Meet Our Candidates: Ginny Dickey for Mayor of Fountain Hills

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Ellie B.

The Arizona primary election will be held on August 30, 2016. Reproductive health care access has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who have shown strong commitment to reproductive justice. To acquaint you with our endorsed candidates, we are running a series called “Meet Our Candidates.” In order to vote in the primary election, you need to have been registered to vote by August 1. Missed the deadline? You can still register online for November’s general election. Make your voice heard in 2016!

[G]inny Dickey is running as a write-in candidate for mayor of Fountain Hills, a town of about 22,000 people in Maricopa County, east of Scottsdale and bordering the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Ms. Dickey, one of five siblings who grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley, moved to Fountain Hills in 1983, following her parents, who relocated in the late 1970s. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Tufts University.

Ms. Dickey jumped into the race challenging Mayor Linda M. Kavanagh for several reasons, including that Mayor Kavanagh would be running unopposed for the third time.

The Fountain Hills mayoral election will be decided on August 30 — not in November.

“There was a definite discontent overall that the mayor would once again be unopposed,” Ms. Dickey told us in an email. “We opened a $500 threshold campaign committee on June 28 so we could do a poll, which came back that we could possibly be successful, so we opened up the full campaign committee on July 11,” 10 days before the write-in deadline.

“The reaction was very encouraging and positive. No matter the result, this has been such a joy and privilege to offer up a choice,” wrote Ms. Dickey.

Much of her time is spent “making sure people know I am a candidate, then on how to actually vote for me,” Ms. Dickey wrote. “The legislative mandate that cities must hold elections in the fall of even years has disenfranchised Independent voters and turned our local elections into partisan affairs.

“Forcing our high number of Independent early voters to select which ballot they want decreases turnout for them. But we are getting the word out on several fronts, and hopefully the mantra, ‘Write-in Ginny Dickey for Mayor and connect the arrow,’ is permeating our electorate.”

Whoever receives the majority of the votes on the August 30 mayoral election in Fountain Hills will be declared the winner, and will not run in November’s general election — meaning that this citywide race will be decided next week, not later this year. Continue reading →

Meet Our Candidates: Fred DuVal for Governor of Arizona

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Tori

The Arizona general election will be held on November 4, 2014, and early ballots need to go out in today’s mail! Reproductive health care access has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who have shown strong commitment to reproductive justice. To acquaint you with our endorsed candidates, we are running a series called “Meet Our Candidates.” Make your voice heard in 2014!

[I]n recent years, many Arizonans have been rightly concerned by members of the Legislature passing bills that are overtly partisan, regressive, and extreme. As part of the executive branch of the government, one of the governor’s roles and responsibilities is to act as a check-and-balance on the Legislature: The governor can veto bills that are harmful. A governor who is consistently on the side of sexual and reproductive health care access could, at the very least, make it much more difficult for members of the Legislature to continue attacking women, the LGBTQ community, and organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Fred DuVal will be that governor. In addition to making education a fundamental platform in his campaign, Mr. DuVal has consistently placed himself in support of equal rights and meaningful health care access.

All of this is of vital importance, but none of it gets at the real reason I’m voting for Fred DuVal on November 4. During the course of this election, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with or meet a number of candidates, including the opportunity to meet Mr. DuVal twice through some campaign volunteer events organized by the Arizona Education Association. What struck me most about him was his willingness to listen — not just stop talking, but really step back and listen — to questions voters were asking or experiences they were sharing.

Put all of that together, and I know he’s the kind of person I want representing me.

Fred DuVal was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of our questions earlier this month.

“Extremism has dominated Arizona’s political landscape for far too long.”

Tell us a little about your background.

I grew up in Tucson, Arizona. After graduating from Occidental College, I returned to Arizona, where I earned my law degree from Arizona State University. I went on to serve in Bruce Babbit’s office, helping craft our Medicaid system and bringing the highest levels of education funding in state history. I have dedicated my life to making my state a better place to live and raise a family. I intend to continue that as Arizona’s next governor. My wife Jennifer and I live in Phoenix with our 4-year-old son. Our older son, Will, attends college and is an ROTC cadet.

