Aaron Hansen: A New Voice for District 81

welcome back to Arkansas First Reports where truth meets tenacity and people

still rule i’m your host Candy Cox and today we’re bringing you a powerful

episode with a big announcement one that could change the political landscape

right here in Selen County and beyond in our state our guest today is no stranger

to conservative grassroots aaron Hansen is a 22-year veteran of the auto body

industry but more importantly he is a bold voice who stepped out of the

shadows of complacency into the light of civic leadership aaron began his

advocacy journey in 2015 serving on the board of a national hunting organization

when that group drifted left Aaron did what real conservatives do he took a

stand he stepped away and he chose principle over position that fire led

him to a political organizing campaign managing and eventually to Arkansas

where he didn’t escape tyranny not to escape tyranny but to fight it head on

and today he’s here to make an official announcement aaron Hansen is running for

state representative of Arkansas’s 81st district on the Republican ticket

challenging incumbent RJ Hawk aaron welcome to the show thank you so we uh

made a live um it yesterday Thursday to

announce your candidacy and I know that this evening you are also going on uh um

you’re well Thursday you’re going on uh Seline Hardliners yep this podcast will

air on Friday so by that time a couple announcements will be out there people

will know uh but I want to do a deep dive into uh why you’re running so let’s

just jump in uh tell us a little bit about yourself

not to repeat the entire segment from the last podcast which just kind of condense it yes i moved here from

Washington State yes with basically one one goal was to never live under Democrat policies again and to get away

from rhinos i’ve seen what happens over 26 years when you let Democrats run everything and the Republicans have no

spine to stand up for what’s going on they just kind of go along to get along right and I moved to Arkansas because I

wanted hunting fishing trees mountains lakes that kind of thing but also I wanted the trifecta of you know

conservative on the the House the Senate and the governorship right then I get here and I find out that is not the case

at all and my state rep the first year I moved here was they opened up the

district or they created it due to redistricting and um he became my representative so I did

what I always do i called him i got a phone and I asked him a bunch of questions my very first question what

the hell’s going on with this personal property tax i my truck’s been paid off for years out of state now I can’t even

register my kid in school because I have to rent my vehicle that’s paid off from the state what’s going on with that and

he gave me a bunch of canned responses that he’s probably practiced before and over the course of these two and a half

three years that he’s been in there it’s his voting record has gotten worse and then finally I just started calling him

out publicly on Facebook and he essentially told me it’s not my job and

that’s when I started to share yes it is the state constitution is that and well show me where it says that the state

assesses value i get that but the power is given to them by the state mhm and then he says “Well 20 bills already died

in committee so what’s the point?” The point is to fight darn it fight do

something i mean people are I mean can you imagine if you’re living paycheck to

paycheck and then you got to go rent your vehicle or your property from the state every year just so you can make it

to work that’s not right now you get the “Well that’s the way it’s always been.”

Well why nobody said anything well that I was born and that’s how it was when I was born and so coming out of state

seeing other funding mechanisms that Washington used cuz I when I moved here I knew about the state income tax but

never in my wildest dream would I have ever thought that there was a personal property tax it never even occurred to me that some somebody would do that

right so it just right then was just it set me off like this is not right so

coming from there and not being here the less way it’s been all my life i’ve never had to do this in my life so

there’s other ways of doing things we could kick people off of state assistance that are able to work with

the technology we have now and the companies willing to make uh uh what’s the word meant for

adjustments or you know help you get the job what we can people I’ve seen

onelegged truckers and you’re telling me just because you’re overweight or got a bad back you can’t go get a job

make them work right let’s let’s promote work not dependency okay well there’s

some income making people go get a job every tax cut in history has led to more tax revenue so don’t tell me that it’s

not we can’t do it because it’s going to take away taxes go all the way back to the Reagan tax cuts we’ve had the

biggest tax you know revenue increase in history and then under the Trump tax cut same thing so don’t tell me that it

can’t be done we just need to start trying wrap our head around a few different ideas we’re giving athletes

state income taxfree income why are they more special than you and I that doesn’t make sense to me we’re going to give

corporations tax benefits that’s wonderful we bring in business but we’re still getting screwed on the little guy

and you’re going to go right along with that that’s that’s absolutely it just it’s absolutely wrong somebody that’s

paid property tax all or not property tax but paid taxes all their life like I in a minute I’d like to read this a

message that I received from somebody that go and it brought tears to my eyes people worried about losing something

that they’ve paid off they’ve been paying taxes all their life and we’re just going to abandon them for

what i I I can’t I can’t just sit by and just not do something right i have my

page that I started specifically to go after R.J hawk tax Arkansas responsibly

now you get the people that say all taxation is theft i wrong if we get rid of taxes we

