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What The People Want Out West

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

As the Republican primary season pushes westward, potential voters in Nevada, Colorado and Arizona tell us about the issues that matter most to them.

JOHN THORNTON: My name is John Thornton. I live in Parker, Colorado. Individual rights - state's rights, smaller government.

CORINNE LOYOLA: Corrine Loyola(ph), I'm from Castle Rock, Colorado. What we need to do is start collecting our taxes properly. And we need to let corporations do what they're going to do.

HOWARD SHEETS: My name is Howard Sheets and I live in Englewood, Colorado. I think maybe immigration is a bigger issue West than it is out East. I think people seem to be more excitable about immigration issues here.

KELLY TOWNSEND: My name is Kelly Townsend. I live in Gilbert, Arizona. Right now I'm hearing $1.6 billion is going to fund people living here illegally so they can go to school, get medical, the jails, food stamps, housing, and that's skimming the surface.

ROCHELLE YBARRA: My name is Rochelle Ybarra, and I live in Tempe, Arizona. I think that certain people have been used as scapegoats for the problems in the economy, but we do need people here that will do jobs that Americans won't.

CAROL WRIGHT: My name is Carol Wright. I live here in Reno. We believe in people that come from the grassroots and build themselves up. Many, many families are fifth, sixth, seventh generation here.

DAVID DEROSE: My name is David Derose. I'm a Denver native. A lot of people in the East simply do not understand the culture here. Wide open spaces, don't fence me. Things are more...

ANISA LOPEZ: Open-minded, because of the fact that we've got the 24-hour gambling, alcohol and prostitution. My name's Anisa(ph) Lopez, and I lived in Carson City, Nevada.

MICHAEL STALLINGS: My name is Michael Stallings. I live in South Lake Tahoe, California. When I think of the West, I think of kind of a outlaw-type place still, and so there are a lot of values out here that can be taken advantage of by the candidates.

BARBARA KNUTSEN: My name is Barbara Knutsen(ph), and I live in downtown Denver. Well, I think we're very independent people, but I do feel often that who runs the world is the East Coast and the West Coast unfortunately, and they ignore us out here. I think they ignore us. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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