Ceci Velasquez
Ceci Velásquez is a former Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 29 from 2015 to 2017.
Velásquez was indicted on felony welfare fraud charges on June 22, 2016. The charges included one count each of fraudulent schemes and practices, unlawful use of food stamps, and theft. Velásquez plead not guilty to the charges. Velasquez ended her bid for re-election after pressure from Democratic leaders. Her trial was set to begin on November 1, 2016.[1][2][3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Velasquez served on the following committees:
| Arizona committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Federalism and States' Rights |
| • Rules |
Campaign themes
2016
Velasquez's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Education
Women’s Rights
Equal Rights
Prison Reform
|
” |
| —Ceci Velasquez, [5] | ||
2014
Velasquez's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[6]
Equal pay and livable wages
- Excerpt: "Labor unions allow the possibility of earning equal and livable wages, allowing people to provide for their families and gives hope for the future."
Equal access to quality education
- Excerpt: "Arizona’s children deserve to have the same opportunities regardless of where they reside. When I am elected, I will fight for equal access to quality education."
Marriage equality and LGBTQ rights
- Excerpt: "Equality is not only essential but absolutely critical to move Arizona forward. Government shouldn’t have a say who can love whom. Discrimination creates division; unity is what is needed."
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Arizona House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.[7]
Cesar Chavez and incumbent Richard Andrade defeated John Wilson in the Arizona House of Representatives District 29 general election.[8][9]
| Arizona House of Representatives, District 29 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Cesar Chavez |
42.09% | 25,564 | |
| Democratic | Richard Andrade Incumbent |
35.00% | 21,257 | |
| Republican | John Wilson | 22.92% | 13,920 | |
| Total Votes | 60,741 | |||
| Source: Arizona Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Richard Andrade and Cesar Chavez defeated Marshall Pimentel and Rosa Cantu in the Arizona House of Representatives District 29 Democratic Primary.[10]
| Arizona House of Representatives, District 29 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Richard Andrade Incumbent |
33.77% | 3,847 | |
| Democratic | Cesar Chavez |
28.39% | 3,235 | |
| Democratic | Marshall Pimentel | 15.91% | 1,813 | |
| Democratic | Rosa Cantu | 21.93% | 2,498 | |
| Total Votes | 11,393 | |||
Roberto Alfaro and John Wilson were unopposed in the Arizona House of Representatives District 29 Republican Primary.[11]
| Arizona House of Representatives, District 29 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Roberto Alfaro | |
| Republican | John Wilson | |
2014
Elections for the Arizona House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 28, 2014. Richard Andrade and Ceci Velasquez defeated Steven Chapman and Denise Garcia in the Democratic primary. Aaron Borders was unopposed in the Republican primary. Andrade and Velasquez defeated Borders in the general election. Erminie Zarra (R) withdrew before the primary.[12][13][14][15]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Richard C. Andrade |
36.2% | 10,127 | |
| Democratic | Ceci Velásquez |
34.1% | 9,556 | |
| Republican | Aaron Borders | 29.7% | 8,320 | |
| Total Votes | 28,003 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Richard Andrade |
28.7% | 2,933 |
| Ceci Velásquez |
27.8% | 2,843 |
| Denise Garcia | 24% | 2,455 |
| Steve Chapman | 19.4% | 1,978 |
| Total Votes | 10,209 | |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Velasquez's endorsements included the following:[16]
- Equality for Arizona
- Arizona List
- Planned Parenthood Arizona
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arizona scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the 53rd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 4.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy.
- Legislators' votes are recorded by the Center for Arizona Policy on bills related to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on animal issues.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on secular policy.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their support of business policies.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the 52nd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 11 through May 7.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the 52nd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 12 to April 2.
|
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Ceci + Velasquez + Arizona + House"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Arizona State Legislature
- Arizona House of Representatives
- Arizona House Committees
- Arizona state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Official campaign website
- Ceci Velasquez on Facebook
- Ceci Velasquez on Twitter
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Arizona State Legislature
- Campaign contributions via OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ KSDK.com, "Ariz. lawmaker charged with food stamp fraud," accessed June 23, 2016
- ↑ AZ Central, "Arizona Lawmaker Ceci Velasquez pleads not guilty to allegations of food-stamp fraud," accessed July 6, 2016
- ↑ AZ Central, "State Rep. Velasquez's trial in food-stamp fraud case set for Nov. 1," accessed August 31, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Velasquez for AZ, "LD 29 Priorities," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Velasquez for AZ, "LD 29 Priorities," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Elections Calendar & Upcoming Events," accessed January 11, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "General election ," accessed September 9, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2016 official general election results," accessed November 11, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2016 Election Information - Primary Candidate List," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2016 Election Information - Primary Candidate List," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed August 27, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2014 Primary Election," May 27, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed August 3, 2015
- ↑ Velasquez for AZ, "Main page," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedARA
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Arizona House of Representatives District 29 2015-2017 |
Succeeded by Cesar Chavez (D) |
