Joe Flores, the Democrat who is challenging Councilwoman Regina Romero in the Aug. 30 primary election for the westside Ward 1 seat, is about to get walloped.
A new independent-expenditure committee, Tucsonans for Democratic Leadership, plans to start hammering Flores for his ties to a payday-loan operation.
“We’re going to make sure that people know he’s a payday lender,” says David Higuera, the treasurer of the committee and a political strategist with Strategic Issues Management Group.
Voters can expect to see billboards in Ward 1 highlighting Flores’ links to the payday-loan industry.
Higuera said the committee would be funded by the Pima County Democratic Party and various other donors. The Democratic Party has contributed $8,700 to pay for billboards and “phone services,” according to reports filed with the city of Tucson.
In an interview in late May, Flores told TW that the payday-loan operation was just one element of his check-cashing business and he was just serving as an agent for a payday lender out of Phoenix. He no longer does payday loans because state law no longer allows them.
“As far as the payday loan business, we operated it as an agent,” Flores said. “We only did for about a year and a half and the only reason we did was because people were requesting it.”
Flores added he has “no opinion one way or the other” about the payday-loan industry.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2011.
Wow he’s a businessman not a career politician…no wonder their scared. I’m going to move back into my house on the west side so I can vote against her.
Billboards are so ugly and using them projects a bad image. After hearing Joe Flores speak tonight I don’t think Regina has a reason to worry. Sometimes her words get in the way of what she is trying to say. If she would practice speaking into a tape recorder (if you can find one!) she would be aware of how to improve her presentations.
No matter how much the EXECUTIVES of the Pima County Democrat Party along with the Tucsonans for Democratic Leadership who all are working together and spending Democrats donated money (which should be used to fight in the General and 2012 elections) are still going to lose.
Voter want change and Rio Nuevo gives them the power to do so.
Rio Nuevo developers and the lawyers who work for them including PCDP Chairman Jeff Rogers (Lawyer) are only protecting their own interest for financial gain by getting Regina Romero re-elected!
Who cares if he’s a businessman? He has a track record of working in scummy businesses. I wouldn’t trust him in business and I wouldn’t trust him on city council. Besides, he seems like just another republican in disguise, like all those Green Party candidates who are really republicans trying to game people into voting for them.