Tucson, Ariz. – At tonight’s AZ-08 congressional debate, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords defeated opponent Jesse Kelly with her clear vision to secure the border, protect Social Security and Medicare and invest in our schools.

Jesse Kelly – who said the word “Arizona” only once during the debate – again promised to privatize Social Security, raise taxes on the middle class and cut $1 billion from Arizona’s schools.

On border security, Giffords laid out concrete steps for securing the border and fixing our broken immigration laws, including putting to work the $600 million in funding she brought home for over 1,000 more boots on the ground and 21st Century security technology. She also called for a mandatory program to crack down on employers who hire illegal workers.

Kelly meanwhile reiterated his opposition to the Border Patrol’s checkpoint on I-19. The checkpoint has stopped thousands of pounds of marijuana and increased apprehensions of illegal crossers in the Tucson sector by 28 percent.

Gabrielle made her position on Social Security crystal clear saying, “I’m going to strengthen Social Security, not privatize it.”

Kelly, on the other hand, stuck to his plan to privatize Social Security. Despite a direct question on the topic by moderator Chris Conover, Kelly failed to explain how current retirees’ benefits could be maintained if younger workers opted out of paying Social Security.

Kelly has said that seniors who receive Medicare need to “get off the public dole,” and he has advocated for replacing Medicare with a voucher system that does not fully fund our seniors’ health care. He did not back away from those statements tonight.

Kelly also held fast to his radical plans to cut $1 billion from Arizona’s already struggling schools. He said proudly that Gabrielle’s description of his plan to cut $1 billion from Arizona schools was “pretty much true.”

Even after tonight’s debate, Kelly owes Southern Arizona real answers to the following questions:

• How can current retirees’ Social Security benefits be met if Kelly’s plan for younger workers to stop fully paying into the system becomes law?
• How can we secure the border if Kelly’s objections to Border Patrol agents asking people for their ID are made policy?
• How can Arizona schools cope with the loss of another $1 billion in cuts?
• How can middle class families in Arizona survive the huge tax increase of the so-called Fair Tax—an average of $3,800 for the bottom 80 percent of earners according the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy?

“Jesse Kelly would do for middle class Arizona what A.I.G. did for its shareholders—clean them out,” said Rodd McLeod, campaign manager of Giffords for Congress. “His plans to supersize the sales tax and privatize Social Security would cause a lifetime of damage to middle class families across Southern Arizona.”

Gabrielle Giffords is a third generation Southern Arizonan and the only person in Congress with an active duty military spouse. Gabrielle is not like other politicians. She takes an independent view on the issues and was rated Arizona’s most moderate member of Congress by the National Journal in 2009. She’s voted against a Congressional pay raise every time one has come up, and she doesn’t make earmark requests for campaign contributors. Most importantly, Gabrielle stands up for Southern Arizona by working across the aisle to secure the border, protect our military and veterans and create jobs by investing in solar energy.

###