Family illness forces Malik to trim schedule
Congressional candidate Anita Malik said Wednesday that she was cutting back on her campaign schedule because her husband has become unexpectedly ill.
Malik, a 6th Congressional District Democrat, didn’t specify details of the situation, but wrote on her social-media channels that the “week has been a blur of hospitals, specialists and surgeries.”
Malik is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., in a district that covers much of the northeast Valley, including Scottsdale.
“My husband James was struck with a sudden illness. This week has been a blur of hospitals, specialists, tests and surgeries, and I have had to miss some of the amazing events happening around change in our district,” Malik wrote on her campaign Facebook page.
“James is a fighter and he is on the right track. He is going to be OK, but there is still a path we must take to get there. So yes, my campaign schedule might be lighter in the coming days, but trust me, I am not going anywhere. I will persist. You have my word.”
Malik asked for privacy and a spokeswoman for her campaign could not be immediately reached Wednesday evening.
In August, Malik narrowly won the Democratic nomination over Heather Ross in a minor upset. She has campaigned on a relatively liberal agenda, especially in contrast to Schweikert, who is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Democrats have higher hopes in Schweikert’s traditionally red district this year, partly because he is under an ethics investigation over allegations of misspending and other issues.
Malik supports transitioning to a single-payer health-care system, paid parental leave, guaranteed paid sick leave and adjusting the federal minimum wage with inflation. The current federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, hasn’t been adjusted since 2009.
She favors raising the income limit that is taxed to help fund Social Security as a way to shore up that program’s finances. She also wants to incentivize more private employers to match contributions to employee-retirement programs.
During a debate with Schweikert last month, Malik played up her opposition to the tax-cut legislation that became law last year as a sign of how she is different from Schweikert.
“That tax bill is not supporting the middle class, and that is why I believe the GOP is trying to pass a version two of that tax bill right now as a political tool,” she said. “To say that this one will protect the middle class is admitting the first one didn’t.”
For his part, Schweikert said Malik’s “math was quite wrong.”
The 6th District is suburban, relatively well-educated and relatively affluent. That’s a mix that has reliably voted for Republicans in years past, but Democrats see it as a place where they can better compete, especially in the President Donald Trump era.