Voters across the country are heading to the voting booth and turning in their mail-in ballots to cast their votes for the 2024 election. From abortion rights to the economy to southern border, the candidates and voters alike have shared their concerns regarding what the next four years should look like. In an exclusive interview with Cactus Politics, Peoria Mayor Jason Beck discussed the election, accusing the Biden-Harris Administration of being complicit in fentanyl deaths.
Mayor Beck assumed office in January of 2023, running on the effort of "realizing Peoria's full potential." He now presides over 220,000 citizens and shares that "the city I'm a mayor of has the opportunity to drive the economic standard for the entire state of Arizona."
Election Day is less than 3 weeks away. Through Nov. 5th, a ballot drop box will be available, Monday-Thursday, in the lobby of the Peoria City Hall.
You can also check your nearest voting center by visiting https://t.co/ZGAxrryHii pic.twitter.com/SBSDbiHBWF
— Mayor Jason Beck (@MayorPeoriaAZ) October 17, 2024
As a conservative mayor, he has proudly endorsed President Donald Trump (R) and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R), but in a conversation with Cactus Politics, the mayor suggested that four more years of Vice President Kamala Harris (D) could spell disastrous results for the U.S.
On the issue of illegal immigration and subsequent complications like the drug trade, he noted that both tickets have shared vastly different solutions, adding that the country cannot afford to have four more years of the current administration.
"Everybody talks about 120 to 125,000 people dying from fentanyl, but the reality is, when you actually talk to law enforcement and federal law enforcement and the DEA, their calculus is more around 340,000 people because you have to think about all the attributed components that actually go along with that," Mayor Beck commented. "It’s almost like the current administration is complicit in the deaths of at least a minimum of 120,000 to 320,000 people – larger than the city I’m currently in," he added.
The mayor chided Vice President Harris, assessing that her campaign hasn't presented a plan to solve border crossings or a plan to solve issues related to the economy.
He went on to question why Vice President Harris should have four more years in the White House "if this administration didn’t fix the problem in four years." Despite every opportunity to sign an executive order, Mayor Beck questions why President Joe Biden (D) chose not to act while noting that the first few days in office the president eliminated policies like "Remain in Mexico."
"Those policies work for a reason, so when you talk to U.S. border patrol, they believed in those policies for a reason, and there’s one reason – they worked," the mayor commented.
Addressing the Vice President as "the Border Czar," Mayor Beck dismissed the idea that her administration would be able to fix the most pressing concerns the country faces. "She failed at the basic components of just taking care of immigration," he expressed.