get rid of government we get rid of the judicial system we get rid of the cops we get rid of fixing roads we have to

come up to an agreement that says okay I’m willing to pay this much for the bare minimum i don’t want bloated

government and I want a fair and just judicial system just like everybody should so what is the number like the

lapper curve anybody familiar with the lapper curve there it’s a big it’s all it is is an arch at a certain point

people start hiding their money now if you only pay $1,000 in taxes but your accountant bill is 1,200 you’re just

going to pay the taxes but if you’re paying $3,000 in taxes you’re going to pay that $1,200 accountant to hide all

your tax money or to you know get rid you know find deductions and things like that to zero it out right and that’s

what’s happening the real guy is getting hammered with the taxes the guy that can afford the big account that’s getting away with it or he’s moving his money

you know he might have oh this little residence over here in this state rich people can do that and I got nothing

against rich people i’m just here to fight for the little guy but me I mean so far this year when with my state

local or federal I’m almost $15,000 in taxes just so far this year i’m not even

halfway done with it so I just it it fires me up to the point

where all right the little guys getting screwed rich people can do what they need to do with their money and I’m all

about getting rich i’d love to get there someday but they can handle it now can

you imagine living paycheck to paycheck and you’re struggling all right now I got to pay my property tax or I’m on

disability i’m a retired you know disabled vet or retired person and I’m just I’m on fixed income then you’re

getting hammered okay so I bought a 30-year mortgage on a fixed rate that

doesn’t mean it’s fixed forever it goes up every year with the property tax so

you you budget for something and you plan on that for 30 years but as soon as

you sign the paperwork the plan goes out the window because your property tax is going to skyrocket

well we’re going to we’re going to deep dive into some of those things that are under the Republican platform such as

taxes but um what I would like to ask you is you know right now what is and

I’m seeing the passion on the taxes you stepping up to run for district 81 here

in the state of Arkansas is that what has fueled this fire that was a lot of

it but watching when I moved here I thought it was a great conservative state and I for the

most part from where I came from it is but it cost me the same amount and I

mean we have constitutional carry here things like that so I don’t think that’s going out to window our abortion here is

it’s banned that’s wonderful i So I can’t really you know I can’t really

like go after that because we’ve already handled that mhm um there’s certain things that here and there that I would

like to you know take care of or fight for or claw back some of the freedoms the petition for one right most citizens

should have to worry if the secretary of state is going to approve his petition or not because it’s not worded how he wants it at an eighth grade level or

whatever that’s not right either so what I’m finding is the citizen’s voice in

this state is slowly being clawed away they I can’t go create a petition anymore so we need to bring back the

citizens right to go after their government stay engaged and and I’ve seen other things other people

complaining that our petition has been denied three times well they’ve changed the law so now that they’re they’re

allowed to just deny it it’s supposed to be for the people of buying for the people right so Arkansas’s state motto

is aragnet populace and uh which means

the people rule mhm and I don’t I’m not seeing it that way right now mhm and as I look at some of the they wanted to get

rid of the foyer requests mhm and I went and I spoke on that one and it’s it’s things like that and then what I also

noticed when I was in there is the arrogance of some of these politicians when you’re asking them questions

they’re twirling their chairs they’re looking at you giving you snide remarks and it’s like “How dare you make me do

what I get paid to do uh we elected you to do a job and I expect you to do what

we think you’re there to do mhm so it as far as like

um fighting for certain free ways say gun rights abortion things like that have already been kind of handled and

I’m all about making sure they stay strong absolutely but a lot of it is the taxes

for me now I don’t really I know it might be controversial but I I’m more conservative than I am Republican

republican to me is kind of a weak knee jellyfish that just kind of goes along to get along they don’t really do

anything when they get there i’m a solid conservative when it comes to that i’ve got the backbone to fight for this cuz I

don’t all my life being in a shop my feelings that you’re not going to offend me and I’m not worried about offending

you right we often see uh those that run uh for these seats um they make a

grassroots effort and they run and and uh they get in there and you know they

kind of have this buddy system thing where they pair you with someone to kind of teach you uh the ropes how do you

feel like you would stay into the pressure of being taught the ropes as to how things are done around here

well I would probably immediately tell him “You can show me where to go and you

can tell me what time I need to be there but I can think for myself.” And I know exactly why I was sent here i wasn’t

sent here to be your friend i don’t care about being your friend i don’t care about big donor money in fact I don’t

want any i’m not taking a salary for this every bit of what I get is donated because I want every my full intention i

do not benefit from this one bit unless the entire state of Arkansas benefits i don’t want nothing i’m essentially there

to throw a grenade in into the politics of Arkansas right so one of the things that um I’ve

