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Charlene Fernandez
Charlene Fernandez (Democratic Party) was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 4. She assumed office on January 5, 2015. She left office on November 15, 2021.
Fernandez (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 4. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Fernandez served as state House minority leader from 2019 to 2021.[1] She has served as state House minority whip.
On November 15, 2021, Fernandez resigned from the state legislature to become state director of rural development for Arizona at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[2]
Biography
Fernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Northern Arizona University. She then worked for Congressman Ed Pastor for 12 years, coordinating constituent services for the western portion of then Congressional District 2. She also served in a similar capacity for Congressman Raul Grijalva. She then become a consultant for a software company that produced a constituent management system for the U.S. House of Representatives. Fernandez later served Governor Janet Napolitano as a liaison for the Arizona Department of Environment Quality in Yuma County. In this capacity she worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as its counterpart in the Republic of Mexico. Fernandez was elected to Yuma Union High School District Governing Board and served as president and vice president.[3]
Committee assignments
2021-2022
Fernandez was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Fernandez was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arizona committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Fernandez served on the following committees:
| Arizona committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce |
| • Transportation and Infrastructure |
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
2020
See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Incumbent Charlene Fernandez and Joel John defeated incumbent Geraldine Peten in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Charlene Fernandez (D) | 39.8 | 40,797 |
| ✔ |  | Joel John (R) | 31.5 | 32,318 |
| Geraldine Peten (D) | 28.6 | 29,342 | ||
| Total votes: 102,457 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Incumbent Charlene Fernandez and incumbent Geraldine Peten advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charlene Fernandez | 59.8 | 12,417 |
| ✔ | Geraldine Peten | 40.2 | 8,362 | |
| Total votes: 20,779 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Joel John advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joel John | 100.0 | 9,624 |
| Total votes: 9,624 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Incumbent Charlene Fernandez and incumbent Geraldine Peten defeated Sara Mae Williams in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charlene Fernandez (D) | 48.9 | 26,541 |
| ✔ | Geraldine Peten (D) | 35.7 | 19,410 | |
| Sara Mae Williams (G) | 15.4 | 8,344 | ||
| Total votes: 54,295 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Incumbent Charlene Fernandez and incumbent Geraldine Peten advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charlene Fernandez | 62.8 | 9,457 |
| ✔ | Geraldine Peten | 37.2 | 5,590 | |
| Total votes: 15,047 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Green primary election
Green primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 (2 seats)
Sara Mae Williams advanced from the Green primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 4 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sara Mae Williams | 100.0 | 51 | |
| Total votes: 51 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
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.[4] Incumbent Lisa Otondo (D) did not seek re-election.
Incumbent Charlene Fernandez and Jesus Rubalcava were unopposed in the Arizona House of Representatives District 4 general election.[5][6]
| Arizona House of Representatives, District 4 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Charlene Fernandez Incumbent |
51.70% | 29,755 | |
| Democratic | Jesus Rubalcava |
48.30% | 27,794 | |
| Total Votes | 57,549 | |||
| Source: Arizona Secretary of State | ||||
Jesus Rubalcava and incumbent Charlene Fernandez were unopposed in the Arizona House of Representatives District 4 Democratic Primary.[7]
| Arizona House of Representatives, District 4 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Jesus Rubalcava | |
| Democratic | Charlene Fernandez Incumbent | |
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. Incumbent Lisa Otondo and Charlene Fernandez defeated Jose Suarez in the Democratic primary. Richard Hopkins was unopposed in the Republican primary. Otondo and Fernandez defeated Hopkins in the general election.[8][9][10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lisa Otondo Incumbent |
35.4% | 13,324 | |
| Democratic | Charlene Fernandez |
32.5% | 12,251 | |
| Republican | Richard Hopkins | 32.1% | 12,063 | |
| Total Votes | 37,638 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Lisa Otondo Incumbent |
38.2% | 4,556 |
| Charlene Fernandez |
37.7% | 4,497 |
| Jose Suarez | 24% | 2,861 |
| Total Votes | 11,914 | |
Endorsements
Fernandez was endorsed by the following people and organizations:[12]
|
|
2012
Fernandez ran in the 2012 election for Arizona House of Representatives District 4. She was defeated by Juan Carlos Escamilla and Lisa Otondo in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2012.[13]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Lisa Otondo |
34.9% | 4,238 |
| Juan Carlos Escamilla |
33.3% | 4,038 |
| Charlene Fernandez | 31.8% | 3,865 |
| Total Votes | 12,141 | |
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Charlene Fernandez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2014
Fernandez's campaign website listed the following issues:[14]
Education
- Excerpt: "Charlene believes that every child deserves to have access to a quality education to include competent teachers, manageable classroom sizes and support from administrators and communities. She will pursue full funding for public education in the legislature and will work within our communities to empower families to work with policy makers to make education a priority."
Economic Development
- Excerpt: "Charlene will work to develop apprentice and other skills training programs, particularly in high unemployment areas of the state and will work to create public infrastructure projects to put our people to work."
Health Care
- Excerpt: "Charlene believes that every resident of our state should have access to quality and affordable health care and mental health services and our families should not have to choose between health care and food and shelter. She will work to curtail the cost of health care by expanding Medicaid eligibility and creating competition in the health care delivery."
Agriculture
- Excerpt: "As your legislator, I will proactively address water issues and not wait for critical declines in water availability before getting involved. I am capable of, and willing to, work with elected officials from other states to develop long-term solutions to water shortages. Any collective strategies concerning water must protect our most important industry, agriculture, and the thousands of jobs it creates in our district."
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.
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.
2022
In 2022, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 10 to June 25.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on the association's policy platform.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on animal issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on the association's policy platform.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on secular policy.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic policy.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 11 to June 30.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 13 to May 26.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 28.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 54th Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 4.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 53rd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 4.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 52nd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 11 through May 7.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 52nd Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 12 to April 2.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Fernandez and her husband, Sergio, have three children: Brian, Carlye, and Lisa. She lives with her husband in central Yuma less than two miles from where she was raised.[3]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Arizona House of Representatives District 4 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Twitter, "Dustin Gardner," November 8, 2018
- ↑ "AZ Central," "Biden appoints state Rep. Charlene Fernandez to Department of Agriculture post," accessed November 17, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Charlene for House, "About," accessed August 15, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ 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, "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
- ↑ Charlene for House, "News," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2012 Primary candidate list," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Charlene for House, "Issue," accessed October 16, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedARA
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Arizona House of Representatives District 4 2015-2021 |
Succeeded by Brian Fernandez (D) |