Outgoing Gov. Jan Brewer had a major accomplishment when she pushed through Medicaid expansion, despite opposition from within her own party. What will you do to build upon that success and ensure that every Arizonan has access to quality health care?

I applaud Gov. Brewer’s decision to continue to fund Medicaid. Arizona’s AHCCCS system has been praised as one of the best in the country, and as governor I would keep it that way. I fully intend on keeping Medicaid expansion; ensuring all Arizonans have access to high-quality, affordable health care is one of the main goals of my administration. Continue reading →

TIED! DuVal and Ducey TIED With Two Weeks Until Election Day!

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona

The following guest post comes to us via Kelley Dupps, political engagement coordinator for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

Fred DuVal trusts women.

Tea Party Republican Doug Ducey acknowledged this weekend that despite all of the support from the Koch brothers, he and his Democratic opponent, Fred DuVal, are tied in the polls with two weeks left until Election Day. This revelation comes on the heels of the marriage equality court case decision on Friday.

We’ve all heard about the issues in this campaign — education, jobs, veterans — and we can all agree that these are important issues that will face the next governor of Arizona. But it’s what we haven’t heard that really sets these two candidates apart: women’s health. We have yet to hear from Mr. Ducey how he believes that the government should ban abortion in all cases — even those cases of rape, incest, or health of the mother. And that is just the start of Mr. Ducey’s long list of how he doesn’t trust women, or their families, and how he would like the government to intrude into people’s lives.

Women’s health and reproductive justice have barely been a blip on the screen. This is unfortunate because reproductive rights are the single largest set of issues distinguishing the candidates. Doug Ducey has installed Cathi Herrod from an extreme lobbying group, Center for Arizona Policy, as a key adviser on his campaign. Though he has tried to sell himself as a “moderate,” he seeks the advice of Ms. Herrod, who has been behind heinous discriminatory bills — such as this year’s SB 1062, widely regarded as an attack on the LGBTQ community — that have made our state a laughingstock. Continue reading →

Thank You 2014 Luncheon Attendees!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona

Dear 2014 Luncheon Attendees:

Thank you for supporting Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona’s 2014 I Stand luncheon. We are tremendously grateful for the wonderful feedback we have received about the event — as well as all the generous donations. Thank you for helping us “Make it Happen in 2014”!

This year’s event was unashamedly political. That focus, and our speakers’ urgency, is driven by today’s reality. For many of the 45,000 women, men, and young people who come to Planned Parenthood Arizona each year — and many thousands more like them across our state — the challenges to access accurate health information and medical services are real and increasingly insurmountable.

I want to address our Republican supporters who may feel personally criticized when Planned Parenthood Advocates and I take aim at Republican legislators who are leading the assault on women’s health care. This is not the Republican party of the past. I was raised in a Republican family. My 83-year-old mother was an elected Republican author of the modern Illinois state constitution when, in 1970, she successfully defeated a proposal to include an abortion ban. My hope is that we will again see a day when candidates on both sides of the ballot support Planned Parenthood’s vision and values.

Most of us who support Planned Parenthood are motivated by our interest in providing hands-on health care and education. When we think of Planned Parenthood, we think of hope-filled futures in which young women and men can complete educations, get jobs, and raise healthy families. The gritty reality of working in the political trenches wasn’t in our plans.

I am grateful that Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed Felecia Rotellini, Terry Goddard, and Fred DuVal because these individuals clearly recognize the crossroads at which Arizona finds itself with respect to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In my remarks at the opening of these events, I cited my profound concern for the health and futures of the 96,000 young Arizonans who will enter their teens in 2014. I know that you share my concern. Thank you for standing with Planned Parenthood.

Sincerely,

Bryan S. Howard
President