heard is that you have to uh you work within the system to be able to get any

of your bills heard so tell me what your thoughts are on that you can work within the system but it doesn’t mean you have

to buckle to it mhm you can follow the procedures get yourself there and from

what I see there’s a couple in there that are going to you know be on your side they’ll kind of help you but if you

shoot for 100% and you wind up with 75% we’re still better off than we were

mhm but one thing I want to do and I will absolutely do is I will call out

the other politicians and say “Hey constituents over here your politician is knocking down this bill and won’t let

it come through you might want to give them a call because this bill is for you and they’re knocking it down so you

might want to give them a call and let them know their jobs on the line if they don’t help push this through it’s it

takes the people like in and what’s the old adage uh a phone call is worth 10

votes a handwritten letter is worth it 100 or a thousand and so you got to get

engaged if you just sit there they’re going to take advantage of you every time yeah how do you plan to be engaged

with your district and your constituents for one I will encourage them to be at

the capital constantly as much as you can if we’re in session I would like you there i want your cameras rolling um and

then the other one is is at live streams minimum once a week questions and answers my phone is always open call me

text me i still have a day job and I will still have my day job that’s the only way I’ll be able to donate my salary mhm but I I I’m not a politician

i’ve been working on car that’s what I am i’m an auto body guy right with a passion for advocacy and good

conservative values and I will never forget that my dad runs his own business my brother’s still banging on metal all

my buddies are that’s not anything I’m ever gonna forget my stepdad’s been doing it 40 years it You don’t just wash

that out because you went in to the state capital i want three turns and I want to be done i want to get back to my life right now if Arkansas is kind

enough to ask me to do it again or go somewhere else that’s one thing but my full intention three terms and done

because I don’t want to lose sight of where I came from i don’t want to get in with in with the crowd that’s not it

i’ve never been worried about the crowd right this is strictly for argans 100%

i’m not trying to get into In fact my life is going to get way harder and I’m going to lose a considerable amount of money the first four months of the year

so I wouldn’t worry about me selling out to the establishment i don’t want their

money i don’t want their donations i don’t want their handshakes what I do care about is the

constituents the people i will be anywhere you want me to an event I’ll come to your kids’ birthday party i

don’t care you invite me I will be there because I don’t ever want to lose sight of where I came from i’ve got the scars

on the knuckles to prove it and it’s it’s where I aim to go back to that’s it

and that’s important to me what is your view on term limits so I’m I’m 5050 to

tell you the truth um in the in the Federalist Papers it was I’m going to

get hammered if I get it wrong but I thought it was Madison that argued that a well-informed populace was supposed to be the term limit now let’s say I go in

there and everybody just loves it and they want me to keep fighting for them because I’m I’m the best where they’ve

had let’s just say all right I’m turned out sorry guys now you got to pick somebody else that’s where I get lost

armen I’m all for it when you have some squish in there that just goes in there you know Mitch

McC but when you get good solid ones in there it’s hard to watch and go because the devil you know is better than devil

you don’t mhm and so I would rather see a well-imporned populist vote out the

tur you know the candidate but if someone says “Hey we’re going term limits.” Okay count me in i’m not opposed to him at all like I said I

would want three terms and I want to go back to my life what do you think uh about I’m I’m just going to throw this

out there but about when when you’re you know serving and uh taking someone that

you see coming up within the political atmosphere uh within your district and

uh mentoring them so that they’re ready to run and take that position that was

my initial thought too in the beginning because they say I only want third three terms but I also don’t want to let my

district down if they finally get a good solid fighter in there and they’re proud of me help us pick the next guy let’s

get him in there show them that it’s okay to fight you’re going to call names and nasty things and you’re going to have a little laughy face on your posts

and they’re going to try to hurt your feelings and go after your family and stuff sometimes but you got to have the

thick skin you might as well get into it now and get ready for it and and I’m I I 100% agree with that bring them up show

them the ropes kind of get them in there get their name out there so when you’re ready to step down that void is already

ready to be filled with somebody that’s solid that you trust right i didn’t uh

you know come into uh politics because it was a passion that I wanted to do um

you know my passion is helping to save babies lives and helping uh moms and um

to be the best moms that they can be and build families uh but yeah find myself

here because of the uh where we find oursel as a nation and as a state and I

just got to the point where I could no longer sit aside and remain silent

what are what got you impassioned so I was on the board hunting

organization right then the election night happened 2016

and I’m sitting there first thing in the morning you know watching TV like everybody else or it was that evening

whatever it was and um I’m sitting there and at the beginning of the night I’m just a regular American by the end of

the night I’m a white uneducated racist piece of garbage and it flipped a switch

in my brain like there there’s more to this people don’t just do that because

they don’t have something to hide that there’s no agenda so what it did is it took me down at least a

