Campaign website", "answer_html": "<p>Whitten’s campaign website stated the following:\n</p>\n<div style=\"height:400px;overflow:scroll;border:1px solid gray;margin:20px;padding:10px;\">\n<table data-nosnippet=\"\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; border: none;background-color: transparent; auto; ;\">\n<tbody><tr>\n<td style=\"border:none; color:#B2B7F2;font-size:35px;font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px 3px;\" valign=\"top\" width=\"20\">“\n</td>\n<td style=\"border: none; padding: 4px 10px;\" valign=\"top\">\n<p><b><big><big>Greg on the ISSUES</big></big></b><br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Jobs and Economic Security</big></b>\n</p><p>Ensuring our working families have jobs with good benefits and pay means focusing job growth on our region’s economic engines, and making sure every Arizonan has access to them. We need to make sure Arizonans can get the tools and skills they need to participate fully in today’s economy, which means robust workforce development and apprenticeship programs, access to affordable childcare, making sure women receive equal pay for equal work, allowing workers to be confident that their retirement will be secure even as they change jobs, and true tax reform that makes the very wealthy pay their fair share with tax cuts for middle and working classes as well as small businesses.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Seniors</big></b>\n</p><p>From senior care to healthcare, Arizona seniors need access to the treatment and services they both deserve and have earned. We must protect Social Security and Medicare from attacks from the MAGA right, so they’re solvent for tomorrow. We must continue to work to make prescription drugs more affordable, lower costs for all health care for seniors, and make sure these programs accurately reflect our population’s changing needs.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Veterans</big></b>\n</p><p>We must prioritize our veterans and military families. This means honoring our commitments to active duty military as they transition out of service, so that they have access to the best healthcare; community access to quality mental health and suicide prevention, childcare, financial support programs; and more robust programs to place veterans and their families into jobs and careers.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Water</big></b>\n</p><p>Arizona’s future depends on us getting water policy right, and ensuring our communities have just and fair access to it. Solving Arizona’s water challenges amidst a historic, regional drought requires commitment from every level of government and collaboration between a full range of communities and organizations, including federal, state, tribal, and academic stakeholders. Our policies must be data-driven and non-partisan.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Education</big></b>\n</p><p>Strong public education is key to the success of Arizona’s economy, a cornerstone of our democracy and necessary to securing our nation’s future. We need to raise teacher pay to retain and attract quality educators. We must expand CTE (career and technical education) programs, including making community college programs cost-free whenever possible. prioritize making all post-secondary education more affordable, including a targeted loan forgiveness program so students don’t spend their lives burdened by debt.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Reproductive Freedom</big></b>\n</p><p>Everyone should have the freedom and power to make decisions about their reproductive health without interference from the government. We know that women's circumstances are different, every pregnancy is unique, and decisions about abortion and birth control should be made by women and their doctors. These are extremely personal decisions that should be respected and valued.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Health Security and Biosecurity</big></b>\n</p><p>The lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us how we need to be prepared for the next pandemic. We need to be working to speed up the timeline to rapidly produce next generation diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to counter emerging diseases. Working across the government and with our global partners on building a global disease surveillance system that will give us early warning on emerging disease threats so that we mitigate the impact and protect our population.<br/><br/>\n</p><p><b><big>Border Security</big></b>\n</p><p>The Southern Border is a National Crisis that cannot be fixed with a wall. It can be solved with comprehensive legislation that will stop the illegal importation of dangerous drugs like Fentanyl that are killing our youth. At the same time, reward immigrants who want to come to the U.S. legally. There also needs to be increased funding for Border Patrol to hire adequate staff to support the influx. Stronger relationships between the Department of Defense and Homeland Security for training, acquisition of technology, and security. The recent bipartisan piece of proposed legislation is a step in the right direction towards comprehensive immigration reform.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-quotedisclaimer_2-0\"><a href=\"#cite_note-quotedisclaimer-2\">[2]</a></sup>\n</p>\n</td>\n<td style=\"border: none; color: #B2B7F2; font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px 1px;\" valign=\"bottom\" width=\"20\">”\n</td></tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"cquotecite\" colspan=\"3\" style=\"border: none; padding-right: 4%\"><cite style=\"font-style: normal;font-size: smaller; float: right;\">—Gregory Whitten’s campaign website (2024)<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-3\"><a href=\"#cite_note-3\">[3]</a></sup></cite>\n</td></tr></tbody></table>\n</div>", "answer_text": "Whitten’s campaign website stated the following:\n“ Greg on the ISSUES Jobs and Economic Security Ensuring our working families have jobs with good benefits and pay means focusing job growth on our region’s economic engines, and making sure every Arizonan has access to them. We need to make sure Arizonans can get the tools and skills they need to participate fully in today’s economy, which means robust workforce development and apprenticeship programs, access to affordable childcare, making sure women receive equal pay for equal work, allowing workers to be confident that their retirement will be secure even as they change jobs, and true tax reform that makes the very wealthy pay their fair share with tax cuts for middle and working classes as well as small businesses. Seniors From senior care to healthcare, Arizona seniors need access to the treatment and services they both deserve and have earned. We must protect Social Security and Medicare from attacks from the MAGA right, so they’re solvent for tomorrow. We must continue to work to make prescription drugs more affordable, lower costs for all health care for seniors, and make sure these programs accurately reflect our population’s changing needs. Veterans We must prioritize our veterans and military families. This means honoring our commitments to active duty military as they transition out of service, so that they have access to the best healthcare; community access to quality mental health and suicide prevention, childcare, financial support programs; and more robust programs to place veterans and their families into jobs and careers. Water Arizona’s future depends on us getting water policy right, and ensuring our communities have just and fair access to it. Solving Arizona’s water challenges amidst a historic, regional drought requires commitment from every level of government and collaboration between a full range of communities and organizations, including federal, state, tribal, and academic stakeholders. Our policies must be data-driven and non-partisan. Education Strong public education is key to the success of Arizona’s economy, a cornerstone of our democracy and necessary to securing our nation’s future. We need to raise teacher pay to retain and attract quality educators. We must expand CTE (career and technical education) programs, including making community college programs cost-free whenever possible. prioritize making all post-secondary education more affordable, including a targeted loan forgiveness program so students don’t spend their lives burdened by debt. Reproductive Freedom Everyone should have the freedom and power to make decisions about their reproductive health without interference from the government. We know that women's circumstances are different, every pregnancy is unique, and decisions about abortion and birth control should be made by women and their doctors. These are extremely personal decisions that should be respected and valued. Health Security and Biosecurity The lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us how we need to be prepared for the next pandemic. We need to be working to speed up the timeline to rapidly produce next generation diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to counter emerging diseases. Working across the government and with our global partners on building a global disease surveillance system that will give us early warning on emerging disease threats so that we mitigate the impact and protect our population. Border Security The Southern Border is a National Crisis that cannot be fixed with a wall. It can be solved with comprehensive legislation that will stop the illegal importation of dangerous drugs like Fentanyl that are killing our youth. At the same time, reward immigrants who want to come to the U.S. legally. There also needs to be increased funding for Border Patrol to hire adequate staff to support the influx. Stronger relationships between the Department of Defense and Homeland Security for training, acquisition of technology, and security. The recent bipartisan piece of proposed legislation is a step in the right direction towards comprehensive immigration reform. [2] ” —Gregory Whitten’s campaign website (2024) [3]"}]