[00:00] Bryan Hyde: Welcome to the Phoenix Business Brief podcast. I'm Brian Hyde, and today I'm pleased to welcome Sena Kerr. Now, Sena is currently a candidate for lieutenant governor and the running mate of— tell me again who your gubernatorial running mate is. [00:13] Sine Kerr: Andy Biggs. [00:13] Bryan Hyde: Andy Biggs. [00:14] Sine Kerr: Yes. [00:15] Bryan Hyde: So there's a lot of possibilities of what we could cover today, but the first thing I wanna do is give you an opportunity, Sena, to first of all introduce yourself to our listeners, those who don't already know you. Tell us a little bit about who you are as well as what you do. [00:31] Sine Kerr: Yes. No, thank you so much for having me on, Brian. So yes, I'm Sina Kerr. And my husband and I, we farm in Buckeye. I've lived in Buckeye since 1964 and have been here ever since. Absolutely love it. And so my husband and I got married right out of high school. We started our farm, our dairy farm. And we We were in the dairy business for 43 years. We retired 3 years ago, but we continue to farm. We have crop farms that we do raising forage crops, and then we have a small beef herd, very small beef herd and bison herd. We have a son and 3 daughters and 12 amazing grandchildren. And I got into politics because of my love for agriculture and wanting to make sure that we could continue this way of life, secure our livelihood, and advocate for all the things that help keep us in business. So that's what started me down the road, and it led me to the State Senate. In 2018, I was sworn in opening day of session. I was actually appointed that first time. I had been a candidate for the House of Representatives, and then a vacancy became available in my district. And so that's how I received that appointment. I continued to serve in the State Senate for 7 years, completing my term, you know, right at the beginning of January of 2025. That's when my term ended. So from 2018 through 2020— well, the beginning of 2025. I was our chair for the Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee, and my last term I served as majority whip for the State Senate and absolutely enjoyed my time there working on primarily issues dealing with all of our natural resource issues, also business, pro-business issues. Being a small business person, that was very important, a priority for me as well. And then also venturing out and working on a lot of other bipartisan issues as well. And when my term completed, while I termed out, I applied for a position with Farm Service Agency, which was a presidential appointment, and working under U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. I did that for 14 months. It was a real honor to work under the administration, to work under Brooke Collins. And that's what I was doing when I got a call from Andy Biggs wanting to meet with me. He then, you know, was the gubernatorial candidate. The primary hadn't happened yet. And so this year, for the first time, Arizona will have a lieutenant governor position. So the gubernatorial candidates that make it through the primary, then they choose their running mate. Through a series of meetings and a lot of conversations, Andy Biggs asked me to join him on his ticket as his lieutenant governor running mate. [03:54] Bryan Hyde: So I want to talk about some of the issues. But first, Sena, let's unpack a little bit about your entry into the political process. And I'm doing this from the standpoint of so many people, what they know about politics is, well, this is what I read about, or I heard on TV or radio, or, you know, when I voted, I thought about But you are in a unique position. You could probably shed some light on what it's like to find yourself in that world. And I just wanna know, first of all, when you were appointed back in 2018, what was it like becoming a part of, you know, that legislative body? And what were some of the first observations you had that were eye-opening for you? [04:37] Sine Kerr: Yes, no, it was actually, it was never something I really aspired to do was to enter politics. But being in leadership positions with different agriculture organizations led me down that path, that's for sure. As we advocated in Washington, D.C. on behalf of farmers and ranchers, went to our delegation, would have regular meetings with them discussing policy, and the same as in the state legislature as well. And that's when I fell in love with the policy and in meeting so often with our elected leaders, realizing that we needed real farmers and ranchers sitting in those positions of decision makers, you know, pressing that button to vote for bills that helped us against bills that hurt us. So when the opportunity came, people started asking members, especially my— one of my members in the state legislature, asking if I would consider running when a vacancy was available. And so I really started thinking seriously about that, not knowing the first thing to do and really not knowing what, you know, what it would be like actually being, being an elected member. But after a lot of thought and prayer with my husband and our family, we said, you know, that would be great if the opportunity came up. And it did. So first, you know, I was— we were running a campaign. For the House of Representatives. Again, just learning as we went. We really didn't know the first thing, but found out that it was easier, much easier than I thought. You file your campaign paperwork and take out a petition to get signatures. And so that's number one. And meeting the voters, meeting with different organizations. And so then when I applied or the appointment for State Senate, I was