four-year scholarship of my own and I went and I read every book I could on the founders i studied everything I

could what What is going on i never wanted to be blindsided again and I

never wanted that to happen i wanted to take people that were sitting on the sidelines like me and wake them up and

because that’s what had happened to me is I just kind of woke up i I was passionate about h I love elk hunting chasing through the mountains and and

backpacking that was my thing but that night it changed my entire life it it

honestly it did cuz I went to bed that night and I just I couldn’t believe all the things they were calling the Trump

voters and it just it like I said four years I devoured every book I could read or get

on Audible at work i found uh Dan Bonino just he was like the renegade Republican

before he was even the Dan Bonino show like I remember his big announcement being he had a YouTube channel you know and I and then Mark Levin I didn’t

realize I was reading Mark Levin’s books before I found his radio show and then it just the conservative path just kind

of grew and grew and grew and then as other candidates were gearing up for 2020 I said “If you’re going to take my

if you get my vote I’m going to talk to you first.” So that is when I started setting up events and it just became I

took a month off work and I traveled the entire state of Washington setting up events for the candidate and it just it

was the most fun I’d ever had i mean I spent hours and hours and hours talking to constituents all over the state and

it just beca from then it snowballed into this passion to where I think this is what I’m supposed to do kind of thing

and and everybody I talk to at work or that knows me no don’t get him started

cuz he’s going to go and I’m I get passionate and I I get feisty and and

and it just became something I feel like I’m supposed to do and if you’ve listened to a week’s worth of Mark Leven

and somebody calls you know what you should do Mark and then what does he say what I should do i got a TV show i can

do my books i do my radio show how about what are you doing yeah what am I doing

and and that is where it like it it fired me up i have to do something i have when I meet when I meet my maker

and he says “What did you do to protect freedom in the country that I gave you?” Everything I could sir everything I

could and it’s still not enough that’s honestly what drives me is I

don’t want to have one regret when I go and I meet the Lord and he says “Well what did you do what did you help help

fight for babies what did you help do for life?” Everything I could i sacrificed a lot i gave up a lot of

money to do it i put my face out there i took the slings and arrows what are you doing it takes more than a Facebook post

those help right but it takes more than that right we have to we really do need to be engaged and and uh let our voices

be heard i think that we’ve gotten so complacent uh and thinking that well it’s someone

else’s job and I say that often times we find ourselves in the way that we are uh

in our country much because the Christians have remained silent and sitting on the sidelines thinking it’s

someone else’s job and that we uh don’t need to let our voices be heard so strongly i know you shared with me this

morning uh when we were getting ready to do our live um that one of the things

that you received a letter from a constituent and you were telling me that

you shared with your wife this is why this is why I’m running and so um would

you like to take the opportunity to share that absolutely because I I promised this gentleman he he did give

me permission I his name and he actually told me I could use his name Bill Safley

and it just it put tears away as I was trying to read it and it I received so

many of these kinds of letters of people just getting forgotten and left behind and hammered by their government right

and so yeah I I appreciate that and I told I promised him I will take this as far as I can and so that I’m going to

I’m going to make good on that promise but this is what he says i started paying taxes when I was 12 years old i’m

63 now i was forced to retire at 57 years old because my body was worn out

neck surgery shoulder two widowmaker heart attacks i fought three years of my social security disability i had a

long-term and short-term disability insurance that I got through my employer i was able to barely survive off that

when I retired i was making 80,000 a year the long-term disability people took my whole settlement $55,000 from

social security i had to pay taxes on the money they took plus my social security i owe the IRS over $10,000 now

I make the payments and can’t pay it off due to the interest and penalties social Security paid my Medicare insurance for

about 6 months then illegal immigrants came to our country they started holding $170 a month out of my Social Security

check i think in my whole life of working and raising a family I got money back two times in my life from the IRS i

was hoping they would do away with the taxes on social security and maybe get a break for my so-called golden years that

I worked so hard for now I’m being taxed for everything I had already paid taxes on it never ends i was a productive

member of society from a very young age now that I depend on our government to pay me for my money I contribute my

whole life the tax they tax me more and it’s hard to survive some of my

medications are ridiculous what I have to pay out of pocket my mom and dad both

died before they got to draw social security checks so where do we go from here where did all of our money go that

we paid in i just saw that they took the no taxes on social security out of the big beautiful bill after seeing all of

our tax money being stolen by corrupt politicians why can’t they be held accountable and have a reimbursement or

have to reimburse us the hardworking middle class that has carried this country for years i just hope I live

long enough to see our elderly and veterans that give it their all to get shunned by our government and him and I

had some other private messages and he says he can’t really afford his

groceries he has to hunt fish and garden to afford his groceries and it just it breaks my heart i think my grandparents

are gone i don’t have your grandparents and it just what if that was my grandpa right or my mom or my dad my dad’s

almost 65 when he’s still working away trying to keep his business going my mom and stepdad are going to be 62 this year

worried about retirement they’re looking to move to Tennessee because of the no in uh the no taxes or property tax after

