Conaway Battling Ten Republicans In 8th Congressional District

Jackie Conaway, who is running for Congress in California’s Eighth Congressional District, proudly celebrates that she is a Democrat. Of her twelve competitors in the June primary, one is a fellow Democrat. Ten others are Republicans and one is a former conservative Republican state assemblyman who is attempting to reinvent himself as an independent. Conaway is a member of the California Democratic Party State Central Committee. She has received the Democratic Party’s endorsement in the race.
This June, California has gone to an open primary, such that all voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be able to vote for any candidate. The two top vote getters, again regardless of party affiliation, will then face each other in November. In this way, it is possible that in some November races throughout the state, Republicans may face each other or one Democrat may be pitted against another Democrat.
In the Eighth, the boundaries of which were redrawn as have been all Congressional districts statewide in compliance with the 2010 Census, Republicans hold a 41.9 percent to 32 percent voter registration advantage over Democrats.
Conaway, however, is not engaging in any torturous political calculations. She believes that despite party registration, voters in the High Desert are disenchanted with the GOP and its policies and are ready to support a populist.
When asked what she sees as the biggest problem facing the 8th Congressional District, Conaway answered tersely, “Republican Leadership.”
She said she was running because “We need to keep the government out of our bedrooms, our relationships and our doctors’ offices.  As a woman, I will not give back the ground to those that would control our bodies based on their religious views and distorted views of the Constitution.”
Furthermore, she said, “We need to protect and fully fund Medicare, social security, VA benefits, school loan programs and the national park service.”
Conaway said her three top priorities are “protecting social security, Medicare and student loan programs by taking wasted dollars out of the defense budget going to contractors’ hands overseas that are not mission critical and rolling back the tax cuts extended  two years ago for the upper one percent.”
Conaway said she is qualified to serve in Congress because “I have overseen technical and professional operations, educational programs, dealt with both domestic and international businesses and understand the importance of organized labor and technology to our future. On a personal level, I have acted as a general contractor in the building of two rural properties and refurbishing two others. I am ready for the challenge.”
If elected, Conaway said she would vote to “accelerate job growth by supporting the president’s infrastructure investment programs.”
She said she deserves the endorsement of the district’s voters because, “I have the ability to bring diverse people together to get jobs done.”
Conaway is currently employed as a law office manager. She was previously a principal in an English as a second language program for students from the Moscow Economic Academy & Moscow Gymnasium, a federal civil service clerk at the Yakima Firing Center in Washington, a health care worker and a private home school administrator.
She is married to attorney Bob Conaway, and with him has three adult children and three grandchildren

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