As quickly as a state price range is signed and the Legislature adjourns, state Rep. Andrés Cano will resign his seat to undertake graduate research at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Faculty of Authorities. The chief of the Democrats within the Arizona Home of Representatives was first elected in 2018.
Cano, who represents Tucson and Legislative District 20, known as the transfer a “one-in-a-lifetime alternative.” A former aide to the late Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías, the 31-year-old lawmaker has been working — as an intern and staffer then elected official — in politics since he was 14. He was tapped because the Home minority chief in 2022 after he was elected to a 3rd time period.
“I’m dedicated to seeing the state price range course of transfer ahead till the very finish,” he mentioned, asserting his impending resignation this weekend.
“As a first-generation school graduate, by no means in my wildest goals did I believe a chance like this is able to come my approach– however that point is right here. Put merely: I need to do extra for the individuals of Arizona and our nation—and I need to be ready for my subsequent chapter in public service,” Cano mentioned.
He’ll research public administration at Harvard beginning in July, as a part of a year-long program.
State lawmakers have but to craft a price range deal, though Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Legislature seem like near signing off on a spending package deal. In recent times, the Legislature has typically run up shut the the deadline of the tip of the fiscal 12 months on June 30.
Cano’s seat might be stuffed by an appointed consultant, who will serve out the remainder of his two-year time period, ending after the November 2024 election.
Below state legislation, the Pima County Board of Supervisors should selected a substitute who lives within the district and is a member of the identical political get together because the lawmaker who was elected. Celebration precinct leaders within the legislative district will ahead the names of three Democrats as their nominees for the seat.
Amongst those that might search the appointment are former state lawmaker Tom Prezelski (who mentioned he is “contemplating” it) and former Metropolis Council challenger Miranda Schubert (who mentioned she’s “undoubtedly !”). Ex-state Rep. Matt Kopec instructed the Sentinel he is not wanting on the seat.
“Andrés has understood since he was a toddler that the facility of presidency could be greatest used to offer alternative and guarantee equity. Andrés all the time labored to carry individuals up, not push them down,” mentioned Pima County Board Chair Adelita Grijalva, who was appointed to fill the seat left vacant when Elías died in 2020. A protégé of the longtime Democratic powerhouse, Cano had extensively been anticipated to be his eventual successor. As an alternative, he remained within the Legislature.
“His management on fairness and variety points won’t ever be forgotten in our county or in District 5,” Grijalva mentioned in a press launch despatched by county officers. “He is a drive of nature and Harvard higher prepare; a whirlwind of constructive vitality is about to blow into Cambridge. Felicidades!”
Cano started working for Elías at age 19, after internships and appointments for Gov. Janet Napolitano, U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, and U.S. Senator Mark Udall of Colorado. He began working in authorities because the youngest coverage advisor in county historical past, in 2012, engaged on constituent outreach.
“Andrés has all the time stored his eye on the ball,” mentioned Supervisor Sharon Bronson. “He was within the Legislature to characterize the individuals of his district, Pima County and Southern Arizona and he averted getting sidetracked by irrelevant points whereas he was on the Legislature.”
Cano will even go away his place as director of the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund on the Neighborhood Basis for Southern Arizona.
LD 20 covers Tucson’s West Facet, operating from the Flowing Wells space right down to the sting of the Tohono O’odham Nation.