65 so it it stuff like that just fires me

up more but it did i looked at my wife and I had tears in my eyes that’s why that’s why I’m going to run that’s why

somebody has to do something right and it just and it getting multiple of those

if you don’t feel something then I mean you’re not human and to have our

representatives and he said he’s been talking to one of his representatives who’s a good friend but it seems to always fall in deaf ears

now if you’re just worried about a dining committee that’s your only reason bring it up every day if you have to

call it put out a mass message to your constituent people if they knew that’s what you were fighting for we would be

there the the crowd if you said “Look I need you at the capital i want to abolish

property tax for anybody over 65 help me fight this fight.” I can’t imagine the

amount of people that would show up oh I think property tax should be abolished i don’t see a board i mean just for people

over 65 you have uh young families they’ve you know they’ve uh bought their

vehicle they’ve paid the tax on their vehicle why should they continue to pay property tax on that vehicle every year

and I you know I know that you’re focused on 65 but I just want to say that I think it should be abolished

across the board that’s what I would ultimately push for but it goes back to the try for 100% and hit 75 cuz a lot of

if we can get it at 65 people get used to that okay now let’s abolish it completely but I would I would 100% try

to get rid of it all together i don’t want to pay it i don’t want to pay as much as I can i’m all about everybody

pays equally we figure out the bare minimum that we can on a flat tax and just get rid of everything cuz you get

those people that are like all taxes are theft and and I agree to a point but at a certain point I’m willing to pay for

roads i’m willing to pay for you know my kid to go to school or somebody’s kid to go to school even though people are homeschooled or maybe have the option if

you send your kids to school maybe then there should be a special tax for that you’re choosing to take that we just

need to rethink what we’re doing here and how we can come up with the alternative forms of income because

certain things do need to be paid for we’re taxed to death oh absolutely we’re taxed to death and it need it needs a

complete bulldozed overhaul that’s right so you’ve been on the ground uh for

several years now uh with previous campaign work in Washington state

launching your tax Arkansas responsibly can you share what your tax Arkansas

responsibility and I know that you’ve hit on it quite a bit this morning already uh how that plays into your

legislative vision i guess my legislative vision would be to go in there and I’ll just shake it up

but bring up a lot of questions nobody wants to ask because they’re worried about something and a lot of what I’m

going to do is take the input from my constituents that’s the whole idea of the job if if there’s something you’re

worried about let’s let’s get it out there but as far as tax Arkansas responsibly it was directly because of

R.J hawk saying that’s not my job and so a lot of that is this is where I stand

on certain things if I can abolish any tax I can that’s great and that’s what I fight for but we have to have the more

money you keep the more money you’re going to spend so essentially there’s going to be revenue coming in right but

we just have to fight figure out what the minimum is we can pay i’m all about cutting government i want an absolute

Doge style commission here to just knock out if your secretary has a secretary

gone fired there’s none of this the government should not be a retirement

job it shouldn’t be i am fiercely protective of taxpayer dollars i don’t

want to pay for somebody to just sit there and do a redundant job mhm i don’t How many times have we driven by and

seen four county workers and one of them’s working or a state employer a

state project how about state projects have to be forced to run on time and on budget

you know there’s there’s certain things we can do we have to force government to be efficient it’s like where good ideas

go to die they go to government and that needs to stop it it it’s got to stop

like yesterday things have to be cut in the government it’s completely bloated no I like I say I’m not an anarchist i’m

not some crazy libertarian that believes getting rid of all government all taxes all that i believe in absolute minimal

is possible while getting what we need to get out of it right i don’t believe in welfare i think that should have been

left up to the churches i believe if I want to help my neighbors I’m going to help my neighbors i give to charity i

give a lot to charity but that doesn’t matter it’s it’s not because oh that’s what you’re supposed to it’s because

what it’s what makes me feel good and so we have to cut unnecessary things

doesn’t matter if it’s you know all right look at who’s getting our contracts are they just in the buddy system and they’re over bidding us no we

have to look at that stuff get those some s and I don’t want it to be a government entity i want it to be a

complete outsider that has absolutely no partisanship goes in there and goes “What the hell is all this this is a

waste absolutely get rid of it save the taxpayer money.” Well our welfare system is a broken system and I do believe that

there uh needs to be a system that helps those that need a a helping hand at some

point in their life um but it it’s such a broken system it’s an all or nothing

um you either take it all or you get nothing so there’s there’s I really like

to see where you take steps in like towards working school things like that

that make that where it starts reducing the welfare to where you can come off of

it because I you know in the field of work that I do I see where people get stuck in it because the moment that they

start making anything it’s cut and and so what I would say is okay we have

these ready work program kind of thing where you call up say hey I need work for the day how about anybody on welfare

must be on their list and then whatever you make that day comes out of your welfare

