Brendan Lyons – Powers For the People

Thank You, LD9! I’m Proud to Serve You for Another Term (video)

Posted on December 1, 2020February 10, 2023 by Pamela Powers

Thank you so much, LD9 voters, for making me the top vote getter in the 2020 Primary Election and the 2020 General Election. I particularly want to thank my grassroots volunteers who worked tirelessly to help me win re-election.

It was an extremely difficult year for humankind, but you persevered to help many Democrats win– including the LD9 team of Senator Victoria Steele, Rep. Randy Friese and me. Oh, yes, and Joe Biden!

I was his target, and you helped me beat him. The final count is PPH 64,781, Rep. Randy Friese 64,772 and Brendan Lyons 48,026. OK, I beat Friese by only nine votes, but I beat Lyons by 17,755 votes.

Big money and endorsements provided by the Chamber of Commerce, insurance company PACs, the police PAC, developers, and others who want another reliable Republican vote for privatization and tax giveaways lost to a Progressive Clean Elections candidate with a people-centered campaign, a strong voice, and an independent voting record.

I could not have done this without your grassroots support.

In the pre-COVID era, you hosted house parties, which were invaluable for meeting voters and for collecting signatures, $5 contributions for Clean Elections, and seed money. You collected signatures and $5s on your own while I was at the Capitol in early 2020.

You bundled and labeled literature. You stamped, addressed and personalized postcards. You organized events and people. You amplified my campaign messages on social media.

You helped the LD9 team distribute palm cards by doing no-contact lit drops in nearly every precinct in the district in just a few months.

You worked really hard this year for the big wins the Democratic Party achieved in 2020 — including electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vide president.

Take care of yourselves. WEAR A MASK. I’ll be looking for you on RTS in the coming session.

Too Many Arizonans Suffer from Food, Housing & Economic Insecurity (video)

Posted on November 1, 2020November 1, 2020 by Pamela Powers

Even before COVID19, too many Arizonans were living with food, housing and economic insecurity. Under failed Republican leadership at the state and federal levels, the pandemic rages on and increases.

For the first time in 50 years, Arizona voters have the opportunity to shift the balance of power in the Arizona Legislature and hand the leadership to the Democrats.

Hmmm … 50 years of Republican control. Is that we are #50 in so many health and wellness categories — like adverse childhood experiences?

I grew up in Amherst, Ohio, a small town on the banks of Lake Erie. Although we lived modestly in a tiny house, we always food on the table and a roof over our heads.

Both of my parents worked in unionized factories, and my Dad was a member of the United Steel Workers. My family always had union benefits like full time work, decent wages, health insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacation, pensions, and affordable college for my brother and me.

Thousands of Arizona children don’t have these basic benefits that I grew up with.

Votes Should Control Our Elections, Not Money (video)

Posted on October 30, 2020June 20, 2023 by Pamela Powers

Millions of dollars are being poured into Arizona this year to sway your vote. I’m sure you have seen the street signs, the social media posts, and the TV commercials and received the emails, robocalls, text messages, mailers, and pamphlets dropped quietly at your doorstep.

Candidates raise and spend money to get elected, but that is the tip of the iceberg. Special Interest Groups create Political Action Committees (PACs) to raise and spend money to support some candidates and causes and attack others. Donations to PACs are transparent. Independent Expenditures (IEs) are non-transparent, dirty money campaign expenditures that are not supposed to be coordinated with the candidate. There were millions of dollars in IEs spent to tear down or build up candidates in the August 2020 primary in both Democratic and Republican races. In the General Election, the money is even worse.

Next time you receive a mailer or see a TV commercial, check who paid for it. IEs are usually behind the really nasty mailers based on half-truths, heavy spin, or just lies.

Helpful Voting Links: Nov 3rd Election Day Is Fast-Approaching

Posted on October 30, 2020January 18, 2021 by Pamela Powers

Voter turnout statewide and in Legislative District 9 — particularly among Democrats — has been phenomenal. There are still a few more days to vote in person or to drop off a paper ballot. Here are several links from the Pima County Recorder’s Office, from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, and from the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Here is a list of Curbside Ballot Drop-Off Sites in Pima County where you can drop off a paper ballot between now and 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2.

Here is a list of Early and Emergency Voting Sites in Pima County.

Here you can find your polling location in Pima County.

Here you can check the status of your mail-in ballot with the Secretary of State’s Office to verify that it has been counted.

Here is a link to the Voter Information Portal on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website.

Here is what you have to take to the polls to vote in person, provided by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Continue reading Helpful Voting Links: Nov 3rd Election Day Is Fast-Approaching

Child Poverty Report Reveals Failure of #Republican Leadership in #AZLeg to Care for Children (video)

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Pamela Powers

Nationwide and statewide, far too many women and their children are living in poverty. Those of you who follow my Legislative Updates and videos know that I have been beating the drum for improved maternal and child health and for tackling Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) like food, housing, and financial insecurity. During the pre-COVID19 pandemic, Arizona was #50 — worst in the country — for Adverse Childhood Experiences.

The Children’s Action Alliance (CAA), a watchdog group that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of children, recently published their 2020 Kids Count Book with data regarding the well-being of Arizona’s children. You can read the data book here. CAA also collects survey responses from candidates and electeds who are running for the Legislature. You can read the responses here.

To read more about the data book, check out David Gordon’s story in Blog for Arizona: Child Poverty and Food Insecurity are Major Concerns as the CAA releases the 2020 Arizona Kids Count Book.

Continue reading Child Poverty Report Reveals Failure of #Republican Leadership in #AZLeg to Care for Children (video)

Priorities for a New Day in Arizona (video)

Posted on October 7, 2020October 16, 2020 by Pamela Powers

In January 2021, when the Arizona Legislature goes back into session, we will be faced with major decisions in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic.

If Democrats take control of one or both chambers in the Legislature, it will be a New Day in Arizona, after 50 years of Republican control.

My goals for the future are to improve the public health and financial state of Arizona, as we rebuild from COVID19 or learn to live with it.

The post-COVID19 world will be different from “the before times” and hopefully better. In my opinion, the past will never return exactly as it was, and we have to plan for that. Travel, tourism, consumerism, healthcare, entertainment, K-12 schools, higher education, work life, prisons … many changes will come in these areas and others, whether we want substantive change or not.

Our job is to create the world we want. Here are some of my priorities for 2021 and beyond.

Continue reading Priorities for a New Day in Arizona (video)