ASU faculty associate and Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema officially won the Congressional seat for District 9 Monday, defeating Republican Vernon Parker after leading the race by a small margin since election night.
Sinema is a faculty associate at the School of Social Work and currently teaches a graduate-level class, Developing Grants and Fundraising. She has previously taught undergraduate courses in justice studies and social work.
The 36-year-old congresswoman-elect has a history of participating in politics. In 2004, she was elected into the Arizona House of Representatives and, in 2010, was elected into the Arizona Senate.
Sinema said she first decided to run for office after witnessing struggles in her community.
“I had been a social worker for a long time in the Sunnyslope community and after years of working with kids and families, I felt like state legislature wasn’t doing enough to help these families and to make sure the middle class could succeed,” she said.
This sense of service also contributed to why Sinema wanted to be a part of Congress, she said.
Her main interest is in supporting middle class families in Arizona, Sinema said. Families in Arizona are currently struggling financially and jobs and education are important to help these families succeed, she said.
Education was a main priority of hers to help these families grow in the future, she said.
“I am very excited about perfecting and maintaining national support for a higher education,” Sinema said.
Although she is the first bisexual congressperson to serve in the U.S. Congress, Sinema said she did not think her sexuality was a big deal.
“I don’t pay that much attention to it because I just don’t think it is that important to be honest,” she said. “I am who I am.”
Sinema was more excited to represent ASU in the 113th United States Congress.
“I have been a student at ASU off and on since 1997, I have three degrees from ASU, and I have been teaching at ASU for 10 years,” she said. “ASU has actually been a part of my entire adult life and it is really an honor to represent ASU to the public.”
Students took note during the election madness to follow their teacher.
Political science sophomore Omer David was a student in Sinema’s Introduction to Justice Studies last fall at the Tempe campus.
He was excited to witness his teacher get a chance to implement her policies in Congress.
“She talked a lot about her policies and what she believed in class so she went on a lot of rants about what she is trying to accomplish,” he said.
Steven Anderson, director of the School of Social Work, thought that Sinema’s recent election would be inspirational to students.
“In our profession there is quite a few members of congress or senate over time that have been social workers and one thing that social work always stresses is an advocacy role and being involved the process,” Anderson said.
Sinema said she has always pushed an advocacy role in her classes.
“I have always stuck to my shoes for how important it is to be involved in politics because that is where policy is set, educational policy as well as fiscal policy,” Sinema said. “I always encourage my students to get involved and to understand that politics is an important part of civic engagement.”
Contact the reporter at aimackli@asu.edu