And but the problem here is is when I worked at one shop we would have a washkit that would quit and we would get

a really good worker in there but the stipulation is you can’t hire from there maybe get rid of that because if you get

a solid worker in there that’s coming from one of these temp services how about we make them eligible to hire

because they get stuck in that program too like this is our business right you know because the temp service pays them

not the employer right right and they get paid every day from that they go on with money okay now all right you have

if you’re on welfare or any kind of assistance you have to be on one of these and we’ll make it disability you

know appropriate or hey c customer service jobs work from home jobs all these new things that we can do that has

to be implemented into the welfare program right it has to because I’m not

okay with just because you’re overweight I got to pay you to sit at home that’s not fair mhm i bust my butt for my

dollars so a lot of things need to be looked at individually and and we have

to promote work get off the couch go to work there’s dignity in work it makes you feel good you know when you’re

providing and you have that purpose in life and you can start buying nicer things for you and your family it it

raises your spirit it really makes you feel good and that’s what we need it gets off of substance abuse things like

that now we have purpose if you’re on one of those and you’re on substance maybe we you have to take your job but I

don’t know i know you can’t mingle church in there but there’s a charity that I really like that takes people out

of rehab and they must have a job and they have to go to church twice a week and I am all about that right people

need help we got to get it to them but they can’t be dependent on it right right well let’s uh turn our focus just

a little bit and talk about platform you know the Republican Party of Arkansas

lays out clear principles doesn’t mean that all of the Republicans follow those principles correct and so I’d love to

walk through just a few of those key um areas and hear where you stand on them

uh let’s first talk about lower taxes and economic growth which we have been

the RPA supports lower taxes to spur growth that’s what the platform says

what are they doing about it what’s your tax policy vision for Arkansas first thing I would do is look

at where all the money’s going and all the things we spend it on and then I would say “All right do they align with

the values?” I’m not a I’m not a big government spending guy i’d love to cut

it all government in order for them to spend money has to take money from us

but it like when I see tax dollars at the 296.8 8 million going to a tax

exempt university that has gender study programs without a fight from any Republican i think there’s a handful

maybe three or four that’s a problem to me let’s let’s fight for where our tax dollars are going but we also need like

the whole thing where’s it all going like the ins and outs like any kind of business where’s the ins and outs we’re

taking this much in but we’re spending this much on what is it a bunch of garbage right so things need to be cut

that’s I I would rather cut things all day long well how do you plan to uh

protect workingclass Aransens from overt taxation

first we I would love to get this i mean they keep on talking about not lowering the state income tax i would love to see that gone right but their main question

is well what are we going to how are we going to build the gap okay well let’s look at other things encouraging work

okay now you you’re cutting people off of certain things work requirement should be mandatory for everything if

you’re on any kind of government assistance work requirement unless you’re missing arms and legs I expect

you to be at work so there’s a lot of things we’re going to have to look at now I’m not going to sit here and tell

you your face that I know every answer to everything but I can promise you that I can find out and when we get in there

and I have more access to certain things on where everything’s going and we can cut certain things we should i would love to get rid of the tax exemp status

for how much do the Razerbacks make every year and they got state their exemption taxes federal and state why

why don’t I get that privilege you know there’s there’s a lot of things I would like if I got to pay I want you

to pay and what does that do it makes everybody pay less because there’s more money in the pool so that would be my

first thing is to look at where we can cut people off taxes that now churches nonprofits things like that i get it i’m

all about that but if you are making a certain gobs of money off your name

image and likeness I want your tax dollars too i don’t want to pay taxes but if I have to you have to so that

right there puts more money in the pool all right now I could save the average Joe a whole lot of money that would be

my first thing to look at so we need to look at where those monies are going and how we can cut those taxes absolutely

okay so the uh pro-life and sanctity of life uh part of that platform and

affirms the sanctity of life what is your position on protecting the unborn and what legislation would you support

or sponsor to defend life i’m all about what was it the trigger law or it’s just

it’s it’s illegal in Arkansas to have an abortion and I love that i don’t want

anybody’s baby being you know it’s murder i don’t want any of that so you support the trigger bill that way oh

absolutely and that was my wife before we moved down here it was one thing we had talked about back in Washington

because it’s pretty much an on demand thing there it’s it’s just a business and it was one thing when we got here we

