Big Money Politics Targets the ‘Tucson Progressive’ in 2020 Election (video)

Corporate America, was it something I said?

Are you putting tens of thousands of dollars in big money donations behind my pro Trump, pro deregulation, pro tax giveaway, pro privatized insurance, pro Open Up Arizona (and masks are a personal choice) Republican opponent because I told the people of Arizona the truth about tax giveaways? That we were poised to giveaway $1 billion in taxes to corporations, special interest groups and wealthy Arizonans in 2020, after giving them $400 million in 2019?

Or was it because I said (repeatedly) that we should fund the People’s To-Do List — Education, Infrastructure, Healthcare and Safety and Security — instead of the Corporate Wish List?

Or maybe you didn’t like my video on raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for public education, instead of continuing to raise sales taxes on the poor to fund the state government?

Or maybe you didn’t like it when I exposed the GPLET tax shell game or the $13 billion in state tax giveaways?

Or was it my speeches against voter suppression and against attacks on Clean Elections, the Citizen’s Initiative, Independent Redistricting and Medical Marijuana?

Or was it because I opposed the sub-minimum wage of $7.25/hour, fake pregnancy clinics, dangerous deregulation, and Reefer Madness anti-marijuana legalization efforts?

Or was it when I said that Arizona chose a short-term economic boost over common sense, opened up the economy too soon, and gave our state the worst COVID19 record in the world ?

Davida vs Goliath

It will be interesting to see how much money the Chamber of Commerce, Rio Nuevo, the developers and others who are benefiting from tax giveaways and/or the prison industrial complex are willing to spend against a Clean Elections candidate and one of the most independent voices in the Arizona Legislature.

Now more than ever, in the middle of a pandemic, the people of Arizona need an outspoken public health advocate in the Legislature, not somebody who’s ready to give away billions of dollars in your taxes to the developers and other wealthy businessmen who donated to his campaign.

My average campaign donation is around $50 per person this year. Eyeballing his, the average donation appears to be $500 or more per person.

Do you want money to run the Legislature as it has for decades, or do you want people to run the Legislature on your behalf? There is a lot of money in the Legislative races this year. The corporations, the developers, and the special interest groups don’t want to lose control of the gravy train that they have in the Arizona Legislature with the Republican Party in control.

It’s time for the people to rise up and say, “Enough is enough. We want our government back!”

If you live in LD9, please vote for me on of before August 4 in the primary and on or before Nov. 3 in the general election. The people of Arizona deserve better leadership in the state Legislature.

For the Record

In 2016, I beat an incumbent Democrat (a guy) by 2,651 votes in the August Primary Election, and I beat a pro-Trump Christian conservative Republican woman by 3,595 in the November General Election. It was the first time I ever ran for office.

In 2018, I beat a Corporate Democrat (another guy) by 14,265 votes in the August Primary Election, and I beat the same pro-Trump Christian conservative Republican woman by 12,398 votes (almost 10,000 more than in 2016) in the November General Election.

In 2020, Dr. Randy Friese and I don’t have a primary challenger, but in the General Election we do have a Republican male challenger who is on the Chamber of Commerce team of big money business donors.

In 2018, Arizona Democrats narrowed the D/R split in the Legislature to dangerously thin margins. Under Republican control, corporations and special interest groups have made money on the steady stream of tax giveaway schemes, specialty license plate revenue, loopholes, sweetheart deals, conflicts of interest, and ethics complaints that has been flowing from the Arizona Legislature for decades.

The Democrats have not been in this position in Arizona since the mid 1960s. With the real threat that Democrats will take control of both chambers in Phoenix, Legislative races are awash with big money and dirty money — including the Legislative District 9 House race.

Since I started running for office in August 2015, I have been an outspoken voice for the people of Arizona and against shortchanging education, against denying science, against carvouts and sweetheart deals, against forcing people to live in poverty, and against tax giveaways.

During my four years in the Arizona Legislature, I used my voice, my votes and my bills to fight for the rights, the benefits, and the health of all Arizonans. I have one of the most independent voting records in the Arizona House. I am the only person who voted against every tax giveaway in the four years that I have served in the Arizona House. That is why the developers and corporations that would benefit from continued tax giveaways are bankrolling our Republican challenger.

I am running for a third term to continue this work. Please vote for me on or before August 4 in the primary and on or before November 3 in the general election. It has been an honor to serve you.

It’s time that the Arizona Legislature funded the People’s To-Do List — education, infrastructure, healthcare, and safety and security — instead of the corporate wish list.

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