In 2022, Democrats were surprised to see a Republican elected in a predominantly blue legislative district in southern Arizona. Now, Democrats are employing a new strategy to get that seat.
In 2022, Republican political newcomer Michelle Peña won election to the House of Representatives in Legislative District 23, which includes most of Yuma County, Goodyear, and part of western Pinal County.
Democratic Rep. Mariana Sandoval (D-Goodyear) says in 2022, statistics showed the area was Democratic, so the party made the mistake of staying hands-off and investing resources elsewhere. But, Sandoval says, Yuma County doesn’t vote like other parts of Arizona do.
“It's not like Maricopa County or even Pima County, that if you're a Dem, you're going to automatically just vote blue down the ballot,” Sandoval said. “That doesn't happen in Yuma County. Yuma County splits their ballot, and they can vote for me as a Democrat if they're Democrats and then vote for Republicans.”
Sandoval says that this year, she can see the difference in the way Democrats are investing in her district.
Before joining the state Legislature in 2022, she worked at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for 12 years protecting water, air and wildlife. She also served on the Agua Fria Union High School Board.
Sandoval says her top priorities are education, water security and the economy, as the rural county is in need of good, high-paying jobs.
“A lot of men come down here and live in Phoenix, Monday through Friday working, and then they go home on the weekend. So, a lot of the women down there are kind of used to raising kids on their own because men have to come out here and work because there's not a lot of high-paying or job opportunities down there in Yuma County,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval is running with fellow Democrat Matias Rosales. He’s served for 12 years as a council member and vice mayor for the city of San Luis, he’s worked as a realtor — and he’s the candidate facing off against Peña this year.
Rosales says it’s important to him that someone from Yuma County represents the area in the state House.
“We're an important county for the state of Arizona. I mean we produce 90% to 95% of the green leaves to the United States in the winter time, and our water resources and our industry, it is a huge economic impact for the state,” Rosales said.
Rosales says that his district is so enormous he knows he’ll be representing people of all political stripes. Coming from a nonpartisan office, he says he can and will work across the aisle.
Rosales says his priorities are on infrastructure needs like affordable housing, and on education.
“I have a 13-year-old in eighth grade, a 15-year-old in 10th grade, and two that graduated high school already and went through the Gadsden Elementary School District. And I know the difference in what different communities are offering education and that is something I'm also focused on,” Rosales said.
Peña did not respond to requests for comment.
She has only sponsored 10 bills so far and is best known for pushing a bill to extend the shelf life of eggs.
In the state Senate, incumbent Democratic Sen. Brian Fernandez (D-Yuma) is running against Republican newcomer Michelle Altherr.
Neither of the Senate candidates responded to requests for comment.
Altherr worked on the Republican-led audit of Maricopa County ballots in 2020 following former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden and was a delegate to this year’s Republican National Convention.
She states on her campaign site that she served in the Air Force for 15 years and she first became active in politics while working with “Latinos for Trump.”
Before joining the Legislature, Fernandez worked on several political campaigns.
Fernandez was appointed to the House of Representatives in 2021 to replace his mother, Charlene Fernandez, who took a job with the Biden administration. He then ran successfully for Senate in 2022.
Fernandez is known for his willingness to work across the aisle and communicate with Republicans. He advocates for more collaboration from his colleagues and for Republican leaders to hear more Democratic bills. He expanded on that in a PBS interview earlier this year:
“I believe 7% or 8% of the bills that we’ve proposed have gone to committee and that’s, you know, pretty normal, you know, that might even be better than it was in previous years — but it's nowhere near parity,” Fernandez said.
The largely rural area is one of only a few legislative districts considered to have competitive races in the general election.