were happy when that bill happened we were both super excited about that when Roie was overturned oh we were stoked

right well okay let’s talk about Second Amendment rights the right to bear arms is non-negotiable

as a legislator how will you stand against federal overreach and preserve Arkansas’s Second Amendment freedoms

well I hate to admit that the only two people in history that ban certain kind of guns were Republicans

raven got rid of the machine guns and I would love to have a nice Belf machine gun uh Trump went after bump stocks um

he’s not above criticism and I think that was wrong what does it say shall not be infringed that that’s all there

is to it i mean it’s pretty cut and dry right i love out of my guns and I think more guns less crime just like the book

i When I was a kid and I was in Michigan one of the mechanics there would always tell everybody “I think it should be

illegal to not carry a gun you should get pulled over and have a gun check if you don’t have a gun with you you should get a ticket.” And that always stuck

with me and I was kind of like you know what where do they go they always hit the soft targets why aren’t our teachers

armed why when I go into the capital I walk through a metal detector with a guy with a gun my kids don’t get kicked they

don’t deserve that i say arm the janitors the teachers and everybody else if you can pass a background check in a

proficiency test give them a gun that’s my opinion and I that’s one that I’m

very strong on right there yeah we hear a lot about you know

um these the leftist you know they they want to put you know harsh restrictions

on gun rights what they are not understanding is those are people who are breaking the law not uh citizens who

are obeying the law yeah they’re the second amendment is the most regulated

of all amendments mhm now you see those memes where the ladies holding up a sign

i wish women had the same rights as guns okay you want to be registered you want to have a background check you tell me

where else we going to stop here gun is the most or the second one is the most regulated out of everything and to me I

our first amendment is close behind what you say oh yeah but no I’m I’m all about

getting rid of the restrictions if you can and I I get it we don’t want to give guns to people that are going to harm people and things like that you can pass

a background check by all means bury one right well let’s talk about election

integrity and this one is So why did you leave Washington okay 100% mail and

ballots absolutely no voter integrity in Washington a Democrat will

lose but they’ll keep counting votes till they win i remember the Christine Gregoire Dino Rossi election christine

Gregoire was the Democrat dino won the first election then he won this recount then he won the

second recount on the third recount we found more ballots so I am absolutely for voter

integrity you will never have you will never win as a Republican or conservative anywhere without voter

integrity now R.J is absolutely against paper ballots he told me this personally when I held an event for him and some of

the other local candidates that said he lost due to paper ballots so I am for

whatever gives the most security or a secure election

period i’ve witnessed what happens to a state first it goes commut it’s as soon as you get rid of any voter integrity

it’s you might as well just kiss it goodbye right there’s a a there’s a strong uh voice arising uh in the state

of Arkansas and as you know Trump highly supports um handmarked handcounted paper

balls where do you stand on that absolutely i we could probably even go farther put a barcode and a serial

number on them i got a serial number on every one of my dollar bills i go rob a bank what’s the first thing they look at

serial number there’s ways we can do it voter ID absolutely without question

right so whatever is the most secure that’s what I want because I I know it’ll happen if you get rid of it right

right um what are your thoughts on closed primaries

100% why would I want a Democrat picking my candidate right that’s that’s

nonsense and I can’t believe it’s not that way i know when I go to the primary they ask me “Are you Democrat or

Republican?” I say “I want a Republican ticket for a ballot.” But if a Democrat can come and do that why don’t we start

picking their candidates but if I start picking their candidates well I’m going to lose out on vote in the primary to my candidate would you believe that that is

one of the reasons that we find ourselves in more of a purple state than a true rep i believe 100% yeah because I

mean if a Democrat knows he’s never going to win then who cares what Democrat candidate there is right they’re going to come in and vote for

the squishiest Republican they can and that’s that’s what’s happening so I would absolutely support it and fight

for it if that was something I could do at the state and we can bring closed elections or closed primaries oh

absolutely you bet I will as you know President Trump called out our uh our

you know Sarah Huckabe Sanders or and um he about the paper ballots and um you

know our governor says that she’s working on it i personally have not seen anywhere where she’s working on it have

you seen where she’s working on it no i’d like to say that don’t blame me i voted for Doc is I didn’t trust her in

the beginning i really didn’t and I don’t think she’s working on it i don’t think she really cares to tell you from

what I’m seeing if you cared about an issue you’d be on it you’d be vocal about it you wouldn’t just give it lip

service yes Mr president oh yeah we’re working on it right and then go back to business as usual you would come what

does what does President Trump do i want this this and this in my bill and I this is what I want and I want to see it now

and then if you don’t do it you’ll start threatening and I’m gonna endorse a primary candidate and this and that where’s Sarah at if you really wanted it

done with the supermajorities that we supposedly have right you would knock this out in no time paper ballots really

would not be an issue in our state if she got behind it they truly would be a

non-issue if she got behind it um and I do believe that closed primaries are

essential in our state as you know i I don’t know um how much you know about um

what happened with the uh state um

convention uh this last year with the Republican Party of Arkansas but the

state convention passed closed primaries and the uh RPA the executive committee

uh which does not support closed primaries decided to thwart that and uh

not allow what the uh voters the you know tells you everything you need to

know it tells you who they’re working for if you can’t support what people voted for in in in Washington we had a

