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The Reality of Being a Working-Class Candidate.
Throughout my campaign, I have been very frank and honest about the challenges I face as a working class, non-traditional candidate of color.
Throughout my campaign, I have been very frank and honest about the challenges I face as a working class, non-traditional candidate of color.
The way our system is set up overwhelmingly favors wealthy people who either have the independent resources to begin financing their own campaigns, or people who have the luxury of not working full-time to support themselves and their families.
I do not come from a rich family, I am not independently wealthy, I am not yet retired, and my household cannot survive off of only one income. My reality is that I am a working-class candidate bringing my unique perspective and experiences into this leadership role.
Today, my opponent posted a photo from my most recent campaign finance report that shows that I used campaign funds to give myself a $1,000 biweekly salary. I want to be very transparent and honest with all of you, my supporters and donors, about why I decided to do this.
When I first joined the race for Pima County Recorder almost a year ago I was working full-time as a College and Career Readiness Counselor on the Tohono O’odham Nation.
As you might imagine, it quickly became difficult to balance the intensity of that position—which required many hours outside of a typical 9-5 job with overnight college visit field trips and late night parent/teacher conferences—with campaigning and speaking engagements.
I knew I couldn’t give my students the full attention they deserved, so I chose not to renew my contract and decided to apply to be a substitute teacher in Tucson when the school year ended. Then the pandemic hit and substitute teaching was no longer an option.
My contract ended in June. On August 4th, I won the primary election. Although I was elated to win, I knew that supporting myself and my family for the next five months (until I would potentially be sworn in) would be very challenging.
I began investigating what I could do to support myself and my family financially in the interim. If I wasn’t running my own campaign, I would have been able to find another full-time job.
But I began to realize that taking on a second job in organizing would be essentially duplicating what my campaign was already doing: focusing on empowering and engaging voters across Pima County.
After consulting with many experienced organizers and folks working in politics throughout Arizona, I made the decision to take a salary from my campaign. One trusted advisor pointed out that @AOC took a salary during her campaign.
AOC has often spoken up about her challenges as a working-class candidate running for office. Although I’m not AOC, I empathized with her situation. Only wealthy people can afford to run for office, and that means that working-class issues are never addressed.
If we want things to be different, we have to do them differently. We have to support working-class candidates and think of solutions to support them.
I decided to heed my own advice and value the stories, perspective, and labor of Indigenous women by literally paying for it.
I decided to heed my own advice and value the stories, perspective, and labor of Indigenous women by literally paying for it.
I am proud of the fact that we have been able to fund this campaign without taking corporate money. The majority of our donors are a diverse group of educators, organizers, union members, tribal members, scientists and working class folks who believe in a more inclusive future.
As we round the corner into the final stretch of this campaign, I am once again asking for your support. Can you help us show my Republican opponent that I will not be shamed by his classist way of thinking? $5, $10, or $25 makes a huge difference for our campaign.
We understand that it is a difficult time. If all you can do is share this email, we appreciate that too. But if you have the resources and want to help us change what our local government leadership looks like, we need your help. *Donation Link in Bio*
