Anna Tovar is an American politician who currently serves as a member of

Arizona Corporation Commission The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commissioners. The Arizona Constitution exp ...

. She previously served as Mayor of

Tolleson, Arizona Tolleson is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the city was 7,216 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 6,545 in 2010. History ...

, as State Senator representing the 19th district, and as a State Representative. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Personal life and education

Tovar was raised in

, where she met her husband, Juan Carlos Tovar. Tovar earned a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. Before going into politics, Tovar taught kindergarten and first grade. She and her husband have two children. In 2002, Tovar was diagnosed with a rare form of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, which required her to undergo

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

and two bone-marrow transplants from her brother.

Political career

Before being elected to the Arizona legislature, Tovar served on the Tolleson City Council and was also Tolleson's Vice Mayor. Tovar was elected to the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State C ...

in 2010. Tovar was elected to the

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms w ...

in 2012; she served on the Appropriations Committee and the Judiciary Committee. She was the Senate Democratic Minority Leader. Tovar supports raising education spending, reforming the tax code, stopping the expansion of private prisons, and instituting stronger restrictions on gifts to legislators. Tovar has been affiliated with JAG – Jobs for Arizona Graduates, WiLL/WAND – Women's Actions for New Directions, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and the National Hispanic Caucus for State Legislators.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...

Campaign Website
*
Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Tovar, Ann Arizona city council members Democratic Party Arizona state senators Arizona State University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives People from Maricopa County, Arizona Place of birth missing (living people) Women city councillors in Arizona Women state legislators in Arizona Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women