Ukrainian American runs for Arizona's House of Representatives (08/29/04)

Ukrainian American runs for Arizona's House of Representatives

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Oksana Komarnyckyj, a long-time Ukrainian community activist in the United States, is running for a seat in Arizona's House of Representatives.

"Because of my heritage I know what freedom means and I know that we must always protect it. Serving as an elected official is my way of serving Arizona and America and protecting our freedom," Ms. Komarnyckyj said.

In Arizona's House of Representatives two people are elected to represent a district. Ms. Komarnyckyj, a Republican, is running for a seat in the 15th district, which covers a portion of Phoenix, the state's capital.

She is joined in the race by Tara Roesler, who is the only other person in the Republican primary and therefore the two are assured to move past the September 7 primary. David Lujan and Kyrsten Sinema will face incumbent Wally Straughn in the Democratic primary, while Ms. Komarnyckyj prepares for the general election on November 2.

She said her campaign would focus on the key issues in the election. "Substance abuse, poverty, neighborhood safety and education are best addressed by fixing the root causes of those problems, as opposed to throwing money at the problems," Ms. Komarnyckyj said. "We need to treat the disease and not just the symptoms," she told an Arizona newspaper.

A member of Ukrainian National Association Branch 184 in New York City and the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, Ms. Komarnyckyj née Kurowycky moved to Arizona after she married Orest Komarnyckyj. The couple has two daughters, Ksenia, 7, and Katya, 5.

Ms. Komarnyckyj, 43, holds a law degree from Arizona State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans.

She has also spent a number of years working in Ukraine. In the early 1990s she established and operated a Junior Achievement exchange program with the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, one of the first pilot programs of its kind in the former Soviet Union. Junior Achievement has been called the oldest and largest non-profit economic education organization in the world.

At the same time, she also advised an international trade and tourism company, and worked as an economic advisor to the chairman of Ivano-Frankivsk's regional council before returning to the United States to extern with Judge Stephen M. McNamee of the U.S. District Court in Arizona. Since then she has worked as a lawyer at two prominent firms in Arizona.

"As a child, I was taught that in America I could be anything I want to be as long as I work at it. In other words, this country gave me the opportunity but it was my job to seize it. I would like to see a greater emphasis on that belief," Ms. Komarnyckyj said in a statement on her campaign website, www.oksanaforhouse.com.

Her parents also have been active in the Ukrainian American community. Her grandfather Erast Kurowycky in 1955 opened Kurowycky's Meat Market in New York City, which was later run by his son Yaroslaw Kurowyckyj Sr. and is now run by his grandson Yaroslaw Kurowyckyj Jr., Mrs. Komarnyckyj's brother. Her mother, Iryna, is president of the New York-based Ukrainian National Women's League of America.

Asked about her role as a legislator if elected, Ms. Komarnyckyj said, "The greatest impact a legislature can have is to listen to their constituency. You take a look at what your goal is and you find a way to work toward that goal."

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