August 2017 LD9 Constituent Update: News & Upcoming Events (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Jim and Pam Hannley

Community Event Update

ERA in ArizonaWomen’s Equality Day: Aug 26

I am honored to be a speaker at Women’s Equality: Courageous Conversations on August 26, the anniversary of women’s suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment. I will be talking about the history of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the struggle to pass it. Only two more states are needed to ratify the ERA. I filed a bill proposing ratification of the ERA in the Arizona House in 2017, and I plan to do it again in 2018. Event information here.

Standing Room Only at July 8 Townhall

Unlike some politicians who hide from their constituents, LD9 Senator Steve Farley, Rep. Randy Friese, and I held a constituent town hall in early July. At the time, Congress was wrangling with health insurance reform and was poised to knock 30 million Americans off of health insurance, while giving tax breaks to the wealthy, to big insurance and to big pharma.

As a result, our LD9 town hall drew a standing room only crowd at the Martha Cooper Library in midtown– despite 109 degree temperatures. My UA intern Antar de Sa did a Facebook live video, and you can watch the whole event here. I also posted my comments on my YouTube channel.

Continue reading August 2017 LD9 Constituent Update: News & Upcoming Events (video)

Who is Ana Henderson? (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Pamela Powers Hannley, Ana Henderson

Matt Heinz, Brian Bickel, and I have something in common. We’re all running against Republican women who are running stealth campaigns and hiding their opinions from the voters.

Heinz is running for Congressional District 2 against Congresswoman Martha McSally who is infamous for dodging questions and debates. Bickel is running for Pima County Supervisor against incumbent Ally Miller, who refused to be interviewed by the Arizona Daily Star (and other media outlets) for their candidate series. For the LD9 seat, I am running against Tea Party candidate Ana Henderson who is hoping that $5500 worth of giant signs featuring her and her dog (but not her party affiliation or any detauls about her) will convince voters to back her.

If my website stats are any indication, voters want to know where candidates stand on the issues. Leading up to primary voting day on August 30, my website stats were booming, and the page visitors went to most often– after the home page– was the Issues tab. (Inquiring minds want to know.)

Unfortunately, Henderson didn’t answer AZCentral’s candidate questionnaire this summer, didn’t show up to the LD9 interview with the Arizona Daily Star a few weeks ago, and didn’t attend the Pima County Interfaith Council (PCIC) candidate forum this past Sunday. More than 500 people — most representing local churches or charitable organizations like the Community Food Bank and Literacy Connects– attended the PCIC event hoping to hear multiple candidates speak about public education, hunger, and drugs.

Candidates and UA students after the forum on October 5.
Candidates and UA students after the forum on October 5.

October 6 UPDATE: Last night the University of Arizona pre-law fraternity hosted a candidate forum at the UA Law School. Democratic and Republican candidates from CD2, LD9. LD10 and LD2 participated. Unfortunately, again, McSally and Henderson were no-shows.

Now the question is: Will Henderson show up for the LD9 Clean Elections Debate on October 14 or pay the no-show fine?

Continue reading Who is Ana Henderson? (video)

Sprinting Toward the Finish Line: Events!

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Rep. Randy Friese, Senator Steve Farley, and Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

Today is Sept 22.

Nov 8– Election Day– sounds far away, but it’s only 47 days away.

Oct 12– the day that early voting begins in Arizona– is only 20 days away.

Please help Randy and me stop the Tea Party from taking a foothold in LD9. Vote for two on Nov. 8 and help us cross the finish line victorious. Arizona doesn’t need another anti-choice, anti-access-to-healthcare, pro-gun, pro-school-vouchers-for-all, silent-on-the-issues Tea Partier in the Arizona Legislature. #VoteForTwo #VoteBlue

Leading up to Election Day, there are several events and volunteer opportunities.

Sept 24-25: LD 9 Canvasses
Erin Burton, our wonderful ADLCC field organizer, has organized a weekend of LD9 Weekend of Action for this coming weekend for LD9 candidates (pictured above Rep. Randy Friese, Senator Steve Farley, and me).  Jim and I will be at the canvass both days, and I hope some of our regular volunteers will also help out.

#PowersForThePeople CAMPAIGN T-SHIRTS will be available for volunteers at the weekend canvasses and at the Volunteer Appreciation Party (below).

Saturday, Sept 24– 10 a.m. start
La Madera Park (2700 E La Madera Dr., in midtown).
Sunday, Sept 25– 11 a.m. start
Democratic Party Headquarters (4639 E. First St.)

To RSVP contact Erin Burton at 270-978-7866.

Facebook event here.

Sept 25: #PowersForThePeople Volunteer Appreciation Party
On Sunday, Sept 25,  my good friend Merrill Eisenberg is hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Party at her home in midtown. The house party will be from 4-6 p.m. Please stop by for some great snacks, a cool beverage, and great conversation. The campaign t-shirts will be available to the first 48 people who volunteer this weekend. Please help me win! If you can’t attend, please consider volunteering. You can sign up to receive updates from my campaign here.  (Don’t wory, since I am running clean, I won’t spam you with donation requests.)

Facebook event here.

Continue reading Sprinting Toward the Finish Line: Events!

