AZ Senate candidate wants to get back to founding principles

CHINLE

He describes taxes as “theft,” considers gay marriage “debauchery” and doesn’t think abortion should be tolerated under any circumstances.

But don’t call Kelly Gneiting conservative.

“I never describe myself as ‘conservative,'” said Gneiting, 44, who is running against incumbent Democrat Carlyle Begay for Arizona state senator in Dist. 7. “I would just describe myself as a constitutionalist in the tradition of the Founding Fathers.”

Kelly Gneiting

Gneiting, a statistician with Tsehootsooi Medical Center in Fort Defiance, is the national president of the Independent American Party, whose logo is a flag with the 13 stars of the original American colonies. Wikipedia describes the party as “paleoconservative,” and its members include Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who is engaged in a standoff with the federal government over the $1 million the feds say he owes in grazing fees.

Gneiting, who has resided in the Fort Defiance area for six years, is also a five-time national champion sumo wrestler, a long-distance swimmer, a Marine Corps reservist and, at 425 pounds, the heaviest person ever to have completed a marathon. His Facebook handle is “Man of Fat Steel.”

The Idaho native said he decided to run for office “to have more influence.”

“You can only do so much as the president of a political party,” he said. “I think I have some good ideas for Arizona and I want to get some exposure for them.

“Even if I lose,” he pointed out, “here I am getting interviewed by the newspaper, so I already have more influence than I did before I became a candidate.”

Since the American Independent Party did not get enough signatures to be on the ballot in Arizona, he’s running under Americans Elect, a political organization that registers as a party to help third-party and independent candidates get on the ballot.

If elected, Gneiting said, he would work on decreasing all state taxes with the intent of eliminating them altogether, with the exception of the income tax.

He’s against legalizing marijuana, except for medical or religious purposes, and describes immigration amnesty as “stupid.”

While he realizes this may not endear him to a lot of Navajo voters, he is opposed to either the state or federal government providing special assistance to Native American tribes.

“Of all the wrongs committed against the Native Americans by our government, creating a culture of dependency is an absolute curse, caused by those whose motives are impure,” he wrote in an explanation of his views on the American Independent Party’s website. “Native Americans alone can reverse the curse by not accepting government assistance.”

In a telephone interview, Gneiting said the tribes, especially the Navajo, are in a unique position to reject government assistance and build a government of the people similar to the one the American Founding Fathers envisioned.

“I’ve about lost hope for our U.S. government,” he said, “but I still have hope for this region of Arizona and particularly the Navajo Nation.”

Financial assistance would have to be pared down gradually, he admitted.

“It’s like when they land an airplane,” he said. “You can’t take it down all of a sudden. The passengers have to acclimate to each level.”

He’s pro-gun, anti-Obamacare and believes the government should “get out of the way” when it comes to the free market and education.

His views are posted on his party’s website and 12 YouTube videos.

By contrast, he said, “I don’t know my opponent’s position on any of these issues.”

Gneiting said he has repeatedly contacted Begay online “but when I asked him for his position on the issues he went suddenly silent, and hasn’t returned my communication.”

He also accused Begay of dodging a debate scheduled by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Begay responded in an email that he was already scheduled to travel the day of the debate and could not make it to Show Low, where it ended up being held as a question-and-answer session with Gneiting.

He also commended Gneiting on his campaign and stated, “I encourage him to share his perspectives and platform to all potential voters and communities.”

“He’s hoping his Native American ethnicity in an area that is two-thirds Native American will win him the election,” responded Gneiting, who is Anglo. “He’s hoping that waving to people in the Navajo Nation Parade and kissing Native American babies will win him the election without divulging his stance on the issues — I believe the Native American people whom I live among are colorblind, and won’t let ethnicity stand in the way of correct principles, and voting for someone with correct principles.”