Someone asked me recently about who are the minority politicians in Southern Arizona. So here’s my list (which is not comprehensive, as I didn’t list Town of South Tucson nor the Native American tribes – where they are the majority), so please let me know by commenting below if I forgot anyone.
Hispanic Americans:
Raul Grijalva, CD 3 Congressman
Richard Elias, D 5 Pima County Supervisor
Ramon Valadez, D 2 Pima County Supervisor
F. Ann Rodriguez, Pima County Recorder
Olivia Cajero Bedford, LD 3 State Senator
Macario Saldate, LD 3 House
Rosanna Gabaldon, LD 2 House
Daniel Hernandez Jr., LD 2 House
Regina Romero, Ward 1 Councilwoman
Richard Fimbres, Ward 5 Councilman
Luis Gonzales, PCC Governing Bd. (District 5)
Adelita Grijalva, TUSD Governing Board (Raul’s daughter)
Eva Carrillo Dong, Sunnyside School District Governing Board
Robert Jaramillo, Sunnyside Schooil District Governing Board
Beki Quintero, Sunnyside School District Governing Board
Native Americans:
Sally Ann Gonzales , LD 3 House
Asian Pacific Americans:
Satish Hiremath, Mayor of Oro Valley
Sylvia Lee, PCC Governing Board (District 3)
Herb Kai, Town of Marana Councilman
LGBTQ community:
Daniel Hernandez Jr. (aforementioned, LD 2 House Rep.)
Karin Uhlich, Ward 3 Councilwoman (outgoing)
Paul Durham, Ward 3 Councilman (incoming)
Demion Clinco, PCC Governing Board (District 2)
Meredith Hay, PCC Governing Board (District 4)
For more info about elected officials in Arizona, refer to the the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson (LWVGT) in their 2017 “A Citizen’s Directory of Elected Officials”:
http:/www.lwvgt.org/fles/CDIR.pdf
Dem Minorities running for office in 2018 (so far);
CD 2 – Mary Matiella
Matt Heinz, LGBT
CD 3 – Congressman Raul Grijalva for re-election
CD 8 – Hiral Tiperneni (immigrant from India) – special election 2/28/18 primary
LD 2 – Rosanna Gabaldon for re-election in House
Daniel Hernandez Jr. for re-election in House, LGBT
LD 3 – Rep. Sally Gonzales for Senate, Betty Villegas for Senate;
for 2 House seats: Senator Olivia Cajero-Bedford, Andres Cano (LGBT), Alma Hernandez, Maria Garcia
LD 9 – JP Martin is half Hispanic Am.
LD 10 Domingo DeGrazia for House (he’s part Native American)
Cat Ripley for House (she’s half Japanese American)
Governor – Prof. David Garcia
Kelly Fryer, LGBT
Attorney General – January Contreras
Treasurer – Mark Cardenas
Corporation Commission – Sandra Kennedy and Kiana Sears (both Black Americans)
Valid point made today at Race + Justice community forum at TMA that there are no Black elected officials in Pima County or Southern AZ.
There used to be two African American politicians in town, Ward 4 Councilman Chuck Ford and Marana Town Councilman Russell Clanagan.
More info on who served on Tucson City Council: http://pocobravo.com/mayor-council-history-1960-today/