Lela Alston (born June 26, 1942) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the

Arizona State 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 ...

representing District 24 since January 14, 2019. She previously served in 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 ...

from 2013 to 2019, and from 2011 to 2013 in the District 11 seat, and non-consecutively in 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 ...

from 1977 until 1995 in the Arizona Senate.

Education

Alston attended

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union High School and Junio ...

and earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and

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 ...

Elections

* 1976 When Republican Senator

Bill McCune Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

left the Legislature and left the Senate District 20 seat open, Alston won the November 2, 1976 General election with 10,045 votes (52.9%) against Republican nominee Howard Adams. * 1978 Alston won the November 7, 1978 General election with 7,768 votes (59.5%) against Republican nominee George Hussey. * 1980 Alston won the November 4, 1980 General election with 9,511 votes (64.2%) against Republican nominee Steve Hargan. * 1982 Alston won the November 2, 1982 General election with 12,819 votes (59.9%) in a rematch against Republican nominee Steve Hargan. * 1984 Alston won the three-way November 6, 1984 General election with 14,223 votes (52.9%) against Republican nominee Georgia Hargan and Independent candidate Dick Singer. * 1986 Alston won the November 4, 1986 General election with 13,927 votes (59.7%) against Republican nominee Wayne Church. * 1988 Alston won the November 8, 1988 General election with 16,405 votes (58.9%) against the Republican nominee. * 1990 Alston won the November 6, 1990 General election with 13,395 votes (54.4%) against Republican nominee Harry Fennemore. * 1992 Alston won the September 8, 1992 Democratic Primary with 4,650 votes (98.6%) against

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

Mary Hartley and won the November 3, 1992 General election with 19,313 votes (61.4%) against Republican nominee John Keck; Hartley would succeed Alston after winning the November 8, 1994 General election. * 1994 Alston ran for the open

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected state executive position in the Arizona state government. The superintendent oversees the state of Arizona's public school system and directs the state's Department of Education. Th ...

in the September 13, 1994 Democratic Primary, winning with 127,937 votes (54.8%) against Tempe

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Harry Mitchell Harry Everett Mitchell (born July 18, 1940) is an American politician and educator who served as a U.S. Representative representing from 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life, education and career Born and raised ...

, who later served in the Arizona Senate and represented

Arizona's 5th congressional district Arizona's 5th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona, currently represented by Republican Andy Biggs. The district contains Gilbert, Queen Creek, southern and eastern Chandler, and eastern Mesa ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

; but lost the November 8, 1994 General election to Republican state Representative Lisa Graham. * 2010 When Democratic Representatives

David Lujan David Lujan (born April 7, 1965) is an American politician who served in the Arizona legislature from 2005 until 2013. He was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004 representing most of the central Phoenix area. He served ...

and

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema (; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona since January 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in ...

ran for

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorn ...

and the Arizona Senate respectively, and thereby left open both seats in District 15, Alston ran in the three-way August 24, 2010, Democratic Primary, placing second behind

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and social worker who is the governor-elect of Arizona, having been elected in 2022. She has served as the 21st secretary of state of Arizona since 2019. A member of the D ...

by 6 votes with 4,347 votes; in the six-way November 2, 2010 General election, Hobbs took the first seat, and Alston took the second seat with 15,167 votes ahead of Republican nominees Paul Yoder, Caroline Condit, and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate Les White and Green candidate Luisa Valdez; Hobbs was elected to the Arizona Senate in 2012 and became

Arizona Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The secretary also serves as actin ...

in 2019. * 2012 Redistricted to District 24, with Democratic Representative

Chad Campbell David Chad Campbell (born May 31, 1974) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, where he has won four times. He also notably finished as a runner-up at the 2009 Masters, after losing in a sudden-death playoff. Early years ...

redistricted from District 14, and incumbent Representatives Democratic Lynne Pancrazi running for Arizona Senate and Republican

Russ Jones Russ Jones (born July 16, 1942 in Ontario) is a Canadian novelist, illustrator, and magazine editor, active in the publishing and entertainment industries over a half-century, best known as the creator of the magazine ''Creepy'' for Warren Publis ...

redistricted to District 13, Alston ran in the four-way August 28, 2012, Democratic Primary, placing first with 7,652 votes; Representative Campbell placed second. Alston and Representative Campbell won the four-way November 6, 2012 General election, with Alston taking the first seat with 34,018 votes and Representative Campbell taking the second seat ahead of Republican nominee Brian Kaufman and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

candidate Gerard Davis. * 2014 Lela Alston and Ken Clark defeated Richard Bauer in the Democratic primary. Alston and Clark defeated Lei Lani Cortez in the general election with Alston receiving 21,740 votes.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign site
*
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

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Lela 1942 births Living people Democratic Party Arizona state senators Arizona State University alumni Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Phoenix College alumni Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona University of Arizona alumni Women state legislators in Arizona 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians