Do as I Say Not as I Do: Raquel Terán’s Attacks are Misleading, Offensive, and Hypocritical

Opinion: Raquel Terán’s outside spending groups are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars smearing progressive Yassamin Ansari. It didn’t work in 2020, and it won’t work now.

When I was the executive director for the Maricopa County Democratic Party, I fought to elect Yassamin Ansari who became the youngest woman ever elected to the Phoenix City Council. Since then, as Phoenix City Councilwoman and then Vice Mayor, she’s racked up progressive win after win for Phoenix, fighting to boost affordable housing, raise wages for thousands of city workers, and pass an ordinance protecting Phoenix women and doctors after the extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

She’s running for Congress on her progressive record, a really impressive one at that. That’s why she’s been endorsed by Arizona teachers, firefighters, unions, and pro-choice leaders – because of how much she’s gotten done. When her opponent Raquel Terán got desperate and accused her of being the conservative pick in the race, even the Phoenix New Times said Terán’s proof wasn’t what she tried to make it seem. More importantly, the same article repeatedly referred to Yassamin as progressive, which is a surprise to nobody except Terán.

We’re not going to energize the Democratic base with flimsy negative attacks against unquestionably progressive candidates. But worse, Raquel Terán appears to be desperately throwing stones from a glass house. She herself accepted thousands of dollars in support from Stan Barnes, a longtime advisor to Kari Lake who has worked to elect numerous other anti-choice, MAGA Republicans in Arizona from Paul Gosar to David Schweikert to Martha McSally. The same Kari Lake who is still trying to overturn multiple elections and who would make all abortions illegal.

Yassamin is a former United Nations climate advisor who helped deliver the Paris Climate Accords. After Trump backed out of the agreements, Yassamin decided to run for the Phoenix City Council. Since then, Yassamin has been a progressive vote for policy that has been pro-labor, pro-choice, pro-affordable housing and delivered for our community time and time again – groundbreaking wins that she’s passed into law.

As a leader in the Democratic Party and a lifelong Democrat, I’m proud to join the grassroots coalition that Yassamin has been building for years, one that includes pro-choice leaders, Democrats across our district, and the majority of labor unions. Yassamin has stood up against special interests and their false attacks before and delivered for us, and I have no doubt she’ll do what she’s always done: deliver on her progressive values with real results.

• –  Maritza Miranda Saenz is the current Senior Vice President of Lumen Strategies, a political consulting firm, and the Executive Director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party during the 2020 election.
• –  Twitter @MaritzaMSaenz1 Words: 432/650