Learn more about the four candidates for the 2024 Arizona Legislative District 9 House race. Indepedent voters outnumber both major parties in LD 9, one of only a handful of competitive districts that could determine which party controls the House in 2025. While Republicans have a slight voter registration advantage over Democrats, voters in the district elected two Democrats to the House in 2022.
Lorena Austin
Party: Democrat
Website: lorenaaustin.com
Austin, a community organizer and activist, was first elected in 2022, becoming the first openly non-binary legislator in Arizona history. During their time in the Legislature, Austin has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ and non-binary youth and opposed laws they believe would harm those Arizonans, including a bill to classify individuals under Arizona law on the basis of their biological sex when they were born.
Austin’s priorities include increasing education funding and teacher pay, addressing the high cost of housing in Arizona and enacting policies to address climate change.
Kylie Barber
Party: Republican
Website: kyliebarber.com
Barber, a Republican, is the former early childhood policy director for Children’s Action Alliance, a group that advocates for children and families at the Arizona State Capitol. She previously lobbied in Washington, D.C., on policies related to children with rare diseases.
Her policy priorities include advocating for parental rights in education, securing the southern border and addressing inflation.
Seth Blattman
Party: Democrat
Website: sethblattman.com
Blattman, a small business owner, was first elected to the legislature in 2022. He was named one of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce’s state representatives of the year in 2024. Blattman has sponsored legislation to create a microloan program for small business owners that did not pass the Legislature but inspired a similar program introduced by Gov. Katie Hobbs.
His other priorities include funding public education and public safety, ensuring access to abortion and addressing climate change.
Mary Ann Mendoza
Party: Republican
Website: mendozaforarizona.com
Mendoza, a Republican, unsuccessfully ran for the Legislature in 2022. She has been an outspoken about illegal immigration after her son, a Mesa police officer, was killed in a vehicle collision with an undocumented immigrant.
Mendoza has garnered controversy in the past over an anti-Semitic social media post that preceded her removal as a speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2020, and photos of her appearing in black and brown face that surfaced during her campaign in 2022.
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Every two years, Arizonans cast their votes in primary and general elections. And every two years, critics complain it takes too many days for all the votes to be counted. Through KJZZ’s Q&AZ project, a listener asked: Why does the vote counting process take so long?
