| For JoAnna Mendoza, the fight for veterans is personal.
At a recent town hall, Mendoza blasted Juan Ciscomani for failing to stand up for the more than 80,000 veterans who call AZ-06 home. As a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps veteran, Mendoza vowed to be a “fierce protector of the VA” and called out Ciscomani for supporting cuts to veterans’ services.
Despite representing a district with the seventh largest veterans population in the U.S., Ciscomani said he was “thrilled” to work with the federal agency that cut thousands of jobs from the VA. Indeed, Ciscomani remained “silent” when specific job cuts were announced, even as Mendoza made clear that veterans’ health care was being put at risk.
In a similar vein, Ciscomani refused to speak out against a Trump Administration proposal to ban abortion nationwide at all VA hospitals with limited exceptions. Mendoza blasted the proposed rule and submitted a public comment that argued the ban would “betra[y] the promise made to our veterans.”
DCCC Spokesperson Lindsay Reilly:
“Juan Ciscomani is too weak to stand up for Arizona’s veterans and military families. Voters will hold him accountable this November by enthusiastically sending retired Marine Corps drill instructor JoAnna Mendoza to Congress.”
Read the reporting for yourself…
My Herald/Review: Mendoza, Mayes target DOGE, VA privatization at veterans town hall
- JoAnna Mendoza came to Sierra Vista on Friday with a blunt campaign argument for veterans: The Trump administration is weakening the agencies responsible for serving them, and Democrats must take back the U.S. House to stop it.
- Mendoza used a town hall at the Rothery Educational Service Center to link Department of Government Efficiency cuts, problems within the Department of Veterans Affairs and concerns about troops aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln to the November election.
- The retired Marine, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, pledged to protect the VA, investigate the military’s treatment of deployed personnel and give constituents more opportunities to question their representative directly.
- “This is a promise that this country has made to our veterans, and we need to follow through,” Mendoza added. “I will be a fierce protector of the VA, but also make sure that we are holding them accountable.”
- She said Congress should investigate whether injuries sustained by service members in combat zones are being accurately classified and preserved in records that can become critical when veterans apply for medical care or disability compensation.
- The issue took on added urgency when Jenny, an Army veteran who did not give her last name, said her son was serving aboard an aircraft carrier off Oman.
- Jenny said she had repeatedly contacted Ciscomani’s office but received no substantive answer.
- [Mayes] said reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid compound veterans’ problems because many live on fixed incomes, have disabilities or receive care outside the VA.
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