GOP gubernatorial hopefuls answer: How do you win?

Gov. Doug Ducey is seeking re-election, but one Republican candidate and three Democratic candidates are looking to take his job.

Both Republican candidates have government experience. Ducey served four years as state treasurer before running for governor. Bennett was the president of the state Senate and served as secretary of state.

Ducey answered specific policy questions for The Arizona Republic’s voter guide, which can be found at azvotes.azcentral.com. Bennett did not respond to the questionnaire.

To understand their strategy and gain insight into each candidate, The

Republic asked each of the contenders one question: How do you win?

Gov. Doug Ducey: ‘We’ve dug out of a tremendous hole’

Gov. Doug Ducey, 54, who emerged from a crowded Republican primary and won the general election by a decisive 12-point margin four years ago, is planning to run on his record.

Ducey, in interviews and stump speeches, mentions how he inherited a $1 billion deficit. He touts the changes since his election, explaining the millions of dollars he has restored to schools without raising taxes.

“I think we’ve dug out of a tremendous hole,” he said during a meeting with The Republic’s Editorial Board. “I want to secure Arizona’s future. It’s about protecting that economy.”

Ducey, who was the CEO of the ice cream company Cold Stone Creamery before getting into politics, said he has brought a business mindset to government.

“We’ve changed the culture inside our state government,” he said. “People are paying attention to the mission and how money is spent.”

Ducey’s campaign commercials center around the word “secure.” He has talked about securing the state’s economy, securing the future and increasing security in the traditional sense, with public safety and border enforcement.

He made political hay out of calls on the left to abolish the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency.

Ducey wrote an op-ed in USA TODAY that defended the agency. The Republican Governors Association ran ads against two Democratic gubernatorial opponents, saying their plans to abolish the agency would harm Arizona families.

Of the two, only one — Kelly Fryer — has explicitly called to abolish ICE. The other, David Garcia, said the agency should be reformed and rebuilt.

Asked to explain his campaign strategy, Ducey instead mentioned a list of issues, presumably ones that he feels will bolster his standing with voters. Those included the multiagency Border Strike Force and increases to K-12 education funding.

Pressed on how he would win, Ducey was cagey.

“Ask me after I won and I’ll tell you how I won,” he said. “I’m trying to beat these guys.”

Ken Bennett: ‘They’re looking for something different’

Ken Bennett, 58, the former secretary of state and former state senator, said he entered the race for governor after seeing Ducey handle — or, in his way of looking at it, mishandle — the teacher walkout in April.

Bennett told The Republic, at the time he announced his candidacy, that Ducey made a sea change on teacher pay over two days.

Ducey advocated a 1 percent raise just two days before he announced a plan for 20 percent raises, doled out over three years.

Bennett said the move was erratic and the promised raises don’t come from a sustained funding source.

Since then, Bennett has tried to court the party’s conservative wing, which he thinks might be dissatisfied with the current governor. He cited a poll that found only 26 percent of voters supported a second term for Ducey.

“I’m going after and speaking to and winning the hearts of the 74 percent that say, in a general election, they’re looking for something different,” he said.

Bennett lost to Ducey in the 2014 primary. He thinks he has a better shot going head to head, however.

“Four years ago, the primary was won with just barely more than a third of a vote,” Bennett said. “Now there’s a clear choice between (us) two, and I’ll be speaking to those who are looking for something different.”

Bennett served as state Senate president from 2003 to 2006. He was appointed secretary of state in 2009, as part of a series of moves that saw then-Gov. Janet Napolitano leave office to join President Barack Obama’s administration.

Bennett had a reputation as an affable politician who did not court controversy. He was best known for ending each legislative session with a parody song he would write and perform on his acoustic guitar on the floor.

But he quickly found controversy in this campaign.

Bennett said he was driving from his home in Prescott to Phoenix to drop off his petitions when he heard a radio story that suggested Ducey had struck a deal to appoint Cindy McCain to her husband’s U.S. Senate seat should it become open upon his death.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been battling brain cancer for the past year.

Bennett wrote on Twitter that he would not appoint Cindy McCain to her husband’s seat, which political observers saw as an appeal to the wing of the Republican Party unhappy with McCain.

Ducey said that tweet made Bennett a fringe candidate and not worthy of debate.

Bennett still needs to collect enough $5 donations to earn his Clean Elections money. If he does not, he will not qualify for public funds, which will limit his ability to get his message out.