Going for the throat: Rubalcava laments voucher passage online

Regional News

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Democratic state Rep. Jesus Rubalcava was so upset over the passage of Republican Sen. Debbie Lesko’s legislation to expand Arizona’s school voucher system that he “wanted to punch her in the throat.”

That’s according to a Facebook post he authored April 6, following the House’s passage of SB1431 along mostly party lines.

The Democrat initially posted that “Republicans (are) congratulating themselves on how they’ve screwed you and AZ’s Education System!”

But when a Facebook friend posted that “Lesko’s ‘thank you’ tour was slightly enraging,” Rubalcava showed just how enraged he was over the legislation.

“I wanted to punch her in the throat,” he wrote. It got five thumbs up.

The Democrat later defended the comment as merely rhetorical anger in response to the Peoria senator “prancing around” the House after the victory.

He declined to apologize.

“If it’s such a big deal, I’ll remove it,” he said.

The post has since been removed from his Facebook account.