PHOENIX, Ariz., Oct. 1, 2014—Claiming he has abandoned his small-business roots, America’s largest and leading small-business association today endorsed challenger Martha McSally for Congress over incumbent Ron Barber.
“On 10 key votes vital to small business since his election in 2012, Congressman Barber has sided with Main Street enterprises only three times, and those three votes were popular and bipartisan enough to make them safe for anyone to support.” said Farrell Quinlan, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “Two of his seven bad votes in particular stand out: His opposition to the Working Families Flexibility Act, which would have allowed private-sector employees to choose between taking time-and-a-half compensatory time as payment for over-time, and his opposition to prohibiting the notoriously employer-hostile National Labor Relations Board from making any decisions until the constitutionality of the current board had been addressed by the courts. Apparently the glitter and glamour of Washington D.C. has made him forget his small-business roots here on Main Street, Arizona.”
The endorsement of McSally (2nd District) was made by NFIB’s SAFE (Save America’s Free Enterprise) Trust, the association’s political action committee, and based on interviews and answers to a questionnaire. NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members across the nation, including 7,000 in Arizona and 1,149 in the Second Congressional District.
In addition to today’s endorsement, NFIB launched a digital ad campaign urging voters to support Martha McSally, as well as a House candidate webpage on its National Election Center website. Voters can find tools on the website that make it easy to volunteer, donate and support Martha McSally. The effort is part of the NFIB’s Vote for Main Street campaign.
“We were impressed with the high priority Martha McSally places on getting America’s fiscal house in order, repealing Obamacare and her understanding that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses. They have different difficulties in remaining solvent,” said Quinlan. “She will be a much better representative for the people who employ the majority of Americans and generate almost every new job.”
Brief, single-pages of bulleted information on the power of the small-business vote, what a small business is and the distinctions it has from a big business can be found here.
“Small businesses significantly impact Arizona’s economy,” reports the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration. “They represent 97.1 percent of all employers and employ 44.8 percent of the private-sector labor force. Small businesses are crucial to the fiscal condition of the state and numbered 495,227 in 2010. Most of Arizona’s small businesses have fewer than 20 employees.”
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
National Federation of Independent Business/Arizona
3550 North Central Ave, Suite 1806
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-263-7690
