Rep. Lupe Contreras is the new House Democratic leader on the state Capitol, elected in a marathon meeting that involves restructuring the minority leadership team.
On Wednesday, it took nine hours and 11 ballots for the 28 Democrats in attendance to elect a leader, a move earlier this year by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in his bid to secure a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives among Republicans. It reminded me of similarities with
Rep. Leeza Sun of Phoenix did not attend the virtual and in-person meetings at the State Capitol.
After failing to get the 15 votes needed to secure the leadership post in nine or more ballots, the Democrats moved on and elected the rest of the leadership team, then between Contreras and Rep. Marcelino Quinones. Back to the protracted leadership race.
Rep. Oscar de los Santos, a freshman from Lavigne, won the minority leadership race. He will replace Contreras.
Freshman Rep. Nancy Gutierrez from Tucson will serve as co-leader along with Rep. Melody Hernandez from Tempe, who has held the office since the beginning of the year. The whip serves to line up the votes. Gutierrez replaces Quiñones.
Contreras, a sixth-term Avondale congressman who has served in both houses of Congress, emerged as the winner of a three-way race that initially included Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson. She lost her previous ballot and abstained from her vote for a time, along with several of her colleagues.
Former Congressman César Chavez said the lengthy vote showed the caucus’ inability to unite around a single candidate, but it was not due to ideological divisions within the Democratic Party. Chavez portrayed both Contreras and Quinones as similarly sympathetic “realistic Democrats.”
“It’s literally a man-in-the-mirror battle,” he said, adding that the contest will likely boil down to personality differences.
“I feel like I’m watching CNN again on Congressional leadership,” he joked, referring to the lengthy vote in January that ultimately led to McCarthy’s victory.
Chavez said competing for future leadership in the 60-seat House of Representatives may have fueled the race, fueling hopes that Democrats could take control of Congress in the 2024 election.
“This should be on the back of everyone’s mind,” he said, noting that two Democratic pick-ups would take control of the House and one would create a bipartisan leader.
Why the Arizona House Democrats Picked a New Leader
The election was sparked by the pending resignation of Rep. Andrés Cano as minority leader. He announced in May that he would be accepted into a master’s program at Harvard’s Kennedy Center and would resign after Congress.
Technically, the session is still on, but lawmakers mostly finished their duties in mid-June and are on an extended recess until July 31.
Kano, who participated in Wednesday’s vote, said he would submit his resignation if a replacement was named. It marks the fifth time this year in the 90-member parliament that it will begin a new process to remove members of parliament.
Kano’s Tucson area district committee has submitted three candidates to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, which will select one to serve Kano’s term through January 2025. The successor must be a Democrat, as state law requires the successor to be a Democrat. Same political party as the defector.
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