David Garcia is an American politician and education professor who was 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 ...

's nominee in the

2018 Arizona gubernatorial election The 2018 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Arizona, concurrently with the election of Arizona's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other st ...

. Garcia is an associate professor at Arizona State University's

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College administers Arizona State University's undergraduate and graduate programs in education. The college is headquartered on ASU's Arizona State University at the Tempe campus, Tempe campus, but offers programs on all ...

. He was the 2014 Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, but was defeated by the Republican Party's nominee,

Diane Douglas Diane Douglas is an American politician who served as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2015 to 2019. She was elected on November 4, 2014, edging out her Democratic opponent, David Garcia, by one percentage point. Douglas succeed ...

. Garcia challenged Republican Governor

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...

in the November 2018 Arizona gubernatorial election, losing by 14%.

Early life and education

Garcia, a fourth generation Mexican-American, was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona. He served as an infantryman in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Garcia graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in communication in 1993. He also graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

with a M.A. in education research in 1997 and a Ph.D. in education research in 2002.

Career

An education researcher, Garcia previously worked in the

Arizona Department of Education Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is a state-level department tasked in Arizona with oversight of public education from kindergarten to secondary school. The ADE is run by an elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. History Th ...

and currently works as an associate professor at ASU's

. In 2014, Garcia ran unsuccessfully for state superintendent against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Despite his loss to Douglas, who was considered a historically weak candidate, Garcia announced his plan to challenge incumbent Republican Governor

in April 2017. Garcia defeated state legislator Steve Farley in the August 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. While Garcia's 2014 bid attracted independent and Republican support, his 2018 campaign was considered progressive. Garcia's 2018 bid focused on supporting

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

, raising

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

es to spend more on education initiatives, and opposing a wall along Arizona's southern border with Mexico. He also supported a “top-to-bottom” overhaul of ICE. Garcia's candidacy for governor had been compared to the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2021, the ''Arizona Daily Star'' described Garcia as "a weak candidate with a campaign beset by missteps, including what was interpreted as a call for open borders". On Election Day, Garcia was defeated by Ducey, 56.0%-41.8%.

Personal life

Garcia is married to Lori Higuera, a corporate attorney in the Phoenix area. They have two daughters.

References

External links

Garcia for Governor
campaign website {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, David 21st-century American politicians Arizona State University faculty Arizona Democrats Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Living people 1970 births People from Mesa, Arizona Arizona State University alumni Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona University of Chicago alumni