Arizona House of Representatives District 24 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Arizona, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

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• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 (2 seats)

Analise Ortiz and Lydia Hernandez won election in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 24 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Analise Ortiz (D)	50.5	20,403
✔		Lydia Hernandez (D)	49.5	19,999

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,402
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Extensive public service Experience

Proven Track Record of Commitment, Civic Engagement & Results for Community

Principled, Effective, Proven Leadership

Analise Ortiz (D)

Analise Ortiz is a born-and-raised Arizonan. Ortiz is invested in making Arizona a better place because it is her home. As an auntie to six kids growing up here, she deeply understands the urgency to ensure future generations have clean air and water, affordable housing, and a strong public education system. She will work hard to deliver for Arizona families.

Analise Ortiz will deliver courageous and compassionate leadership. Ortiz has been fighting for years to protect people's civil rights. She will take a people-first approach to governing, always ensuring that she is accessible and bringing the community to the decision-making table. Ortiz is not accepting any money from corporate interests and she will not be beholden to big-dollar donors. Ortiz works for the people.

Analise Ortiz has the experience of successfully moving forward bipartisan legislation. As a former campaign strategist for the ACLU, Ortiz played an instrumental role to successfully pass the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act in 2021 to improve the living conditions of women in prison. Ortiz was also part of a coalition that successfully defeated bills that would infringe upon our rights to vote and protest. As a former journalist, Ortiz has experience digging deep into nuanced issues and listening intentionally to differing viewpoints. Ortiz will apply these skills to policymaking to reach consensus and deliver results.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Education, Health, Economy/Economic Development, Affordable Housing, Infrastructure and Governance

Analise Ortiz (D)

Public Education: My parents are both educators, I am a proud product of Arizona public schools and I am an auntie to six public school students. I will be a champion for more funding for our schools. I will fight against any expansion to the voucher programs which take public funding away from our schools and our teachers. I will fight for teachers’ rights to negotiate a better salary, better benefits and the right to form and join unions. I will work to pass legislation that reduces class sizes and ensures there are more counselors on campus. I believe community college should be free. I would work to restore funding to our community colleges.

Criminal Justice Reform:I would like to focus on making Arizona a place that invests in rehabilitation over incarceration. There is proven evidence that locking people away for years and years for low-level offenses is not the best way to prevent future harm and actually contributes to a cycle of incarceration and trauma.We need to take a holistic approach to crime prevention in our communities. I want to focus on how we can reform the sentencing guidelines here in Arizona and how we can hold prosecutors accountable for the actions and decisions that they make when they put people in prison for a long time. I want to focus on how we can help people when they come home from prison be successful in society, get a job, restore their right to vote, find safe housing and be able to rebuild their lives.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Ronald Reagan/John McCain-Principled Leadership in the best interest of the country.

Analise Ortiz (D)

Dolores Huerta is a personal hero of mine. Her work fighting labor exploitation resulted in huge wins for the labor movement and has inspired generations of workers to fight for fair treatment in the workplace. I would like to follow her example of being a bold and courageous leader who always stands side-by-side with the people.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Analise Ortiz (D)

I am a compassionate and courageous leader.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

I saw the swearing in of Gerald Ford to the U.S. Presidency on National t.v. & Ford's pardon of Nixon. I was 4 to 5 years old.

Analise Ortiz (D)

The first major historical event was September 11, 2001. I was 8 -years-old and in the third grade. I remember watching it at home and then on tv at school knowing it would change the course of history forever.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Analise Ortiz (D)

My very first job was at a Payless Shoesource for a few years. I then worked in the restaurant industry to pay my way through my four-year college degree at Arizona State University.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Analise Ortiz (D)

The most recent book I read was “Indiscernibles in Arizona”, an anthology of personal reflections and oral histories from Black Arizonans about the hope and realities of living in Arizona. It was curated by Clottee Hammons of Emancipation Arts. It was a fascinating read I highly recommend for all Arizonans to gain a better understanding of Black Arizonans lived experiences.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Leadership Facilitation to ensure all leadership is at the table.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Economic Sustainable Growth and its Impact on all Arizonans.

Analise Ortiz (D)

Our biggest challenge is combatting climate change. I support putting contingency plans in place in Arizona to protect our water resources, capture solar energy, and expand clean energy. It is imperative that Arizona builds an intentional plan for justly transitioning workers from the traditional energy sector into good-paying, unionized green energy jobs. The plan must go beyond simple workforce development training. It must also account for each individual’s needs as it pertains to their skillset, the amount of time they’ve held their job, their transportation needs, housing needs, disability accommodations, and so much more. For example, if a person has held a job for decades, they might need help navigating online application forms. If a person lived close to their traditional energy job, they might need assistance with transportation to a new clean energy job. If a person has a specialized skill set operating a certain type of machinery, they should be prioritized for positions where they can utilize those same or similar skills. In order to offer this kind of individualized assistance, the private sector must be willing to work closely and effectively with state agencies. The state could provide tax incentives to clean energy jobs that prioritize the hires of former employees in the traditional energy sector and who provide them with adequate training and other services.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Experience is extremely beneficial for effective decision making.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Lydia Hernandez (D)

A legislative leader requires strategic, analytic, and communication skills that enable you, as an organizational leader, to accurately diagnose problems and work with others, different than you to come up with strong and healthy solutions.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Analise Ortiz (D)

I would like to sit on the House Judiciary Committee to focus on criminal justice reform legislation. I would like to focus on making Arizona a place that invests in rehabilitation over incarceration. There is proven evidence that locking people away for years and years for low-level offenses is not the best way to prevent future harm and actually contributes to a cycle of incarceration and trauma.

We need to take a holistic approach to crime prevention in our communities. I want to focus on how we can reform the sentencing guidelines here in Arizona and how we can hold prosecutors accountable for the actions and decisions that they make when they put people in prison for a long time. I want to focus on how we can help people when they come home from prison be successful in society, get a job, restore their right to vote, find safe housing and be able to rebuild their lives.

I would also fight for more oversight and assessment of the Department of Corrections’ budget. DOC receives more than $1 billion each year. This is more than we spend on higher education. I really want to see us divesting from the prison industrial complex and making sure that that money is going to education, housing, healthcare, and combating wealthy inequality.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

Analise Ortiz (D)

No. Arizona is my home and I am committed to making it better from the state legislative level where the majority of my work and experience has been focused.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Lydia Hernandez (D)

Most definitely. Sustainable solutions require consensus among multiple stakeholders.

See also

More about these elections:

• Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2022

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