Lea “Chapter 7” Marquez-Peterson spent most of a recent MSNBC interview ducking questions — at first disavowing Trump because she is a “local candidate,” then later saying she would be “honored” to have him visit Tucson.
Peterson is a Republican candidate for Congress in Tucson’s CD2. There are 7 Democratic candidates vying for the chance to run against her.
No criticism of anti-Hispanic ex-sheriff
She played dumb when it came to Trump’s pardon of convicted ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio. “I really don’t have a position on President Trump’s pardoning of Sheriff Joe.”
REALLY? Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court for refusing to obey court orders to stop his immigration roundups based on racially profiling Hispanic people.
She runs a ring of Hispanic chambers of commerce that she says has 1,800 members, but they serve as platforms for Governor Ducey and other Republican officials.
She said she’d likely support a discharge effort in House of Representatives to force a vote on legislation to support Dreamers. She defended Trump’s calling immigrants as “animals,” because she said he was referring to gang members from Mexico.
A business “leader” famous for going broke
Her campaign website states that she “owned and operated a chain of gasoline stations & convenience stores in the Tucson region” — but fails to mention that they all went broke and that she dumped all the debt in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition.
At the time she was touting herself as a business expert and had even worked for Shell in gas station franchise and business development. She borrowed money to start up two Chevron stations and a convenience store in Tucson that sold pizza and car washes.
It would be a very bad loan by GE Capital.
When she filed for her bankruptcy discharge she:
- Owed more than $3.2 million in debt.
- Faced a lawsuit from GE Capital for breach of contract. She owed GE Capital $1.7 million for one gas station and $550,000 for the other one.
- Had lost a $30,000 judgment from California Petroleum Equipment.
- Owed the IRS $93,978. The IRS had filed 9 liens against her.
- Had a $38,000 student loan — she had a B.A. in marketing and entrepreneurship from the UA and an MBA from Pepperdine University.
- Owed $29,429 in unpaid property taxes.
- Owed Onion Pizza $20,000.
- Owed $13,000 in unpaid sales taxes. The Pima County Recorder’s Office filed liens against her.
- Was behind in payments on loans for the gas stations.
Yet when she announced her run for Congress, she said she would, “spread the message of fiscal conservatism.”
Here’s another discussion of the same issues. https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/running-on-empty/Content?oid=1080614
I thought she was pretty skillful in avoiding any substance. She is slippery and not to be underestimated.
Well, Lea Marquez Peterson certainly accumulated a lot of debt.
It seems she has correctly concluded that she is better suited for a government job with a steady paycheck and good benefits including a retirement plan should she be elected to represent AZ CD2.
She’s the leader of the GOP pack in fundraising having raised $502,028 with $427,582 cash on hand as of 03/31/2018. I suspect she’ll be the GOP nominee, no one else has any money.
https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2018&id=AZ02
I might add that I feel pretty good about CD2 flipping in 2018.
Ah, given the number of obvious signs of fiscal lack of responsibility, she would be perfect as a part of the Trump regime, as he is famous for his multiple bankruptcies (as a strategy to become incredibly rich and famous, apparently). His wonderful business skills will bring the country the largest deficit in recent history (not a PEEP from fiscal conservatives) all the while plundering the social services needed to help the most vulnerable and lining the pockets of his friends. CD2, you do not NEED a reflection of these policies.