Lydia Hernandez

American politician

Lydia Hernandez


Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2023 Serving with Analise Ortiz
Preceded by	Jennifer Longdon (redistricting)
Constituency	24th district
In office January 14, 2013 – January 5, 2015 Serving with Martín Quezada
Preceded by	Matt Heinz
Succeeded by	Ceci Velasquez
Constituency	29th district

Personal details
Born	Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Phoenix, Arizona
Education	Baylor University (BA)
Website	Legislative website Campaign website

Lydia Hernandez is an American politician serving as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives for the 24th district since January 2023. A Democrat, she previously served in the House from 2013 through 2015 representing the 29th district.

Career

Hernandez has served as an elected member of the Cartwright Elementary School District Board since 2004. In this role, she attended a Mexican American School Boards Association meeting in Texas in 2019 and reportedly caused a scene while intoxicated. She was banned from the organization's events for two years and her position as chair-elect of the National Hispanic Council of the National School Boards Association was revoked due to the incident.^[1]

She endorsed Republican Doug Ducey in the 2018 Arizona gubernatorial election.^[2]

Arizona House of Representatives

Hernandez has served in the Arizona House of Representatives twice, first from 2013 to 2015 and currently since 2023.

Tenure

Hernandez voted with Republicans to ban photo radar and red light cameras from ticketing drivers.^[3]

In February 2024, Hernandez filed an ethics complaint alleging other Arizona Democrats bullied her. The complaint was ultimately dismissed for being identical to a previously dismissed workplace harassment complaint made by her.^[4]

Campaigns

2014 State Senate campaign

In 2014, Hernandez ran for Arizona State Senate after incumbent senator Steve Gallardo retired to run for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. She was narrowly defeated by fellow representative Martín Quezada in the Democratic primary.

2016 State Senate campaign

She ran for the seat again in 2016, challenging Quezada in the Democratic primary. The race was notably uncivil and negative between the two candidates, with both candidates and their respective supporters attacking each other on social media.^[2] Quezada ultimately defeated Hernandez again.

2019 Phoenix City Council campaign

In 2019, Hernandez ran for Phoenix City Council. She was defeated in the primary election.^[5]

References

^ Flaherty, Joseph (February 22, 2019). "Texas Education Group Banned Phoenix City Council Candidate Over Behavior". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Giles, Ben (August 15, 2016). "LD29 Senate race gets ugly: 'Bernie Bro' vs. 'fake Democrat'". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
^ Thorington, Jakob (May 18, 2023). "GOP lawmakers push photo radar ban". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
^ Sievers, Caitlin (May 20, 2024). "Ethics committee drops complaint of Democrats bullying one of their own". Arizona Mirror. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
^ Brown, Patricia (March 18, 2019). "Phoenix Council Candidates to go for Run-off Elections on May 21". The Arizona Tribune. Retrieved May 25, 2024.