House Member

Prior to being elected to the Arizona house in November 2016, Pamela Powers Hannley, MPH had a long career in public health, health promotion, behavioral research, and communications. Most recently, she was the managing editor for the American Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s most influential internal medicine journals. Although she stepped down as managing editor to run for the Arizona House, she continues to work part time at the Journal as social media/technology editor and occasional author. Powers Hannley was formerly the program director of the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline at The University of Arizona and a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has received 15 awards in communication or photography during her career.

In her spare time, Powers Hannley is a progressive activist and blogger. She regularly writes about politics, economics, feminism, healthcare, drug policy, and immigration for Blog for Arizona, the Tucson Progressive, and the Huffington Post. A life-long member of the Democratic Party, Powers Hannley is Vice Chair of the Public Banking Institute, co-director of Arizonans for a New Economy and former co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus. She has been a precinct committeeperson and volunteer for many years. In 2012, she covered the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for the Huffington Post. In addition, she has authored or co-authored several prevention-related booklets and many articles in academic journals focusing on communications or medicine.

In the Arizona House, Powers Hannley is the ranking Democrat on the Health Committee and serves on the Banking and Insurance Committee.

Powers Hannley holds a master’s in public health from The University of Arizona and a BA in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is an Amherst, Ohio native but has lived in Tucson, Arizona for 36 years. She and her husband Jim have four grown children and two grandchildren.