Campaign themes

2014

Lovas' campaign website highlighted the following issues:

Education

• Excerpt: "An educated workforce is essential to a strong economy and attracting business. Arizona must continue to find innovative ways to deliver high-quality education to Arizona students. Responsibly ensuring tax dollars are directed into the classroom instead of towards administrative costs is a start. Schools should aim to spend a minimum of 60 percent of every dollar in the classroom. Parents know the best learning environment for their kids which is why Phil supports expanded voucher opportunities and school choice."

Values

• Excerpt: "Phil believes in core conservative values that include limited government, fiscal responsibility and individual responsibility. A lean, efficient government that focuses on essential responsibilities is the most responsive government. Phil believes in free and open markets, the 2nd Amendment, school choice, state’s rights and he is pro-life."

Balancing the Budget

• Excerpt: "A balanced state budget is the cornerstone of a fiscally responsible government. Economic competitiveness, tax and spending policies and accurate financial forecasting are dependent on a state’s ability to responsibly manage its finances."

Economy

• Excerpt: "Low taxes, a balanced budget and an educated workforce comprise three of the main components of a healthy economy. Arizona must pursue policies improving these three areas and allow free market principles to drive our economic success. In Arizona, everyone should have the opportunity to be employed and produce their own economic success. Government should avoid policies that create burdens to that success and allow the free market to maintain control."

2012

Lovas' campaign website highlighted the following campaign themes:

• Arizona should be the best place in America to do business

Excerpt: "With abundant sunshine and plentiful natural resources, we have advantages unmatched by other states. I support tax cuts to stimulate the economy, but tax cuts alone aren’t enough. "

• Government is too big and too expansive

Excerpt: "Government needs to be leaner and focus on core functions. We need to take a look at all programs to reduce redundancies. Part of cutting government includes reducing long-term debt commitments and reforming our pension system. More cuts may be needed to bring Arizona back to optimal fiscal health."

• We need to protect and promote conservative values

Excerpt: "I am pro-life. I support full enforcement of our immigration laws. I am pro-second amendment and support gun rights."

• We need long-term tax reform in Arizona

Excerpt: "The majority of our tax base comes from sales and property taxes, putting an undue burden on those with fixed incomes. We need to look at creative tax reform policies to reduce that burden."

• Education is the future

Excerpt: "To be economically competitive, Arizona must give our children the best educational opportunities possible. I favor policies which will reduce bureaucracy, expand voucher opportunities, and shift more money into the classroom without raising taxes."

Medicaid expansion lawsuit

Phil Lovas was one of the 36 Republican members of the Arizona State Legislature who signed onto a lawsuit brought by the Goldwater Institute in September 2013 against Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) over the expansion of Medicaid in Arizona under provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Brewer announced her support for Medicaid expansion in Arizona in 2013, and by June of that year the legislature had passed a bill expanding Medicaid in the state . In September 2013, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law's implementation. They argued that the law contains a tax and its implementation under the control of the executive branch violates state laws enforcing the separation of powers. In 2015, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled against the 36 Republican lawmakers and the Goldwater Institute, saying that the law contains an assessment, not a tax. The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the Superior Court's 2015 ruling on March 16, 2017.