Lucy Flores admits she “doesn’t have the background of a typical politician” but that hasn’t stopped her from working her way from being an inmate and high school dropout, to a lawyer and candidate for lieutenant governor of Nevada. After her recent appearances on “Melissa Harris-Perry” and in Benjy Sarlin’s story, “Is Lucy Flores the Latina star Democrats have been waiting for?“, Flores responded to msnbc.com reader questions. Focused less on her beginnings and more on her platform, Flores covered a wide range of topics, from her positions on education and abortion, to voter turnout and Cliven Bundy. Get the whole scoop below.
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cydygitt2: What would Lucy Flores do, if given the chance, to improve education in Nevada?
Flores: Increasing funding for education will be my top priority. For years Nevada has underfunded education. Nevada gets some of the worst education rankings in the entire country. We have to find a solution and I think voters are ready for new leaders who aren’t afraid to tackle the tough issues. Saying “no” to everything, like my Republican opponent does, is not an option anymore.
During the 2011 legislative session, I supported a broad-based approach that would have restructured the way we tax businesses and increased funding for education. I will continue to support a broad-based approach and I will work with leaders in both parties to ensure that we finally address this issue.
I ndeciso: Do you ever get any pushback from Hispanic groups over the Democrats’ stance on things like religious freedom and abortion?
Flores: Many in the Latino community feel that a woman has the right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health without the interference of politicians. However, I can assure you that there is no uniformity of opinion in a group as large and diverse as the Latino community!
I have found that it is much more productive to focus on what brings us together — a shared commitment to education is the best investment we can make in our future, a focus on creating jobs and economic opportunity and to keeping government accountable to ordinary people.
ric123: If Hispanics have had a tendency in the past to stay home and avoid elections it seems imperative to me for [Lucy Flores] to have success to bring the Hispanic vote out. Does [Flores] have a plan to accomplish this?
Flores: I’m going to work to turn out as many voters as possible. Our democracy is stronger when we have full participation in our elections. In regards to the Hispanic community, I am engaging early and talking about the issues that matter. The district that I represent in the State Assembly is overwhelmingly Hispanic, so I’ve never stopped talking to the community. In this campaign, I’ve already run Spanish-language TV ads during the World Cup matches and I appear regularly in Spanish-language media. We are building a strong grassroots campaign that will focus on turning out every voter.
@illinoisMarc: How do you feel about U.S. sovereignty? Should everyone who wants it be allowed to be a U.S. citizen, as long as they get into the U.S.? And do you feel any person, even non U.S. citizens should be able to vote in U.S. national elections?
Flores: I am proud to be a citizen of this great sovereign nation. America has always been a nation of immigrants. We are also a nation of laws – with respect to our immigration policy, some of the current laws simply do not make sense and have to be changed. Disappointingly, Congress has utterly failed to address comprehensive immigration reform this year.








