PVCC Puma Press: October 2004

“I think the district deserves true representation,” says Virgil Cain, Cave Creek resident and candidate for District 7 Legislative State Representative seat.

Cain, a self-proclaimed moderate Democrat who made a close unsuccessful run for the same office in 2002, is endorsed by Arizona’s largest law enforcement association, the Fraternal Order of Police. “It’s not a normal Democratic endorsement,” Cain says.

The combination of his being pro fire and police departments and pro-union are the biggest reasons that he feels the F.O.P. is backing his run.
Cain knows he faces an uphill battle in a district that is largely dominated by conservative residents. He feels that the state legislative representation is too conservative and is not aligned with mainstream views. Cain’s believes that his mostly moderate-to-conservative positions are in tune with his neighbors.

Citing voter registration figures from the Maricopa County Elections website that show the number of Republicans to be just under 50 percent in his district, Cain believes he has more than a fighting chance of winning.

Cain says that education should be the number one mandate for the state. People need to view “education as an investment in our future,” he says.

According to Cain, Arizona’s public education funds are just under $5,000 per student. Cain says, this is “something we all should be ashamed of.”

He says that Arizona should increase funding to the $7,000 per student national average.
Endorsed by the Arizona Education Association, Cain is a certified substitute teacher with the Cave Creek Unified School District for grades K-12.

From a personal perspective, Cain’s main source of income, comes from his own company, Virgel Cain & Associates, Inc., which sells wholesale party goods and other giftware.

Cain differs from his opponents on several other issues besides public education. Incumbent Republican Ray Barnes, for example, is against Proposition 400. If approved, Proposition 400 would extend a half-cent transportation sales tax for 20 years to pay for new and improved freeways, the new light rail system, buses, and other regional transportation needs. Cain is for Proposition 400.

Cain is against Proposition 200, Protect Arizona Now. The PAN initiative would require all Arizonans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, proof of identity when voting and proof of eligibility for non-federally mandated public benefits like medical care at a hospital.

Cain says he thinks that PAN would likely end up bogged down in the courts for several years, probably resulting with at least some parts found to be unconstitutional. He says PAN is “a costly knee jerk reaction that will do nothing to solve the real problem with (illegal) immigration.”

Cain’s family life centers on Marcy, his wife of over 23 years, a foster daughter, Mirna, 21, and an adopted daughter Nisha, 15.

Cain is a board member on the Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents as well. Cain says that he thinks it important to “practice family values.”
Cain’s political background includes his 2002 run, plus a variety of activist roles in the local Democratic Party.

Elected positions within the party include Precinct Committeeperson in the Lone Mountain Precinct. The PC’s job is to get as many party members involved in the activities of their party as possible. Helping to get out the vote is another job of the committeeperson. Cain says the PC is “the link between the individual voter and the Democratic Party.”

As state committeeperson, Cain helps to shape party platforms. Simply put, PCs are like members of a corporation while state committeepersons are similar to board of directors within the local Democratic Party.

Most recently, Cain was elected delegate for Sen. John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention last summer in Boston.

Cain says that he is appealing to Republicans because he is pro-public education, fiscally conservative and pro-business. If elected, he says he wants work to “promote Arizona to the world.”

Cain says he views this fall’s election as a crossroads for politics in Arizona. The climate is changing with other, more moderate residents moving to our state, he says. There’s the “old way of doing things…or (we can) jump into the 21st century.”