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This fall, the stakes are impossibly high, not just at the presidential level—where polls show #Trump & #KamalaHarris in a dead heat—but all the way down ballot. #Republicans control both chambers of the #legislature by just 1 #vote. In #Arizona, where each legislative dist elects 2 reps, control of the state house could come down to #Democrats’ efforts to flip 1 seat & hold another in the district that includes #Phoenix & #Scottsdale.

#WonderWoman
#Election2024 #USpol #law #ReproductiveRights

In their quest to hold onto the legislature, #Republicans have turned to a member of a famous #Arizona family—#PamelaCarter, older sister of the original #WonderWoman, #LyndaCarter. On the campaign trail, the candidate Carter has talked up her work as a successful entrepreneur & a record of academic accomplishment, & boasts of having “my family’s full support” for her state house run.

“On her website, Pam claims to have her ‘family’s full support,'” #LyndaCarter said in a statement to @MotherJones. “I have known Pam my entire life, which is why I sadly cannot endorse her for this or any public office.”

#PamelaCarter has offered an inconsistent accounting of her #educational background.

#WonderWoman
#Election2024 #USpol #AZpol #RightWing #law #abortion #ReproductiveRights #AbortionRights #AbortionIsHealthcare #healthcare

#PamelaCarter’s Ballotpedia page states that she “earned a master’s degree in Communications & Biblical studies & attended #Arizona State University,” which a spox for the #elections site confirmed was based on an informational survey that was “verified by the candidate.” “I was raised in #Scottsdale, went right here to Arcadia High, #ASU, & I just love our city,” she said…in 2022. This is technically true.

#LyndaCarter #WonderWoman
#Election2024 #USpol #AZpol
#law #ReproductiveRights

#PamelaCarter did attend #ASU, & she does also have a master’s degree. But the reality of her resume is a bit more complicated.

Acc/to an ASU spokesperson, Carter was at one point enrolled at the university, but did not graduate. Instead, according to her LinkedIn page & other interviews, she attended an *unspecified* #bible college in #KansasCity, #Missouri…

#LyndaCarter #WonderWoman
#Election2024 #USpol #AZpol #Arizona #law #ReproductiveRights #AbortionIsHealthcare

#PamelaCarter later received a master’s in “communications & media studies” from the Primus University of Theology, a Phoenix-based institution that affirms in its mission statement that “life begins at conception.” (One of the prerequisites for admission is that you order a copy of the founder’s book.) Primus, which aims to prepare its students “for their #Ministry calling,” is NOT accredited by any agency recognized by the Dept of #Education.

Instead, it cites the approval of the University Accreditation Association, which evaluates institutions on their adherence to “biblical truths.” Its degree programs are “designed for the specific & singular purpose of qualifying individuals for #Christian Ministry.”

[yikes]

But #PamelaCarter has also described that degree differently in different contexts.

#LyndaCarter #WonderWoman
#Election2024 #Arizona #abortion #law #ReproductiveRights #AbortionIsHealthcare #WomensHealth #USpol #AZpol

#PamelaCarter’s campaign website during her unsuccessful 2022 campaign for #Scottsdale city council said she held a “Master’s Degree in Business & Communications,” a claim she also repeated that year in an interview…. In another video that year, she boasted of having a “master’s degree in theology, as well as in mass communications.” A current campaign biography states that “I received my master’s degree in Communications & Biblical studies.”

…[brief bio of failed ventures, then the crazy]
…after moving to KC in the 90s to attend #Bible college, #PamelaCarter started her own #ministry, mixing divine revelation w/health & wellness. Ravished Heart Communications Ministries International, which she launched w/her 2nd husband…after a 50-day prophetic encounter in 2002 in which “the Lord revealed Himself to Pamela as her Messianic Bridegroom” sold $12 self-help tapes promising to help followers “lose weight”…
[JFC. Literally.]
#VoteBlue

…The ministry aimed to make an impact not just in #Christian dieting, but in #MassMedia. #PamelaCarter asked her followers for donations to work in Hollywood as an “intercessor”—essentially an activist prayer warrior—& produced her own content, incl a lengthy interview w/a woman who claimed that her daughter had been resurrected from the dead; & a film about the life of Karla Faye Tucker, a TX woman who was executed by then-Gov George W. Bush after converting to #Christianity on death row.

But she ran into more financial difficulties…. #PamelaCarter & her husband fell into debt during the 2008 Recession, & a chpt-7 bankruptcy filing in 2009 stated that Carter was back in the nutrition business. Acc/to court docs, she was doing “nutritional sales” for Mannatech, a multi-level marketing co. “Pamela’s income comes from #pyramid [scheme] sales & fluctuates…,” the filing stated, though it never amounted to more than a few hundred dollars.

At the time, Mannatech, which had deep links to the #ChristianRight, was mired in controversy. In 2007, then-Texas AG Greg Abbott sued the company, alleging “unlawful, misleading sales practices,” including testimonials that suggested that the supplements had CURED autism & cancer, & brought a woman out of a coma. (The company settled w/the state in 2009, & ultimately paid $4M in restitution to customers & $2M to the state, w/no acknowledgment of wrongdoing.)

By 2011, #PamelaCarter had rebounded: “We are praying for a new skin care line,” the Ravished Heart website announced that year.

Carter was not just pitching products, though. She was selling a very particular kind of #theology, rooted in a desire to see the UnitedStates “united for Jesus,” & a belief that modern-day #prophets—like herself—were transmitting revelations from God.

A bio at the ministry stated that #PamelaCarter “is very passionate about her love for the Lord & has been blessed w/end-time revelation of His desire for His bride”(the full revelation was available for purchase for $25) She talked frequently about building influence on the “Media mountain” & said in 2011 that she was part of “God’s media army…to be raised up for such a time as this, to take possession of the arts,…entertainment #media,… #internet.”
#VoteBlue #Arizona #law #SevenMountainMandate

The term is often used by proponents of a #Christian #nationalist movement sometimes called the #NewApostolicReformation & a belief its adherents subscribe to known as #SevenMountainsDominionism, which aims to take gain influence over the seven spheres (or “mountains”) of #government, #education, #media, #family, #entertainment, #religion, & #business.