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Daniel Hernandez Jr.

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Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Prior offices
Sunnyside Unified School District, At-large

Arizona House of Representatives District 2
Predecessor: Chris Ackerley

Elections and appointments
Last election

July 15, 2025

Contact

Daniel Hernandez Jr. (Democratic Party) was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 2. He assumed office on January 9, 2017. He left office on January 9, 2023.

Hernandez (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 7th Congressional District. He lost in the special Democratic primary on July 15, 2025.

Biography

Representative Hernandez was born and raised in Arizona. In his career, Hernandez was elected to the Sunnyside Unified School District Governing board in November 2011.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2021-2022

Hernandez was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Hernandez 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
Federalism, Property Rights and Public Policy
Judiciary and Public Safety

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

2025

See also: Arizona's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025

General election

Special general election for U.S. House Arizona District 7

The following candidates are running in the special general election for U.S. House Arizona District 7 on September 23, 2025.

Candidate
Image of Adelita Grijalva
Adelita Grijalva (D)
Image of Daniel Butierez
Daniel Butierez (R)
Image of Eduardo Quintana
Eduardo Quintana (G)
Image of Richard Grayson
Richard Grayson (No Labels Party) Candidate Connection
Cheval Lavers (D) (Write-in)
Jeff Beasley (R) (Write-in)
Avery Block (R) (Write-in)
Image of G. Seville Hatch
G. Seville Hatch (R) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
David McAllister (R) (Write-in)
Nathaniel Irwin Sr. (No Labels Party) (Write-in)
James Rose (No party preference) (Write-in)
Image of Daniel Wood
Daniel Wood (No party preference) (Write-in)
Image of Trista di Genova
Trista di Genova (No party preference) (Write-in)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7

Adelita Grijalva defeated Deja Foxx, Daniel Hernandez Jr., Patrick Harris Sr., and Jose Malvido Jr. in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7 on July 15, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Adelita Grijalva
Adelita Grijalva
 
61.5
 
38,679
Image of Deja Foxx
Deja Foxx
 
22.4
 
14,078
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr.
 
13.6
 
8,541
Image of Patrick Harris Sr.
Patrick Harris Sr. Candidate Connection
 
1.5
 
925
Image of Jose Malvido Jr.
Jose Malvido Jr.
 
1.1
 
687

Total votes: 62,910
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Special Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7

Daniel Butierez defeated Jorge Rivas and Jimmy Rodriguez in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7 on July 15, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Daniel Butierez
Daniel Butierez
 
60.9
 
11,121
Image of Jorge Rivas
Jorge Rivas
 
25.2
 
4,594
Image of Jimmy Rodriguez
Jimmy Rodriguez
 
14.0
 
2,549

Total votes: 18,264
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Green primary election

Special Green primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7

Eduardo Quintana defeated Gary Swing in the special Green primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7 on July 15, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Eduardo Quintana
Eduardo Quintana (Write-in)
 
95.5
 
42
Image of Gary Swing
Gary Swing (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
4.5
 
2

Total votes: 44
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Special Libertarian primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7

No candidate advanced from the primary.

Candidate
%
Votes
Andy Fernandez Jr. (Write-in)
 
100.0
 
19

Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.

Total votes: 19
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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No Labels Party primary election

Special No Labels Party primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7

Richard Grayson advanced from the special No Labels Party primary for U.S. House Arizona District 7 on July 15, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Richard Grayson
Richard Grayson (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
1

Total votes: 1
Candidate Connection = 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.

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To qualify for the general election, primary write-in candidates for parties with continued statewide representation had to receive enough votes to meet or exceed the number of nominating petition signatures required to file for the primary.[2] In the 2025 special election, the Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican parties were subject to this rule.[3] Libertarian write-in candidate Andy Fernandez Jr. did not meet the required 376 minimum write-in votes, so he did not advance to the general election.[4]

Primary write-in candidates for recognized parties that did not have continued statewide representation did not need to meet a minimum vote count.[2] Eduardo Quintana (G) and Richard Grayson (No Labels Party) advanced to the general election after receiving the most write-in votes in their primaries.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2022

Congress

See also: Arizona's 6th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Arizona District 6

Juan Ciscomani defeated Kirsten Engel, Avery Thornton, and Frank Bertone in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 6 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Juan Ciscomani
Juan Ciscomani (R)
 
50.7
 
177,201
Image of Kirsten Engel
Kirsten Engel (D)
 
49.2
 
171,969
Image of Avery Thornton
Avery Thornton (D) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
71
Image of Frank Bertone
Frank Bertone (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
42

Total votes: 349,283
Candidate Connection = 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 U.S. House Arizona District 6

Kirsten Engel defeated Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Avery Anderson in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 6 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kirsten Engel
Kirsten Engel
 
59.1
 
54,060
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr.
 
