Raquel Terán is an American politician serving as a member of 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 ...

from the 30th district. 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 ...

Early life

Terán was born in

Douglas, Arizona Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 in ...

. Her citizenship was challenged in court by an anti-immigration advocate in 2012, and again after her 2018 election. The lawsuits were both dismissed.

Career

Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Terán was a community organizer who was active in opposing

Arizona SB 1070 The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest an ...

that she believed had an " anti-immigrant sentiment." She was part of the successful recall of

Russell Pearce Russell Keith Pearce (June 23, 1947 – January 5, 2023) was an American far-right politician who was a Republican (GOP) member of the Arizona State Senate. He rose to national prominence as the primary sponsor of Arizona SB1070, a controvers ...

, the primary sponsor of SB 1070, in 2011. Terán was elected in November 2018 to the

, and she assumed office on January 14, 2019. In 2021, Terán was elected chair of the

Arizona Democratic Party The Arizona Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. Party organization The Arizona Democratic Party is organized into three parts: the state committee, the executive ...

. On September 15, 2021, Terán was appointed to the Arizona Senate to fill the remainder of Tony Navarrete's two-year term following his resignation.

References

External links

Profile
at the

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teran, Raquel 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Arizona Democratic Party chairs Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Democratic Party Arizona state senators People from Douglas, Arizona Women state legislators in Arizona Year of birth missing (living people)