Arizona state Sen. Amanda Aguirre has announced that she is seeking re-election this year.
"We still have some very challenging days ahead of us," Aguirre said. "I hope the voters have the confidence in me to re-elect me. There is more that needs to be done and I'm looking forward to continuing to work on finding solutions to the challenges we are all facing."
In 2003, Aguirre became the first woman and first Hispanic to represent District 24 in the Arizona House of Representatives when she was appointed to fill a vacant seat. District 24 includes Yuma and La Paz counties.
A year later, she was elected to a two-year House term. Then in 2006, she won her current Senate seat.
"I would be honored to continue serving in this capacity and I'm very appreciative to everyone who has supported me over the years," said Aguirre, who has seven years of Legislative experience. "The voters of this district trusted me to represent them and I have worked hard to honor that trust."
A Democrat, Aguirre serves on the Committee of Appropriations, Committee on Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform, and the Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Department.
The Senate has also appointed Aguirre to serve on the Joint Committee on Capital Review, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Ad Hoc Committee on Energy and Water Development, Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Regulations and Ad Hoc Committee on Climate Initiatives.
She has also been named to serve on homeland security councils by the Senate president and governor’s office during her tenure as a legislator.
According to a news release from Aguirre, during her tenure in the House and Senate, she successfully worked to create legislation addressing the need for breast-cancer research, helped military families obtain degrees from Arizona universities, fought to extend health-care coverage to families with autistic children, led the effort to protect Arizona residents from identity theft, and worked tirelessly to promote agriculture within District 24.
Aguirre said if elected, her priorities for the upcoming term will include the solving the state budget crisis, education, health care and creating high-paying quality jobs.
"We want to create the workers of tomorrow and to do that we need to prepare our children to fill those high-tech jobs. I'm also looking forward to working with Gov. Jan Brewer to solve the state's problems. We might not always agree on everything, but that doesn't mean we can't find a solution together."
Aguirre said she thinks there may be more bipartisanship next session.
"It is not about Democrat or Republican. It is about all of us, as elected officials put here by the voters, working together to get the job done."
In 2006, the Arizona Capitol Times named Aguirre the Star Democrat in the Republican-controlled Legislature. She authored legislation that established a special license plate to finance breast cancer research, and she also sponsored a bill that makes it easier for military families to transfer out-of-state credits to Arizona universities and qualify for in-state tuition.
In 2008, according to the news release, Aguirre was instrumental in moving a coalition of health-care providers and Arizona families to enact comprehensive insurance coverage to children with autism. She also advanced identity-theft protections and necessary notary public reforms.
Aguirre has been recognized by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, Arizona State University Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy, the League of Cities and Towns, Arizona Rural Health Association, the American Diabetes Association, the Arizona’s Children Association, and other national and statewide groups.
Since 1991, Aguirre has served as CEO/president of the Regional Center for Border Health Inc., a nonprofit organization. She also serves as CEO/president for the San Luis Walk-In Clinic Inc., a subsidiary nonprofit Federal Rural Health Clinic of the Regional Center for Border Health Inc. since 2004.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Son., and a master’s degree in nutrition from California State University in Los Angeles, with a focus on the feeding problems of children with developmental disabilities.
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