Audrey Denney is a political candidate and agriculture educator residing in Chico, California. She is currently running for United States Congress in California's 1st congressional district. She is running against incumbent, Republican Doug LaMalfa in the election on November 6, 2018. ^{[undefined] [undefined] [undefined]}

Audrey Denney grew up on her family's farm and ranch in Central California, growing grapes and hay while raising cattle and horse. Her father was a Vietnam veteran and her mother was a leader in their church parish. After school, Denney would help out on the farm. This experience gave Denney a strong respect for land and natural resources, which she has carried with her throughout her education and career endeavors. ^[undefined]

Audrey Denney enjoys adventure travel, in one year, she traveled to 31 states and 6 countries. She’s hiked a Guatemalan volcano in flip flops, taken a nap in an Egyptian pyramid and put her feet in the source of the Nile river. Denney is a football fan and cheers for the San Francisco Giants. She also enjoys backpacking in Northern California. ^[undefined]

Audrey Denney graduated from California State University, Chico with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Education in 2007. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

Audrey Denney graduated from the university with a Master of Science in Agriculture Education with honors in 2014. Denney research focus for her degree was Agricultural Sustainability. Her master's thesis, "Perceptions of Agricultural Sustainability Held By California Secondary Agricultural Teachers" was recognized with an award as the best education thesis in the California State University in 2014. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

During college, she worked in the Food and Beverage industry in service, management, and consultative positions. ^[undefined]

In August of 2018, Audrey Denney had a large tumor growing around her Ovary. It had reached the size of a Football. Denney said she was fortunate to have continued her health insurance through COBRA after putting her job as a teacher on hold to run for office. "I almost let it lapse. If I had, this experience would have left me with nothing," she said in the press release. "I have $600 in my savings account and the bills would have drowned me." A video of her in the hospital bed was used as part of her campaign ad. ^{[1] [undefined]}

Audrey Denney began her career in Agricultural Education as self-employed, Instructional Design Consultant from 2007-2014.

She developed diverse curriculum for various organizations (including: Vivayic, Foundation Cristosal, California FFA, Ecological Concerns for Hunger Organization, and Collegiate Agriculture Leaders) on various agriculture topics (including: sustainability, career planning, development, and leadership). ^[undefined]

From 2009-2014, Audrey Denney worked as an Outreach and Retention Coordinator for the College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico. During her tenure, total enrollment in the college increased 88% in the 5 years I held this position. She designed and coordinated the multi-faceted outreach program for the College of Agriculture. She managed 30 Agricultural Education Ambassadors and taught a weekly leadership class. Denney coordinated logistics for: outreach events, high school and community college visits, service learning activities, and a merchandising enterprise. She also coached and mentored FFA members and college students through competitions and activities. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

During this time period, Audrey Denney also worked as a Lecturer at California State University, Chico. She taught courses in agricultural leadership, agricultural sustainability, world food and fiber, and introductory plant and soil science. Denney developed a curriculum that utilized experiential learning, had clear assessment metrics, and met the needs of diverse learners. In this role, she refined her teaching skills: responsiveness to audience, setting clear expectations, motivating students to learn, classroom management, building rapport, and teaching to different levels. She helped students from diverse backgrounds become passionate about agriculture science. Denney also served as the faculty chair for the FFA Field Day Tabulations committee, & Horse Judging Contest. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

From 2014-2015, Audrey Denney was the Director of Recruitment and Marketing at AgriCorps in Chico, California.

