Real Solutions for Rural Arizona
Aiden Swallow is running for State Representative in Arizona’s 19th Legislative District to fight for the working and middle class Arizonans in rural Arizona.
“For many Americans, the military is the only way out of poverty, and it was for me as well”
Aiden Swallow
I grew up extremely poor. Often only having $20 or less a week for food and gas, among the family. Early on in my childhood I learned I only had one way out of poverty. Despite the War on Terror underway, I decided to join the US Army in 2006 as a Human Intelligence Professional. For many Americans, the military is the only way out of poverty, and it was for me as well. I stayed in the military for nearly 20 years, culminating at the rank of SFC (E-7), deploying to two combat zones, Iraq and Afghanistan, and conducting national security investigations in Southwest Asia.
Towards the end of my career I realized I was transgender, and …
I had to make the scariest decision of my life yet…
Whether to come out, and be my authentic self, unapologetically and unequivocally, or ...
I could continue to live a lie.
Little did I know, in 2025, that choice would cause me to be unjustly removed, with no retirement, from the military because of hate, misinformation, and misunderstanding.
I am running for Arizona State Legislature today because I will be seen.
I will be acknowledged.
I will be true… and so should you.
Arizona needs a fighter.
One not afraid of saying no.
One who is willing to challenge the status quo.
One who doesn’t toe the line for the Republicans or Democratic Establishment.
One who fights for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or economic status.
I am that fighter.
I am that change.
“I decided enough is enough. I could no longer complain that ‘someone needs to step up’; It was my turn to step up!”
THE PLATFORM
There is no reason, that in the richest country in the world, Arizonians live paycheck to paycheck or have to choose between healthcare or food.
Arizona SHIELD
Arizona Stable Healthcare Inclusive for Everyone to Live Dependably.
Arizona SHIELD was created to shield all Arizonans from the horrors of the disastrous H.R.1, passed by Congress on July 4th 2025.
Arizona SHIELD is meant to be a stopgap to prevent Arizonans from going without healthcare, accommodate for high medical costs, and supplement people who can’t get essential healthcare services with the healthcare they do have.
What Arizona SHIELD is not:
1. Healthcare insurance
2. Negotiator for healthcare providers or insurance
3. A loan
Arizona SHIELD is a non-profit organization. Donations to Arizona SHIELD goes to fund healthcare costs to Arizonans. Arizona SHIELD also vows to work with organizations with similar missions and goals
For more information go here:
Real Solutions for Rural Arizona
Unlike the comedic circus act of rotating term limits that is Gail Griffin and David Gowan, I actually respect the citizens of Arizona, and would never abuse the will of Arizona voters by abusing term limits for State Legislatives. Although not part of the circus yet, Lupe Diaz is already starting to show a bad record.
I want to do things like:
1. Expanding AHCCCS and fund rural clinics in LD-19.
2. Fully fund community colleges and skilled trades in rural counties, like Cochise, Graham, and Greenlee Counties.
3. Defend border communities and protect migrants from state-level criminalization.
4. Block state abortion bans and protect medical privacy of Arizonans under Arizona law.
5. Protect Arizona water for Arizonans
These are some of the policies of our current, former, and, in their eyes, future representatives:
1. Gail Griffin, “The Porn Czar” - Proposing a bill to tax internet pornography to fund a border wall and Introducing bills to shield landlords from city regulations and ease eviction processes.
2. David Gowan - An owner of a fireworks business proposed bills to specifically allow the sell of previously illegal aerial fireworks, which pose a particular risk to veterans with PTSD, wildlife, and animals. Additionally he extended the days of sale for fireworks in 2019; that bill passed into law.
3. Lupe Diaz - Continuously double and triple downs on his defense for Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA)s, which have crippled public schools in counties like Cochise County where parents have to pay out of pocket for the education of their child.
Expand AHCCCS and Fund Rural Clinics
The Problem: Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, pronounced as “Access”, is Arizona State Medicaid. The same Medicaid that H.R. 1 has gutted. As a State Representative I want to expand AHCCCS, not gut it, and I want to fund Rural Clinics. Diaz has no idea how to solve the rural clinics being shutdown or the loss of jobs from H.R. 1, and Gowan does not want to expand AHCCCS.
Unlike Gowan and Diaz, I actually have a plan. Expand AHCCCS, fund rural clinics, and if that fails, the failsafe is Arizona SHIELD.