#LD9 Vote: Got Your Ballot But Can’t Decide? Read This! (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Pamela Powers Hannley

Once the Secretary of State has decided who has enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, candidates are flooded with endorsement questionnaires from Political Action Committees (PACs) and informational questionnaires from media outlets and the Clean Elections Commission. For the most part, the goal of the PAC questionnaires was to determine which candidates would vote to allow that PAC to keep whatever tax breaks or favors it is currently receiving; to obtain new financial favors; to renew them; to secure votes on specific issues; and/or to determine who will receive PAC money. (When you see a long list of endorsement, rest assured there are promises behind each endorsement.)

I am proud to announce that I have received endorsements from five groups. These groups are aligned with my values of promoting public health and equality for women and other groups that are often discriminated against. Since I am a Clean Elections candidate, I have received their support but no PAC checks.

  •  Arizona Nurses Association
  • National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter
  • Arizona Women’s Political Caucus
  • National Organization for Women, Arizona Chapter
  • Arizona List (on the list)

But this blog post isn’t about endorsements. It’s about candidate questionnaires. This week, AZCentral (AKA the Arizona Republic) has released its Voter Guide which contains candidate answers to their very lengthy and comprehensive list of questions. The guide is broken down by race, and it allows side by side comparisons of candidate answers which range from education funding to gun control to marijuana legalization to your favorite book or movie.

The LD9 race has three Democrats (who are running in the August primary): Randy Friese, Matt Kopec and me (Pamela Powers Hannley) and one Republican: Ana Henderson (who two of use will face in November). Unfortunately, many candidates– including most incumbents– didn’t take the time to answer AZ Central’s questions. Friese and Henderson are among the no-shows. Kopec and I did answer the questions, and there is a stark difference in how we answered and what we said.  If you are undecided in the LD9 race, I encourage you to read our answers.

Here is a link to the LD9 match-up with our answers:

Powers Hannley vs Kopec Answers

If you are in a different LD– for example LD10 or LD2 where there are also contested primaries– check out those candidate answers by scrolling through this list of all of the races:

Voter Guide: All Races

LD9 voters have had many opportunities to learn about the three Democratic Party candidates. There have been two debates/forums (Clean Elections and Nucleus Club), one TV interview, one radio interview, an interview in the Arizona Daily Star, public candidate questionnaires posted by the Capitol Times and AZ Central., and, of course, the printed voter guide that was mailed to everyone by the Clean Elections Commission.

Please take a few minutes to learn about us and please vote in August and in November! Thanks for your support.

Pamela Powers Hannley on the Bill Buckmaster Show

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Bill Buckmaster

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of joining veteran Tucson Newscaster Bill Buckmaster on his KVOI radio show. Like newsman Jim Nintzel, Buckmaster is interviewing all of the candidates in primary races, including my race in LD9.

Here is the link to the show with my interview. I am on after Dr. Victoria Maizes, from the UA Center for Integrative Medicine.

Buckmaster Show July 27, 2016

My opponents’ interviews are on different days during the week of July 25, and all interviews are on Buckmaster’s website. This is the fourth match-up for us: the Clean Elections debate, the Nucleus Club forum, Zona Politics, and now Buckmaster. I really appreciate the newscasters and the clubs that have helped inform the voters by allowing all of the candidates to speak.

If you are in LD10, they were interviewed by Buckmaster during the week of July 18.

 

Zona Politics LD9 Interviews: There’s a Progressive in the House (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers
Pamela Powers Hannley

Primary races are good for the Democratic Party because they allow different opinions to be heard. Last night while watching the Democratic National Convention (DNC), the value of the Clinton vs Sanders primary was evident. As a progressive, I heartened to hear Senator Bernie Sanders say that the two camps came together on the platform and came to agreement regarding debt-free college, busting up the banks, making society more equitable, ending Citizens United, and other populist agenda items. (They also added the Equal Rights Amendment – ERA – to the platform, but no one mentioned it.)

Mission accomplished, Bernie. Thanks for your service to the 99%. Bernie pushed Hillary and other establishment Democrats to the left and opened their eyes to the inequities of our current economic policies which offer largesse for the 1% and austerity for the 99%. They balance tax cuts and giveaways for big corporations with budget cuts, layoffs and tax increases for the rest of us– Robin Hood in Reverse.

I am by far the most progressive candidate running in Tucson and the only Tucson Democrat running clean. I have often quip that I am the Bernie Sanders of Tucson– with Hillary Clinton’s gender issues. I am pushing the local political discussion out of the safety zone of politics as usual and toward a more progressive direction– particularly in the area of economic reform, wages, and money in politics. Back in September 2015, when I started campaigning, no one else was talking about the $4 billion in unaffordable corporate tax cuts, $400 million in tax credits (half of which go to private businesses), $312 million in interest on our debt to Wall Street, or God knows how many millions in unnecessary lawsuits. And no one else was talking about income inequality or the living wage.

The LD9 candidates have had three match-ups now– the Clean Elections debate, the Nucleus Club Forum, and Zona Politics. Here is the Zona Politics show from July 24, 2016.

Listen to the answers. You’ll hear little progressive hints from the other two, and you’ll learn where we stand on the issues. The Zona show is the only venue where we were all asked about gun control, marijuana legalization, and raising the minimum wage, among other things. There are differences between the three of us; it’s worth the 30 minutes. (My segment is around 19:49.)