AgriCorps is a nonprofit organization that recruits American agricultural professionals to teach experiential agriculture lessons to farmers in the developing countries. ^[undefined] At AgriCorps, Denney created and executed a Marketing and Recruitment Plan. She visited 32 universities and recruited graduates to volunteer for a year teaching agriculture in Africa. She managed volunteers in Ghana for 3 months (logistics, professional mentoring, teacher training). Denney also planned and coordinated volunteer training sessions. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

Since 2015, Audrey Denney has worked as a Senior Learning Designer at Vivayic, designing learning strategy and curriculum for worldwide agricultural companies and nonprofits, like the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and the World Bank. Denney spends her time architecting learning and development solutions that further business and organizational goals. ^{[undefined] [undefined] [undefined]}

On January 5, 2018, Audrey Denney announced that she would be running for United States Congress in California's 1st congressional district. The position is currently held by three term incumbent, Republican Doug LaMalfa. ^[undefined]

Audrey Denney decided to run after seeing that many of the issues affecting Northern California were controlled by federal politicians. She also believes that current troubled times are a great opportunity for big ideas, changes, and movements. ^[1]

Audrey Denney beat out five candidates to win second place in the primary race, meaning she will run against the first place winner, incumbent Doug LaMalfa for the seat on November 6, 2018.

California has a top-two primary system, so only two candidates advance to the general election. ^[undefined]

Audrey Denney received 17.2 percent of the vote and LaMalfa won 52.5 percent support.

Democrat Jessica Holcombe came in third, with 11.5 percent of the vote.

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On July 16, 2018 Audrey Denney announced that her campaign had raised $364,000 more than all of LaMalfa’s challengers in the last three elections combined.

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In the most recent FEC filing statement, Denney received 30% more donations than LaMalfa with a total of $173,352, while LaMalfa raised $133,400.

Although the LaMalfa has a large war chest, Denney has outraised him by nearly $100,000 since entering the race all while maintaining her pledge to take zero corporate Political Action Committee (PAC) money. 58% of LaMalfa’s money has come from PACs in 2018. ^[undefined]

Audrey Denney is passionate about improving the career and technical education in California's 1st congressional district. As of 2018, only one in three adults over 25 in the district have an associate's degree or higher. The college dropout rate is also significantly higher than the national average. Denney is committed to closing the achievement gap. Denney will co-sponsor, and support legislation which increase funding for teachers and schools. She also wants to make partnerships with the private sector to enhance workforce and economic development. ^[undefined]

She supports policies including:

Expanding federal and state public health insurance programs is a major priority for Audrey Denney as more than half of her district's population uses these programs. Also one in five residents in the district suffer from a physical disability, which is twice as high as the rest of the California. She believes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Cases has helped her district in decreasing the uninsured rate and expanding important health protections. She believes that there needs to be an additional focus on reducing rising health insurance costs and increasing access to adequate health services in rural areas. Denney supports Medicare for All legislation that would guarantee universal healthcare coverage for all Americans. She also wants to increase the amount of federal healthcare spending her district receives. ^[undefined]

Denney supports policies including:

Audrey Denney is passionate about agriculture an agricultural educator and someone who grew up on a farm.

She believes there needs to be a greater focus on carbon farming and regenerative farming to reverse climate change. She is committed to facilitating public–private partnerships to open up new markets and cultivate premiums for her district's producers. She will also encourage multi-stakeholder initiatives to further develop: value-added local processing opportunities, available cold storage, as well as trucking and community delivery options. She supports bills like the PRIME Act to bring solutions back to rural processing. ^[undefined]

Denney supports policies including:

Audrey Denney is focused on investing more money into improving Northern California's infrastructure.

By investing in improving the districts highways, roads and communications networks the rural economy will improve.

Improving road quality will also improve road safety.

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Denney supports policies including:

Audrey Denney believes that military veterans should receive free medical and mental health care. She want to expand educational and workforce readiness programs, and invest in advocates who can help veterans connect with the services that are available. She is against the hiring freeze at Veteran's Affairs (VA) and the efforts to privatize VA under the Presidency of Donald Trump. ^[undefined]

She supports policies including:

Audrey Denney is focused to reducing the drought issue in California. Her goal is to secure federal funding to invest in California’s water system, and encourage and support water conservation measures. ^[undefined]

She supports policies including: