Posted by Bob Lord
[Disclaimer: I've endorsed David Lujan in the District 4 Phoenix City Council Race]
Looks like the Laura Pastor campaign may be up to old tricks. Pastor filed for a run for Phoenix City Council in District 4 last Friday, and already I've been told she is using connections, including her father, to pressure unpaid volunteers who support her opponents to back off. A volunteer for the Lujan campaign informed me that his/her boss received a call from Laura wanting to know why someone that works for them is publicly supporting her opponent in her race. Turns out the volunteer got a sit down from the boss, letting it be known that while a person has a constitutional right to support any candidate, he/she needs to tread lightly since her dad is a sitting Congressman and may try to settle the score. (The volunteer’s name has been withheld for fear of repercussions.)
“I was shocked that any person who chooses to volunteer in any campaign would face a threat of losing their job. We have laws that protect volunteers from these sorts of things. Apparently Laura can’t win if she just sticks to the issues, so she’s trying to throw her dad’s name around to let people know there’s a price to pay if they support someone else. We won’t be threatened by these dirty campaign tactics. They have no place in this campaign, in any campaign in fact,” said Tyler Aldrich, campaign manager for Lujan, “Apparently we play by a different set of rules than our opponent. While Laura wants to focus on clearing the field rather than talking to voters, David is going to win this campaign the old fashioned way – by talking to voters about the issues that matter most in his district.”
This appears not to be the first time Laura Pastor has used this campaign tactic. During her previous unsuccessful run for council, she allegedly threatened the outside job of one staffer of her opponent, Michael Nowakowski in 2007. Nowakowski beat Pastor in a surprising upset 56% to 44% of the vote.
Political dynasties tend to give rise to feelings of entitlement, especially in the junior members of the dynasty. But we should vote for those junior members only on their own merit, no matter how comfortable their names make us feel.
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