Following the midterms on Tuesday, contentious contests, as well as landslide victories, were decided. As the dust settles, many Phoenicians are trying to figure out what this will mean for them. So who is representing you?
At Downtown Devil, we have compiled a list of all the lawmakers directly representing downtown Phoenix. Here are your new, or re-elected, downtown legislators:
U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 7 (Contains all of downtown Phoenix and parts of east Glendale):
Incumbent Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, handily beat his Green Party opponent Gary Swing on election night. Gallego is a first-generation college graduate and a Marine. He ran his campaign on a platform emphasizing issues including immigration reform, reducing gun violence and increasing access to higher education, especially for veterans.
STATE DISTRICT 24 (Contains northern areas of downtown Phoenix and parts of south Scottsdale):
HOUSE:
Democratic Reps. Jennifer Longdon and Amish Shah, grabbed their two seats against Republican challenger David Alger. Shah’s campaign focused on universal health care and increasing teacher pay, while Longdon emphasized minority and disability rights as well as gun violence prevention.
SENATE:
Democratic incumbent Lela Alston beat her Republican opponent Vicki Alger by over 40 percentage points during the midterms. Alston campaigned on issues like preserving Arizona’s environmental resources and creating high-wage jobs.
STATE DISTRICT 27 (Contains a large area of downtown Phoenix and parts of central and southern Maricopa County):
HOUSE:
Democratic Reps. Reginald Bolding and Diego Rodriguez ran without opposition in District 27. Bolding, as a former special education teacher in south Phoenix, brought education to the forefront of his campaign. Rodriguez ran on a platform pushing for a higher minimum wage and expanding Medicare and Medicaid eligibility.
SENATE:
Democrat Rebecca Rios ran unopposed for the District 27 state senate seat. Her father was a former Arizona state senate president and they currently serve together in the Arizona legislature. Her main campaign issues included increasing school funding and access to childcare subsidies, as well as advocating for women’s access to abortion.
PHOENIX MAYORAL RACE:
Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela were frontrunners in the four-way race, gaining 45 and 26 percent of the vote respectively. They will be headed to a runoff election in March 2019.
RELATED: Gallego, Valenzuela headed for runoff mayoral election
PHOENIX UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER, WARD 1 (Includes all of downtown Phoenix and parts of surrounding areas):
Naketa Ross won a school board seat against incumbent Randy Schiller. Ross experienced the foster system firsthand as a child and leveraged this experience to advocate for at-risk youth and start a nonprofit for teenagers aging out of the foster system.
PHOENIX ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER (Includes all of downtown Phoenix and small surrounding areas):
Elora Diaz and Carmen Trujillo won school board seats against incumbents Daniil Gunitskiy and Ruth Ann Marston. Diaz utilized her background as a first-generation college student who faced inequity growing up, while Trujillo focused on her experience as a lifelong Phoenician and social worker.
Correction Nov 7: A previous version of this article misstated that Daniil Gunitskiy, Ruth Ann Marston and Randy Schiller were challengers. They were incumbents. The article has been updated to reflect this.
Contact the reporter at Rebecca.Spiess@asu.edu.
