Foust Announcement-02-04-16: Niger Innis, left, national chairman of the Tea Party, introduces Mesquite resident Connie Foust as a candidate for State Assembly district #19 on Friday, Jan. 29. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Foust Announcement-02-04-16: Niger Innis, left, national chairman of the Tea Party, introduces Mesquite resident Connie Foust as a candidate for State Assembly district #19 on Friday, Jan. 29. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Mesquite resident Connie Foust announced her candidacy for State Assembly district #19 at a gathering of supporters on Friday, Jan. 29 primarily saying she was against any tax increases. Foust is the former head of the Mesquite Tea Party.

Niger Innis, national chairman of the Tea Party and a 2014 republican candidate for Congressional District #4, introduced Foust as the “Border Granny” for her work when she lived in Arizona prior to coming to Mesquite. Reflecting on the current presidential campaign Innis said “we are looking for brave patriots like Connie in the state legislation to do the right thing” in a wave of sentiment that is rejecting politics as usual.

“She gives us an opportunity to change our state and our legislators,” Innis said.

“Too many people get elected and then think they have an I.Q. ten points higher than before they ran,” Foust said in her introduction. “They think they know what’s best for you. That’s not so.”

She complained that even though voters turned down the margins tax and mining tax in 2014, “at the same time, our government was already working on the commerce tax. Basically, your vote was disrespected.”

Falling back on the basic tenets of the Tea Party – taxed enough already – Foust said “every time we get taxed we lose a little bit more of our freedom.”

She complained that her Republican opponent, current Assemblyman Chris Edwards (R-AD19), voted for all the amendments to the commerce tax but when it appeared the measure would pass the general Assembly “he voted against it.” Without listing specifics, she added that Edwards voted for 26 out of 32 taxes.

She advocates zero-based budgeting for school districts, securing the U.S. Mexican border and is a member of the National Rifle Association.

Reflecting on her experiences working on the southern border she said that homeland security is not about racist views but that “it’s about security.”

Prior to her introduction, Foust’s education advisor Jim Blockey addressed the small group laying out three points he says are the foundation of Foust’s beliefs. “We teach social subjects from a liberal point of view and then we’re shocked when we turn out so many liberals. I want it illegal to teach [in public schools] any social issues like sex education and multiculturalism,” Blockey said.

He said the second point refers to “the way we teach that causes dyslexia. We need to get rid of sight reading and only teach phonics. You do not want to associate a word with a picture.”

Blockey said the third point of his and Foust’s education platform would only allow administrators to discipline students and not teachers.

“Connie and I have talked about these points. She will write legislation for these issues. I know it will be controversial but she and I are used to controversy,” Blockey said.

The filing period for the election runs from Mar. 7 through 18 with the primary election date set for June 14.