Marco Antonio López Jr. (born April 7, 1978) is an American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Nogales, Arizona Nogales (; English: or ) is a city in and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and estimated 20,103 in 2019. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson–Nogales L ...

, executive director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, policy advisor to Arizona Governor

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

for Mexico and Latin America, and director of the Arizona Department of Commerce. He is best known as a previous

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

United States Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border guard, border ...

who served from 2009 to 2011 under CBP

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Alan Bersin Alan Douglas Bersin (born October 15, 1946) is an American lawyer. He also serves as an Inaugural Senior Fellow in the Homeland Security Project at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, as a Global Fellow at the Woodr ...

, and as senior advisor to the U.S.-based foundation of

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business oligarch, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from his e ...

focused on broadband connectivity for all and free online education.

Early life and education

Born in Nogales,

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and raised in Nogales, Arizona,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Lopez became a United States

citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...

through

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. Lopez earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and political science from the

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

Career

In 1994, Lopez began his career as a congressional page for Congressman

Ed Pastor Edward Lopez Pastor (; June 28, 1943 – November 27, 2018) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 1991 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arizon ...

. Lopez joined the

Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign The 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore, the List of vice presidents of the United States, 45th vice president of the United States under President Bill Clinton, began when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, the p ...

in 1999.

Mayor of Nogales, Arizona

Lopez won his first

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

in 2001, becoming mayor of

, a border town with a population of approximately 21,000. He served as Mayor of Nogales until 2004, earning the distinction of "America's youngest mayor."

Napolitano administration

In December 2003, Lopez was appointed by Arizona Governor

as the executive director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. He was designated as state Policy Adviser for Latin America, which is a Cabinet-level division of the governor's office responsible for overseeing and coordinating all international Latin American affairs for the State of Arizona. In late-2006, Governor Napolitano promoted Lopez to be her senior adviser, where he advised her at the

Arizona State Capitol The Arizona Territorial - Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, was the last home for Arizona's territorial government until Arizona became a state in 1912. Initially, all three branches of the new state government occupied ...

on the state's political relationship with other countries and Arizona's trade relationship with Mexico, Canada, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and Japan. In late-2008, Lopez was appointed by Napolitano to serve as Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce, overseeing the state's economic development efforts and managing Arizona's investment policies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

A few months after Arizona Governor

was announced by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

as the third

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

, Lopez was appointed to serve as the

for

. He served in the position until 2011.

Business

Intermestic Partners

In 2011, Lopez founded Intermestic Partners, one of the top international business development and political advisory firms in North America. Through Intermestic Partners, Lopez represents numerous Fortune 100 companies doing business between the United States and Latin America. Aside from advising top businesses and executives, he has worked with numerous political leaders in the United States and Latin America.

International Business Solutions

Lopez is the president and CEO of International Business Solutions, Inc., a business advisory firm that provides consultancy services to domestic and international organizations.

Carlos Slim Foundation

According to multiple references in print and online media, since 2011, Marco Lopez has served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Foundation of Mexican

Carlos Slim Helu Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business oligarch, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from his e ...

, who was ranked from 2010 to 2013 by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine as the richest person in the world. The foundation's work initiated with the launch of Connect2Compete a low-cost broadband adoption program to connect eligible working-class families to the internet. Lopez is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

2022 Arizona gubernatorial campaign

On March 16, 2021, López became the first candidate to announce his campaign for the

2022 Arizona gubernatorial election The 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election occurred on November 8, 2022, to elect the next governor of Arizona, concurrently with other federal and state elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Doug Ducey was term-limited and ineligible t ...

. López lost the primary election to

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 24th governor of Arizona. A member of the Democratic Party, she was secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023 and a member of the Arizona Le ...

Personal life

Lopez is a licensed private pilot.

References

External links

Campaign website

Nogales International: Ex-Mayor Lopez Jr. advising governor on international issues

Mexicano asesora a Gobernadora Napolitano

Es mexicano y nació en Nogales, Sonora. Funcionario de Arizona lleva la realidad binacional a las oficinas públicas

Pinal County's first Cesar E. Chavez Celebration Dinner Friday included inspirational words from the grandson of the famed labor and civil rights leader and Marco Lopez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Marco 1978 births American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American mayors Hispanic and Latino American people in Arizona politics Living people Mayors of places in Arizona People from Nogales, Arizona Mexican emigrants to the United States People from Nogales, Sonora State cabinet secretaries of Arizona United States Department of Homeland Security officials University of Arizona alumni American political consultants American political commentators Arizona Democrats