Meet Our LD29 Dems Board
Our board is currently comprised of 6 members. A Chair, 1st and 2nd Vice Chairs, Secretary, Treasurer and a Sergeant at Arms. These members are all Precinct Committee People who have been elected by the other PCs of our Legislative District. They meet a minimum of once a month to discuss, and strategize how best to support and represent the people of LD29.

Manny Hernandez
Chair
Manuel Hernandez was born in the small town of Miami, Arizona. Growing up as a "military brat", he traveled the world and different parts of the United States where he experienced the different points of life and the different views of life. He returned to Arizona and attended Glendale Community College and shortly thereafter he enlisted in the United States Army. After serving 9 years in the army, he returned to Arizona to live. He started his political career in 2016 by running for the House of Representative in LD22, at that time, and fought a good race. He then became President of the Northwest Valley Democratic Party and continued for 5 years. With his wife, Margarita, they fight for Democracy every single day and will never give up. He is Honored to be voted in as the new Chair for LD29. He will be doing his best to make the District and Arizona a better place to live.

Eric Stafford
Vice Chair
I want to help make politics more accessible to normal people and keep corporations out of our political world.

Gail Manahan
Secretary
Gail Manahan has been active in the Democratic Party since she was a delegate in high school for the "mock democratic convention" in Portland, Oregon for George McGovern in 1972. Gail moved here from Washington State in 2021 and realized living in a red state after the progressive WA State, she would need to be involved much more deliberately in local politics. Outraged by school shootings, Gail joined MOMS DEMAND ACTION for gun violence prevention in 2021 and then was asked to be the West Valley Lead for the organization. Currently, Gail is the co-lead with Lora Bell and is active in MOMS. Gail participated in the last election with postcard writing, phone banking and also with the UU the Vote with her Unitarian Congregation in Surprise to elect local democrats and Kamala Harris. Gail is a retired mental health therapist and real estate agent, married to her husband Rub, a retired WA state school superintendent. They live in Marley Park, Surprise. Parents of four children (one deceased) and grandparents to four perfect grandchildren. Gail enjoys working, volunteering, writing, and, most of all, being with family and friends. She also volunteers for Better Piggie Rescue in Cave Creek with 185 pigs. Yep, that is correct!

Bob Walling
2nd Vice Chair
Bob is currently President of Grand Democrats PAC. He serves as an Arizona State Committee Member (SMC) and Precinct Committeeperson (PC) of the Arizona Democratic Party. He was elected as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention representing Congressional District 8. Serving as 2nd Vice Chair of LD29, he is focused on recruiting Precinct Committeepersons (PCs) in the District and as Lead of the VAN technology team and has coordinate Get out the Vote (GOtV) campaigns in LD29 in 2022 and 2024. He resides in Surprise with his wife Suzi, who was founding Chair of LD29 in 2022.

Charlotte Krause
Treasurer
Charlotte Krause is currently Treasurer for LD29 Democratic Party. She is also on the board of the PebbleCreek Democratic Club. Other volunteer efforts include supporting the Goodyear Police Shop with a Cop program via the annual PebbleCreek Home Tour. She resides in Goodyear.

Jim Ashurst
Sergeant at Arms
I grew up in Rural Utah and left there to join the Air Force when I turned 18 in 1965. They trained me in long range surveillance Radar maintenance. I was the guy who made sure the blip appeared on the screen. I was stationed in Biloxi Mississippi when Jim Crow was still in full force. I had a hard time making sense of that, especially considering that one of my roommates was a black man. My first assignment was at a Radar Base in Ajo Arizona, a mining town on the Tohona O Odom Reservation. I felt at home in the desert and when I got out in 1969, I came to Phoenix. I've been here ever since except for 10 years when I moved to Nevada to take a job with the US Bureau of Reclamation at Hoover Dam. I was a Communication Technician and I worked for the Arizona Department of Public Safety before going over to the Department of Energy where I worked on the communications systems that support the power lines and substations that bring electrical power to Arizona communities from the federal hydroelectric facilities along the Colorado River. I was a born and raised Republican but I always had a progressive bent. I supported the Civil Rights movement and Women's rights. At Hoover Dam I saw the necessity of having a strong union. I saw cases where women were paid less than men for the same job and it offended my sense of justice. I remember when the first two female Highway Patrolmen were hired. I was supportive but they had plenty of challenges. I was proud to vote for Barry Goldwater, though some of his conservative stances were not what I believed in. I admired his rock solid integrity and honesty. He was an Air Force General and a very loyal and patriotic American. Today the Republican party has completely purged those qualities. What finally brought me around to changing my party registration was the stupefyingly idiotic mismanagement of the occupation of Iraq. I occured to me that the only explanation that could explain it was that our leaders were incredibly stupid. Since then it has gotten much worse. I am heartbroken to see the country I loved so much as it seems to be turning into a pile of unreasoning fascist muck. I hope we can turn it around but it's going to be a very hard job. I started being active in Democrat Politics in 2018. I worked to help Hiral Tipernini in the special election that year and I met her parents and family at an election eve event. That was also the first year that I worked as an election worker, which I've done ever since. I finally connected with my LD-13 Committee and became a Precinct Committeeman. In 2020 after redistricting I became part of LD-29. I became a Board Member as Sgt at Arms in 2022. I would gladly hand my board position over to someone younger but until that happens I will keep on keeping on.
Who are the District 29 Democrats?
​
We are in northwestern Maricopa County stretching from just south of Wickenburg to just north of the I-10. LD29 includes two dynamic Democratic clubs, Pebble Creek Dems & Sun City Grand Dems (Please let us know about any other Democratic clubs within our LD boundaries.) Our two neighboring legislative districts are LD25 (west) and LD28 (east).
Redistricting has transformed portions of four former Legislative Districts, LD 13, 21, 22, & 29, into the new LD29, one of 30 in Arizona. These cities and town are now in LD29: El Mirage, Luke AFB, Morristown, Surprise, Waddell, Wittman, Youngtown and parts of Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria & Phoenix.
LD29 includes parts of CD8 and CD9 and, it’s interesting to note, the following data about our district:
In LD29, 71% of Democrats voted in the 2020 general election;
-
In LD29, there are more than 134,097 active registered voters; of these, 26% are Democrats and 35% are Independents;
-
83% of Democrats reside in CD9 and 17% reside in CD8;
-
In LD29/CD9, 20% of voters are Democrats and 38% are Independents;
-
In LD29/CD8, 24% of voters are Democrats while 32% are Independents.
In addition, the 2020 Census reports the total population of LD29 is 240,102. The representation of the community is 58% Non-Hispanic White, 27% Hispanic/Latino, 7% Black, and 4% AAPI, and 2% Native American.
What does this data tell us? In order to win more Democratic seats, we must win over more Independents as well as turnout Democratic voters. Further, we must be aware and understanding of the various ethnicities in our communities in order to improve communication with these voters. Focusing on the best ways to reach out, engage and educate voters will enlighten their voting choices.
.png)