Kirsten Engel touted phony fentanyl record: Report

Kirsten Engel touted phony fentanyl record: Report

Extreme liberal Kirsten Engel voted against getting tough on fentanyl while in the state legislature, but claimed otherwise in 2024 ads.

"Kirsten Engel's shameless attempts to rewrite her open borders, defund the police record failed again. Over and over, Engel lied to Arizonans to cover up her starring role in the worst border crisis on record." - NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen

In case you missed it…

Arizona Congressional Hopefuls Tout Phony Fentanyl Record
Arizona Globe
Steve Kirwan
November 1, 2024

Election-year-conversion syndrome is an affliction that occurs frequently for some politicians. In a nutshell, these lawmakers oppose popular and common sense laws throughout their careers until election season. Then, in an attempt to woo voters to support them, they tout false records of support for stricter measures and promise to "act decisively" if elected (re-elected). Two Arizona Democrats running in toss-up Congressional races are doing just that, running television and social media ads promising they will "stop fentanyl," despite voting records proving the opposite. Kirsten Engel (D-10, 2017 to 2021) and Amish Shah (D-5, resigned), both with reliably Democrat state house voting records, each claim that if elected to the US Congress, they will help stem the flow of illicit fentanyl into Arizona and the wider USA.

In Engel's recent ad, she claims her opponent killed a "bipartisan bill to secure the border going against the border patrol union." However, Engel voted against HB2241, which enhanced penalties for anyone manufacturing or transporting any form of heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, or fentanyl mimetic.

In her committee testimony on 1/31/2018, (video), she stated, "I think we definitely have a problem in Arizona. I'm not convinced that the solution proposed by this bill of tripling the mandatory sentence for these drugs is that answer. I do think that we are plunging into the issue of opioid abuse. I guess I would disagree with our chairman here in terms of what we did in the opioid bill. I think we recognize that there's real problems of addiction and I don't see that this bill is tailored to really catching those large traffickers. Now, we can leave this to the discretion of the prosecutors, but I don't see it in the law. There's not even a minimum threshold for the substances that are covered."

Despite her attempts to block the legislation in committee, it went before the full house, where she also voted "nay." Later that year, she went on the record, recommending that Arizona decriminalize drug possession. Then, in 2020, she moved against HB2036, another enhanced sentencing bill, in light of the ever-growing illicit drug trade flowing across the Biden-Harris open border. She requested "more debate," accusing the bill of being "overbroad."

Now, with the election focused on the dramatic spike in illegal immigration and border-connected fentanyl deaths, she is trying to rehabilitate her image with last-minute tough-on-the-border rhetoric.

[…]

With the election at hand, it remains unclear whether the apparent "election year conversion" of Engel and Shah will succeed. Engel faces a tough election bid against seasoned lawmaker Juan Ciscomani (R-CD6), while Shah challenges David Schweikert (R-CD1), a seat Democrats see as vulnerable. The outcome should be known by November 6, 2024, barring any voting issues or surprises.

Read more here.