Democrat Kurt Kroemer announces congressional bid against Rep. David Schweikert

Kurt Kroemer is the latest Arizona Democrat to get into the primary race to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. David Schweikert.

Kroemer, 61, is the former CEO of various nonprofits, most recently the American Red Cross Arizona-New Mexico region. Prior to that he was the CEO of Make-A-Wish Arizona.

While Kroemer, a Scottsdale resident, is new to Arizona politics, he served from 2003 to 2007 on the City Council in Bowie, Maryland.

Kroemer says he is entering the political fray because of "a lack of trust" in government.

"The systems are broken; the special interests seem to run the country," he told The Arizona Republic in an interview. "I am running to make a fundamental change in how people think about the government and how we prioritize what what is truly important in our country."

He cites the housing crisis and a living wage as an example of this.

Some of Kroemer's most important policy issues include abortion rights and health care. He is for everyone having access to affordable to health care in whatever format is possible, such as a mix of public and private. He is not wedded to a Medicare for All-style single-payer system. Kroemer contends that Schweikert has not taken legislative steps to make health care less expensive or easier to obtain.

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Kroemer called Schweikert, 61, "an extremist who has done nothing."

"Right now, David Schweikert ... because of his votes and his position ... is deciding what women should do with their own bodies. David Schweikert is making that decision. This is intolerable," Kroemer said.

Chris Baker, a consultant to the Schweikert campaign, declined to comment.

The biggest issue facing the 1st Congressional District, Kroemer said, is the split between people of different ideological beliefs, which is emblematic of the nation as a whole. The 1st district is among Arizona's most well off and includes Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills and sections of Phoenix.

"We cannot be a a strong and formidable democracy if we were at loggerheads with one another. ... I have spent my whole life running toward a problem," he said. "In my work with the Red Cross and with other organizations ... I'm fixing problems on a daily basis. I am a person of action, a person of solutions. And I think right now, in the district and in the country, we're not solving anything."

Earlier this month, State Rep. Amish Shah and businessman Andrei Cherny announced they were entering the primary. Phoenix orthodontist Andrew Horne in mid-January became the first candidate to announce he was running.

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Even more candidates could join the race.

Delina DiSanto, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar's 2020 Democratic opponent who now lives in the 1st Congressional District after redistricting, is considering joining the primary. Former TV journalist Marlene Galan Woods earlier this year expressed to 12 News an interest in running for Schweikert's seat.

However, the 2024 primary will not include two of Schweikert's former general election opponents. Jevin Hodge, the Democratic contender last year, tweeted March 31 that he is not running for office again next term. Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room doctor who ran against Schweikert in 2020, also has announced she will not join the race.

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With at least four candidates in the race, Kroemer says that he stands apart from the contenders based on his expertise. Besides heading nonprofits, including as CEO of Humanity United, an organization that works to end genocide and human trafficking, Kroemer worked at what is now the Government Accountability Office. For 11 years, he was a congressional investigator holding a top secret clearance. He looked into, among other things, whether Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons during the first Gulf War.

"There is no other candidate that has that breadth of life experiences and combined with senior leadership positions," Kroemer said.

Tara Kavaler is a politics reporter at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached by email at tara.kavaler@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @kavalertara.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kurt Kroemer announces congressional bid against Rep. David Schweikert