apprehensive. I thought, man, that just sounds really daunting. I think maybe I'd be more comfortable starting in the House. That seemed like a good place to start. But it was such a unique situation to have the opportunity to be appointed, so I couldn't pass that up. When I— it was just a series of— I mean, a timeframe of about 3 weeks from the time the vacancy happened to the time I was appointed. So everything happened So quickly, so it was a little bit of a shock to find myself on the Senate floor, sworn in opening day of session of 2018. And my first thought was, what in the world am I doing here? And how did this all happen so quickly? And what I found though right away was, you know, we have, and I always say, you know, the people of Arizona have incredible staff available. in the legislature, both in the House and the Senate. And I sat down, I needed to learn more of the process. I knew some of it. It's pretty formal with our hearings and our floor sessions. And so getting that under my feet, which really came quickly because I had a little bit of training and I had been, I had seen and participated in and testified in hearings. So I knew a little bit of the process. And my first thought was, this is incredible to get to make decisions on so many different issues that affect everyday Arizonans, affect our businesses, you know, and each and every bill that ends up passing, you know, does have a profound effect on everyone. So those were my first thoughts that I was just so grateful for the, staff that we have, for my colleagues that came in and just really offered a lot of support, a lot of help. And it was just an amazing experience. And then I was elected for the next term, and that's when I became Chair of Natural Resources, Energy, and Water. And serving in that position was just such an honor. And was so grateful I was able to then continue advocating not only for agriculture, but for all of the rural issues that affect Arizona. And that being forestry, you know, our forest health is so important, mining, power production, and a lot of our rural cities and towns depend on agriculture. So the success of farming and ranching in our rural areas is really important as well. [09:29] Bryan Hyde: What is something that you wish your constituents understood better about the work that someone does when they are in elected office, whether it's as a representative, a senator, or in the governor's office or lieutenant governor's office? What do you wish they knew about the kind of work that goes on there? [09:50] Sine Kerr: Yes, that they're a big part of it. We depend on the feedback from our voters. I always encouraged my constituents in the state of Texas to write to me. In the district that I represented, you know, come in, testify on a bill, you know, be engaged in the process. It is critical. I mean, that's how our founding fathers established our incredible form of government, this constitutional republic that we have. You know, we really do represent the people. And I would tell every time I did tours or I would invite constituents to come in, I would say, you know, come in here like you own the place because you do. And I just really always wanted and still advocate that our voters or our constituents, residents of Arizona, really engage and be a part of the process. It is, you know, politics is not a spectator sport. It requires participation. We represent better and we can solve issues better when we have the engagement of the voters. And that's how I've always been. When constituents would contact my office, they got priority over everyone else. I had an incredible— one of the most impactful bills that I did that was outside of my comfort zone. It was outside of natural resources and water and all of that. Agriculture was a young lady came to me and she had an issue with a victims' rights issue. And so it was Kaylee Kozak, and she came and she said, look, she had been abused by her soccer coach when she was 12 years old, went through, you know, the, the whole trial. He was convicted and was given 2 lifetime probations. and some jail time as well. And it turns out that we didn't really have lifetime probation. So long story short, she came to me. I said, you know, boy, this is outside my comfort zone, but we're gonna make it work. We're gonna figure it out. And we did. It passed bipartisanly through the Arizona legislature. And then she went on and it has been adopted in other states. Well, just this week, In the House of Representatives in Congress, it passed unanimously. And so now it will go to the Senate. But that's the power of one person stepping up and saying, here's a change in the law that needs to help. We need to protect these victims that have been abused and provide true lifetime protection for them. And so that's what I, you know, really want the people of Arizona to know that their voice is so powerful. They can be incredibly impactful and make a huge difference in the lives of thousands by using the experiences they have had. Oftentimes it's not a good one, and making changes in the law that make life better, make the law better for every— for all Arizonans. [13:08] Bryan Hyde: So, you know, let's talk a little bit about agriculture and in particular how agriculture is impacted by public policy or, you know, vice versa, how public policy is impacted by agriculture. We all kind of take it for granted, you know, that when we go to the grocery store, there's going to be food there. When we open the refrigerator, there's going to be food. But talk to me about the importance of people understanding you know, the role that agriculture plays in their