AZ: Gabriella Czares-Kelly is the first Native American elected to a Pima Countywide seat
n September 2019, Gabriella Cázares-Kelly was sitting on a bus in Tucson on her way home when she read that Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez would be retiring after 28 years of public service.
That meant the office would be open at the next election. As she read through the article, she looked for the names of possible candidates, knowing she'd end up teaching whoever was elected what they needed to know about the Tohono O'odham Nation and Native voters.
But by the time Cázares-Kelly finished reading the article, it dawned on her that she could run for the seat. It was something she'd thought about often and was always encouraged to do. If she was elected, she wouldn't have to teach anyone about the voting issues that impact her community and other underserved communities in Pima County.
So in November 2019, Cázares-Kelly filed her candidacy as a Democrat and in November 2020, she won.
"I knew I needed to have a go and I needed to at least make an attempt to try to win this thing," Cázares-Kelly said. "We didn't know we would be this successful though."
With her victory, Cázares-Kelly became the first Native American to hold a countywide seat in Pima county.
Cázares-Kelly drew 289,932 votes, defeating her Republican opponent, Benny White, who received 203,631 votes, according to results.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/03/gabriella-cazares-kelly-makes-history-pima-county-election/6353273002/
= new reply since forum marked as read
She’ll work her tail off for her constituents!
