GENE CHEWNING FOR CONGRESS

 In the upcoming Republican primary election you as a voter have a choice between Gene Chewning and Joe Sweeney.  Why should you pick Gene Chewning?  Let's compare records.

Gene Chewning

            “Leadership Through Service,” isn’t a focus group tested campaign slogan.  It’s the philosophy Gene Chewning has subscribed to throughout his adult life; from combat in Vietnam to serving the poorest of the poor as a missionary throughout the world.

            Gene was born in Tucson at St. Mary’s Hospital to Bill and Louise Chewning.  His father was a policeman who would later retire from the Highway Patrol.  As a teenager Gene worked as a ranch hand on his godfather’s ranch north of Marana

            Although the Vietnam War caused divisions in our country, Gene volunteered to join the Navy just as his father had in World War Two.  He eventually was assigned to the USS John King, which was deployed to Vietnam.  Amongst other awards, Gene received the Combat Action Ribbon.

            Gene’s experiences in the Navy and Vietnam changed his life dramatically and he felt called to become a Christian missionary who would help those who have been forgotten by the world.  In 1974, he went to Israel as a missionary, where over the years he served Bedouin tribesmen in the Sinai Desert and Palestinians at the Beraka Hospital in the Arab Palestinian Refugee Camp.  During the years he was caught in three Palestinian terrorist attacks including one where bullets shattered the windshield of the car he was driving.

            Gene also served in Thailand, in the treacherous Golden Triangle, where opium warlords virtually rule as leaders of their own countries.  While there, he had to face these vicious warlords despite the threat of violence to himself, his family and those he worked with.  In the process, he taught many farmers how to earn more money through traditional crafts instead of growing poppies for the illegal opium business.

            He has also served in Latin America; specifically Costa Rica and Bolivia.  In Costa Rica, he worked with Nicaraguan refugees and consequently understands the poverty that drives people to come across our southern border.  He also spent many years in Bolivia, where he worked extensively with the Bolivian Royal Rangers; the second largest boys group in the world after the Boy Scouts.  He eventually became their national Commandant.

            After decades in the mission field, Gene finally came back to Arizona and eventually Tucson, where he became pastor of a church with a congregation of poor and working class Native Americans and Hispanics.  In order to continue this mission work, he often worked as a security guard and as a substitute teacher.  Today, he lives just a few miles from where he was born over 50 years ago.

            Gene is married to Sarah, who he met in Israel.  She was born in Finland, legally immigrated to the US after marrying Gene, and is now a naturalized American citizen.  She currently teaches on the South Side.  Gene and Sarah have raised two children; Judy, who graduated from the U of A, and Michael, a disabled veteran, who was injured in the Iraq War. 

Gene ran for state legislature in District 27 in 2006 and lost.  However, during the campaign he showed his real character by debating issues and respecting his opponents.  By the end of the campaign, he became friends with his opponent Olivia Cajero Bedford.

Gene remains active in veteran organizations.  He is the Chaplin of American Legion Post #102.  He also the Chaplin for the VFW post #10254 at Three Points and the AMVETS in Tucson Estates.  As such, he has often had the honor to preside over funerals of those men and women who have served our great nation in past wars.

            Gene Chewning is a man whose life has been shaped by seeing the crushing poverty in the world, the hot war of Vietnam, the Cold War, terrorism, and the violence of the international drug trade.  He has seen Soviet missiles paraded before him in Red Square and had Soviet missiles fired at him in Vietnam.  He has faced vicious drug lords while teaching farmers how to break free of the dependence on the drug trade.  He has seen the best of the Palestinian people in the refugee camps, but experienced the horrors of Islamic terrorism. Despite the risks, he has never chosen the safe path.

Gene Chewning is not choosing the safe path by challenging a powerful, incumbent congressman.  But, he is appalled by the corruption he sees on both sides of Congress and knows from experience that corruption breeds poverty.  He is committed to working with people in both parties to fight corruption and make Congress an institution that voters can be proud of.  And, as shown by his campaign in 2006, he respects the people of all parties and wants to work with everyone to solve the problems of the district and the nation.

Arizona needs someone who doesn’t see Congress as a political game of one-upmanship.  It needs someone who has seen the problems up close and is committed to taking the right path, not the safe one.  And, it needs someone who knows that the best leadership comes from knowing how to serve others first.  That’s why Gene Chewning is the best person to be elected to Congress from Congressional District 7 in 2008.

Gene Chewning is a member of the National Rifle Association.

Most important, Gene Chewning can beat Grijalva in November

Joe Sweeney

Has run 12 times for Congress, as both a Democrat and Republican, but has never won. 

The Tucson Citizen calls his message "patently offensive" and "an embarrassment to the Republican Party."

Sweeney admits to the Tucson Weekly that he can't beat Grijalva (The Skinney, March 2, 2006)

Sweeney admits that he is a racist (Tucson Weekly, "Not Sweeney," Sept. 2, 2004).

Sweeney has an F rating from the National Rifle Association

Sweeney has not filed any financial statements with the Federal Election Commission this year and refuses to say where his money comes from.

 To learn more about Joe Sweeney and what he stands for, go to the following web sites:

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/22886_

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/currents/Content?oid=oid:60081

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/opinion/Content?oid=oid:60586