day-to-day lives? [13:37] Sine Kerr: Yes, well, you know, number one, we, we produce the food that goes on your dinner table. And it's, you know, one of the founding industries for Arizona. You know, we had our 5 C's at the founding when we first became a state. That was like the selling point so that we could become a state. And So the cattle, cotton, citrus, and climate, and copper, you know, those are the 5 C's. So 3 of those, and I would throw climate in there too, we need. And the reason for our successful agriculture in Arizona is because we have this incredible climate that we get to farm in. So my husband and I, we farm out in Buckeye, just about 32 miles west of Phoenix. And so we're here, you know, on what I would say the, the desert, the hot desert area of the state, but it's such an excellent place for agriculture. So, we provide a local, secure, safe supply of food, and people really care about that. We see so much now where people want to know who's growing their food, where is it coming from, how fresh is it, how local, you know, what what's the footprint, all of these things about agriculture. So it's important that agriculture stay viable in Arizona. Again, a lot of our rural communities, our cities and towns depend on the success of agriculture for their success. The jobs we provide not only at the farm level, but then you expand that to the secondary industries that come in. They take our products, you know, take raw milk, for example, and then they turn it into all kinds of different— we have so many businesses here that take our milk and either, you know, do value-added dairy drinks, yogurts, cheeses, sour cream, you know, I mean, it just goes on and on, butter, all the things, ice cream that we get from from raw milk. And it's like that with all the different commodities that we grow. And it's not just the farm jobs, on the farm jobs, but it's beyond as well. [16:04] Bryan Hyde: Talk to me about water issues. I mean, look, you know, Phoenix and Arizona, there's a lot of desert, I would assume water is a pretty critical issue. How do things stand? There's a lot of the West that's under drought right now. What's the situation, you know, where you are? [16:22] Sine Kerr: Yeah, so water has always been a critical issue for Arizona. In fact, it was our early ranchers even before statehood that realized, you know, that they needed to divert the water from the Salt River and, you know, create some reservoirs so we could better manage the times of flooding, if you can believe it. And we've, you know, we've had a lot of times of flooding for sure. It sure impacted us in the '80s. out here where we farm. But so water has always been a high priority and a critical issue, and understanding and knowing that we farm in the desert, we all live in the desert, and, you know, we have to be the very best stewards we can be of our water resources. That's why Arizona's always been a leader in water management. we've had very thoughtful— those thoughtful leaders that had incredible vision and foresight to know and to think generations down the road. And that really has been the framework and the groundwork for preparing us for this extended drought that we face today. I think we're in our 26th year now of this drought, and it certainly has had its impact But we have water because we have been such good water managers. We use less water today than we did in 1957, and that's incredible, as we have utilized different technologies to use less water and to, you know, continue to do more with less, and we'll continue to do that. So, you know, the Colorado River Decision just came down. The record of decision from Bureau of Reclamation, not favorable to Arizona. We will take the most cuts. It is very disappointing, but it's it's not this unmanageable crisis. We will continue to to work on on securing the well. I I just wanna back up a little bit because it's unfortunate that we found ourselves in this position. Our current governor just was not engaged, did not have the level of urgency needed at the onset that we have found ourselves, you know, on the back end of this deal. But we also have a lot of good things to talk about in our water story, that we have a lot of stored water. We do need to focus on infrastructure to be able to utilize that water, to bring it up, to treat it, to move it. Years ago, back in the '90s, there were some transportation basins that we call them. These were basins, natural basins around the state that mostly— most of them are in the western part of the state that hold a lot of water, and those were held aside to be able to transport water in the event we should need it someday. So again, that visionary thinking, that, that foresight that established those. So having the infrastructure to move water where we have it to places where they need it. Our cities and towns have been very proactive in preparing for the drought, securing alternate water sources. And so that has been a plus for us. We have not only the Colorado River supply, but then we have the Salt River system, Salt and Verde River. We have groundwater, and we have then these basins that hold millions of acre-feet of water that, you know, one of our priorities for Andy Biggs and myself is to make sure that we move forward with the infrastructure that is needed so we can get water to where it needs to be. [20:28] Bryan Hyde: Again, we are talking with former Arizona State Senate member as well as current Lieutenant Governor candidate in Arizona, Sena Kerr. Sena, thank you so much for joining us today on the Phoenix Business Brief podcast. [20:43] Sine Kerr: Thank you, Brian. Thank you for having me.