During my congressional campaign, before deciding to pursue the state legislature, I talked to rural clinics in Graham county. The first question I asked a senior medical staff member was, “How will the cuts with H.R. 1 effect your profession and this clinic.” With tears in his eyes, he told me, “It would effect me a lot. I will lose my job.” Among other hard questions, I also asked him about the jobs that will be lost and the future of the clinic. He admitted to me that the cuts would likely end with the firing of about 50% to 75% of hospital staff and cause extreme back ups. He said, the only thing keeping the clinic alive is the fact that the pharmacy is in-house. Meaning the hospital can survive thanks to the help of the pharmacy sales. Another controversial topic has been whether “illegals,” as the Republicans call them, receive care from Medicaid. So I asked, “Does Medicaid actually cover undocumented immigrants.” He told me, “Well yes and no,” “We do not ask for proof of citizenship, but in order to even qualify for the programs here you have to be a citizen. The only care that is provided is necessary, immediate care, and not preventative or ‘unnecessary’ care.” So, quite literally, undocumented immigrants only receive care that would keep them alive. Additionally, since eye care is not “necessary,” those services of the low income facility are not offered.
In the example of Graham County, the closest hospitals, if the rural hospitals of the county close, are in Sierra Vista (Cochise County), if those stay open, and Tucson (Pima County). From Safford that is a driving distance of about 2 or more hours, which is not realistic for a rural community.
My Solution: Expand AHCCCS and properly fund rural clinics, through aggressive state budget meetings. When the corrupt Republican lawmakers in the State Legislature fail us, rely on Arizona SHIELD and similar organizations to save Arizonans.
Arizona Schools
The Problem: Arizona schools are funded 49th in the country, and are ranked 51st, after D.C., in terms of education quality. Arizona schools are struggling and that’s not ok.
Gowan has a history of voting to cut K-12 funding and Diaz has voted to expand ESA vouchers. Both continuously insult the honor that is public schools. They have no idea that the vast majority of people go to public schools. Poor people go to public schools. Well off people go to public schools. I went to public schools. To people like Gowan and Diaz only the “privileged” get to go to private schools. To people like Gowan and Diaz, parents with no education qualification know more about the education of their child than state certified and funded schools. Every parent has the right to give their child whatever education they wish, but that does not mean public schools get to suffer because of that. In fact, this was Diaz’s response to pushback on ESAs:
In other words, Diaz is ok with the collapse of the public school system so the few, aka the religious extremists and the rich, can indoctrinate their children at the expense of everyone else.
My Solution: Heavily regulate ESAs. ESAs should ONLY be reserved for extreme circumstances that greatly effect a child’s education ability. This includes, but is not limited to special needs students. In these cases the public schools would not lose funding.
Every parent has the right to pull their child out of public schools, for any reason, to include religious teaching, but the state is not responsible to provide that parent with funding; basically, if a parent wants to pull their child out then they can pay for it themselves.
How Current State Legislators Have Addressed Water Concerns:
David Gowan, who has served in Arizona State House, Arizona State Senate, and is now running for Arizona State House again continues to support bills for billionaires to have water rights over citizens, which affect small rural towns like Sierra Vista.
Gail Griffin supports giving water pumping rights of farmers to developers.
Diaz has supported multiple bills to shut down the critical state department, The Department of Water Resources, that handles water resources, and giving water resourcing authority to one director per each Active Management Area, who has sole authority to determine who get’s the water resourcing funding grants in Active Management Areas.
This is just a small taste of how disconnected these longtime career politicians are from actual rural Arizonans. They serve their corporate backers, lobbyists, and investors; they do not serve the people who elected them.
Arizona Water Issues
Arizona Horizon did an interview addressing the current Arizona water use issues and fears for the summer.
Other Policies I Stand For Include:
1. Minimum wage increased to a livable wage - staggered approach.
2. I fully condemn the genocide perpetrated by Israel against Palestine and Gaza.
3. Fund community and trade schools.
4. Restrict the destruction of indigenous holy and religious sites.
5. Pro choice reproductive rights.
6. Defend border communities and protect migrants from state-level criminalization.
7. I fully condemn all: islamophobia; antisemitism; xenophobia; homophobia; transphobia; bigotry of religious freedom; bigotry of Native Americans and Indigenous People of the US; and bigotry against the LGBTQIA+2S Community.
8. Stop using Arizonan prisons as for profit organizations.
9. Arizonan felons who have done their time should be able to vote.
10. Treatment and help for drug use; de-criminalization; drug trafficking issues of extremely harmful drugs, e.g. fentanyl, should continue to be addressed.
11. Protect medical privacy under Arizona law.
12. Big money out of politics; cap on state elections.
13. Keep Arizona water for Arizona; block corporations from stealing Arizona water or funneling water to other states.
Community
Ms. Swallow doesn’t just have good ideas; She has good results as well.
Ms. Swallow’s very first fundraiser for the Cochise Family Advocacy Center, aka Lori’s Place, resulted in $400 after just one day of active fundraising.
“The Cochise Family Advocacy Center, known as Lori's Place is the sole family advocacy center in Cochise, Graham, and Greenlee Counties. Our vision is to be a resource facilitator for best practices in the fields of abuse treatment, investigation, and prosecution.”
Ms. Swallow continues to volunteer her time to local non-profit organizations.
These organizations include:
Sierra Vista Community Theatre
Rural Arizona Engagement
Rural Arizona Action
**None of these organizations have, in any way, endorsed Ms. Swallow.