Rocque Perez, in his own words

The race for the state Senate seat in Legislative District 20 has become one of the most heated campaigns in Southern Arizona.

Our summer intern, Nicole Camacho, interviewed Rocque Perez, a former Tucson City Councilman who’s running for the seat, about the hostile tone of the race and how it’s impacted him.

So I think it was a given that, you know, when I came into this race that I knew that I would be up against someone who has historically been one of the most vicious Democrats in the Arizona State Legislature, point blank, big period.

Like I knew that that's what I was getting myself into. But I think that running this campaign in particular comes with approaching communications in a much more forward way. You know, I'm not really beating around the bush in this particular campaign because I mean, to be frank, I knew that she wouldn't either.

And so, I think that with me, before I announced that I was going to run, I put out an opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star titled something along the lines of Tucson deserves better. And immediately I was inundated with messages and emails and even Alma herself had brought attention to it, calling me names, accrediting attacks on, you know, the Jewish community to folks like me.

And then later on when I eventually actually announced my campaign, it was actually that night that somebody had gone and stabbed my tire. So, my apartment's tucked in, my cars tucked into a really enclosed place. So somebody would really have to go out of their way to stab my tire.

I think along the campaign trail, she has made numerous posts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all pointing to me as kind of like a source of like violence on the Jewish community.

I think that in doing so there are, I think as a result of her generalizing, opposition to the actions of the Israel government and conflating that with an entire association to the Jewish community has prompted, you know, Jewish folks to feel some type of way about my particular stance on Israel. So I think that as a result of that, I've gotten numerous messages and emails from folks that align with Alma's politics and support for Israel. So I think, you know, that has been kind of continuous throughout this journey.

Beyond that, like actual physical in person, there've been instances where her people have literally grabbed me and held me in place so that way they could ask me questions about Israel. And then, when I respond to the questions I'm getting yelled at about my responses, very evidently not wanting to actually have a discussion, but just wanting to grill me about it.

Some of those same people have been reoccurring and that they've shown up to events holding Israel flags, waving them at me, putting them in my face, um, you know, calling me a piece of shit.

And then I would say the most recent being, I think that like with campaigns, your signs are going to get vandalized. People that own businesses nearby might take them down because they feel like it's taking away from their business image on the street sides. They could be people that are just cleaning up because some of the signs might've bent or fallen off or whatever. My signs have been deliberately vandalized. Like I've seen my name literally cut out of a sign, not like, Oh, like a portion of it, but like literally a box cut out of my entire name, specifically just my name off of my signs. So I think that's another thing.

Then obviously, her coming forward and elevating far-right media narratives about me, that very evidently she's been trying to pitch to local media outlets. I think even that's dangerous. I think trying to conflate me with national narratives about just bad people, I think is just really unfortunate. So I say all of that. Along the campaign trail, she has called me an antisemite. She has elevated claims about me that are false. I think as a result, not everybody, but I think some of her most loyal people have directed a lot of that at me.

So I say all of that, I think in a big contrast, my people that are supporting me, they might comment on our stuff, right. But there are not people who are actively going out to her signs or some people directing violence towards her. Like it's just a completely different contrast here.

Editor’s note: This answer has been abbreviated. Perez names several individuals who support Alma. Neither Perez nor the Tucson Agenda can corroborate his specific allegations, and several of the people mentioned have denied they assaulted Perez. They have, however, been openly critical of Perez on social media.

As like the campaign stuff goes, no. I mean, I probably wouldn't. There's not necessarily a legal concern here with people like, physically trying to fight me or anything like that. Right? Like people, somebody grabbing me and holding me in place. Like there's not really much you can do about that. I don't have video footage of anybody vandalizing my signs. So I think a lot of this comes as a part of, unfortunately, like the normal landscape of running for office, but it's obviously just the more extreme side of things.

Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm doing it for the right reasons. I care about Tucson. I want to see Tucson represented. I would have every intention of continuing on with my job here in Tucson. It might look a little bit differently. I would still be looking to maintain that role while working for the Arizona state Legislature. So, I mean, yeah, it's a tough sell for $24,000, but I think Tucson deserves better.

So I'm willing to put up for the fight.

I think there's a lot of passionate issues of interest in this race. The underlying issue with Israel and how Alma is the biggest proponent for pro-Israel legislative action in Arizona. Everything from attempting to stifle Palestinian dissent in protests on college campuses and in our streets and trying to open up teachers to be liable for lawsuits that are placed against them by parents who might disagree with lessons on antisemitism or even things like the Holocaust.

There's been instances where she's lent capacity to Israel organizations that are trying to unseat other progressive politicians. We saw that in her race against (then Congressional candidate) Adelita Grijalva in supporting her brother. Right.

I think beyond Israel, I think simultaneous to her being so pro-Israel, there's also an inherent part of this of her being pro-war. She's come out in support of the war in Iran. She's come out in support of the war in Lebanon. She's come out in support of the war with Israel and Gaza. But simultaneously to this, she's taking money from weapons manufacturers, Raytheon, and so on. And so these are people that have a direct benefit in the wars that Trump has undertaken since in office.

I think beyond that, there is the inherent colluding with businesses, with corporations and special interests. She's just the same way that she's pro-war and yielding back revenues to her campaign and potentially even through her private consulting firm from these corporations, she's simultaneously supporting them through her legislative actions.

To me taking a stand and me voicing those things? No, no, not at all.

No, I think in the best case scenario, if I was brought into the state Legislature, I would make it my number one priority to undo all of the damage that Homeland (Security) has done. And I think that if I was going to win, if I was voted by folks, I think I would have a clear message to do that. And so I think that, again, like knowing Tucson, the most blue district in Southern Arizona, the highest concentration of Democrats, and to know that our representative is voting with Republicans more than any other member of our legislative Democratic caucus, I think that sends a message. And so I don't think that there's any wrong in pointing that out.

No, I think I just look over my shoulder a little bit more and I'm more cognizant of who I'm talking to and why I'm connecting with certain folks. But I think beyond that, I can't really shy away from connecting with people and being transparent. And so, I would say as engaging with voters goes, I haven't changed anything.

Editor’s note: This transcript has been edited for clarity and to add clarifications when necessary.