Democrat governor and we had an initiative that was for $33 car tabs we

voted it in it became built $33 car tabs that was it well then the state legislature overturned it and to his

credit he said “No no no they voted for it give them their $33 car tabs that’s

what needs to If we vote for it that’s what we should get okay well Erin thank you so much before

we go I you know and wrap up I want you to tell the listeners what your campaign

is about at its core and how they can help get involved my campaign is all

about Arkansas benefiting as a whole i don’t want to benefit anything from this campaign if we all don’t benefit that’s

why 100% of my salaries go to charity right i’m not trying to take a dime from the taxpayer

but my entire mission is for the state of Arkansas it’s not for me i’m not getting anything out of this other than

fighting for you that is it that’s my whole core mission if if Arkansas does

not benefit I don’t benefit we win together we fight together we win together that That’s it you can go to my

website aaringfor Arkansas.com all I ask is that you split your donation pick a charity i have a couple up there if you

have one that you want on there just make sure you don’t endorse me or anything just send me the link and I’ll

put it on the website because I truly deep in my heart just want to help that’s all I want out of this is just to

help the people of Arkansas and if I can do that then then I won then that’s all

there is to it even if I don’t win but I open everybody’s eyes up maybe next time right but the whole thing is I won’t

benefit if we all don’t benefit so just I want it to be completely community

oriented grassroots all the way up i don’t want big donor money i don’t want any of that if if we if I win it’s

because you believed in me and we all win together and when I go there I want to bring everybody with me okay and then

uh you also have your Facebook page which is Aaron Hansen for state representative yes ma’am and so people

can follow you on Facebook and stay up todate on uh what you have going on and

I’m sure that you um as as time goes on you would like to um visit with people

uh personally and have some uh gatherings where there’s a thing on my website where you could request me to be

anywhere like I said I’ll show up at your kids birthday party if you want to talk to me if you want it my phone is

always open if I don’t get back to you it’ll be tomorrow or whenever I have time but I swear anybody that gets a

hold of me will get a response it’s it’s all about the people that’s it and that one thing that drives me nuts is when I

get a hold of the politician and they never get back to me i feel like they just don’t care so I I do care and I

want to hear what you have to say because I’m when I go there I represent you i’m your voice tell me what you want

give me your voice that’s the whole idea is it’s the representative government is I’m there to represent you so give me

give me something to represent i really just want to make them proud right right and I’m sure that you welcome volunteers

that would like to help you immediately to hold signs or go door knocking and

hang hangers and everything yeah please you can get a hold of me my phone number email text me it’s all right there on

the website the Facebook page any way you want to get involved I would love to have your help absolutely okay well

before we close anything else that you would like to say to your constituents today i I’ve got most of it out but it’s

it’s really about not just the 81st district but it’s all about every citizen here in Arkansas the little guy

that feels they’re not being heard their voice isn’t being heard they’re not being represented yes my vote is for the

81st district but it affects the entire state i’m here for everybody especially

the 81st district what are your concerns what do you care about please let me know get a hold of me let’s talk let’s

meet let’s shake hands okay wonderful well you heard it here first thursday morning and again a

deeper dive today here on Arkansas First Report a new race is heating up in

District 81 and it’s not just about replacing a seat it’s about restoring

conservative conviction aaron Hansen brings bold energy grassroots grit and a

deep love for his state we all call home if you want to uh if you want a

representative who won’t back down who will fight for lower taxes defend life

and your rights to a secure election keep your eye on this race be sure to

follow Aaron’s campaign on social media aaron Hansen for state representative

and visit his website aaronforsaw.com also visit taxear

Arkansas responsibly on Facebook if you like this program and

want to help us please go to our Facebook page uh and like it and follow

us there at Arkansas First News go to our website arkansasfirst and that is

arkansas.com make sure to subscribe and follow all of

our um you know all of our contributors uh we are by the people for the people

that’s who we are and then make sure that you stay up todate and contribute

your contribution helps to bring this program to you every week you can follow

us on all your podcast stations until next time stay informed stay engaged and

remember Ragnet Populus the people rule have a good day