34.8
 
31,815
Image of Avery Anderson
Avery Anderson Candidate Connection
 
6.2
 
5,639

Total votes: 91,514
Candidate Connection = 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 6

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 6 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Juan Ciscomani
Juan Ciscomani
 
47.1
 
49,559
Image of Brandon Martin
Brandon Martin Candidate Connection
 
20.9
 
21,987
Image of Kathleen Winn
Kathleen Winn
 
18.7
 
19,635
Image of Young Mayberry
Young Mayberry Candidate Connection
 
8.5
 
8,942
Image of Lucretia Free
Lucretia Free Candidate Connection
 
4.8
 
5,029
Jordan Flayer (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
32

Total votes: 105,184
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

State House

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2022

Daniel Hernandez Jr. did not file to run for re-election.

2020

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

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

Incumbent Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Andrea Dalessandro defeated Deborah McEwen in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr. (D)
 
37.3
 
46,467
Image of Andrea Dalessandro
Andrea Dalessandro (D)
 
35.5
 
44,296
Image of Deborah McEwen
Deborah McEwen (R) Candidate Connection
 
27.2
 
33,956

Total votes: 124,719
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Andrea Dalessandro defeated Luis Parra and Billy Peard in the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr.
 
33.2
 
13,670
Image of Andrea Dalessandro
Andrea Dalessandro
 
29.4
 
12,116
Image of Luis Parra
Luis Parra Candidate Connection
 
19.8
 
8,172
Image of Billy Peard
Billy Peard Candidate Connection
 
17.5
 
7,224

Total votes: 41,182
Candidate Connection = 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 2 (2 seats)

Deborah McEwen advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Deborah McEwen
Deborah McEwen Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
13,283

Total votes: 13,283
Candidate Connection = 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

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

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

Incumbent Daniel Hernandez Jr. and incumbent Rosanna Gabaldón defeated Chris Ackerley and Anthony Sizer in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr. (D)
 
29.3
 
30,613
Image of Rosanna Gabaldón
Rosanna Gabaldón (D)
 
29.2
 
30,481
Image of Chris Ackerley
Chris Ackerley (R)
 
21.0
 
21,927
Image of Anthony Sizer
Anthony Sizer (R)
 
20.6
 
21,543

Total votes: 104,564
Candidate Connection = 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 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Rosanna Gabaldón and incumbent Daniel Hernandez Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rosanna Gabaldón
Rosanna Gabaldón
 
51.0
 
12,577
Image of Daniel Hernandez Jr.
Daniel Hernandez Jr.
 
49.0
 
12,066

Total votes: 24,643
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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 2 (2 seats)

Chris Ackerley and Anthony Sizer advanced from the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Chris Ackerley
Chris Ackerley
 
51.3
 
9,035
Image of Anthony Sizer
Anthony Sizer
 
48.7
 
8,579

Total votes: 17,614
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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

See also: Arizona House of Representatives 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.[5]

Daniel Hernandez and incumbent Rosanna Gabaldon defeated incumbent John Christopher Ackerley in the Arizona House of Representatives District 2 general election.[6][7]

Arizona House of Representatives, District 2 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Daniel Hernandez 34.86% 32,651
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Rosanna Gabaldon Incumbent 34.70% 32,495
     Republican John Christopher Ackerley Incumbent 30.44% 28,506
Total Votes 93,652
Source: Arizona Secretary of State


Incumbent Rosanna Gabaldon and Daniel Hernandez defeated Aaron Baumann in the Arizona House of Representatives District 2 Democratic Primary.[8]

Arizona House of Representatives, District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Rosanna Gabaldon Incumbent 37.74% 8,730
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Daniel Hernandez 33.68% 7,790
     Democratic Aaron Baumann 28.58% 6,610
Total Votes 23,130


Incumbent John Christopher Ackerley ran unopposed in the Arizona House of Representatives District 2 Republican Primary.[9]

Arizona House of Representatives, District 2 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png John Christopher Ackerley Incumbent (unopposed)

This district was included in the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's list of "2016 Essential Races." Read more »

Endorsements

In 2016, Hernandez's endorsements included the following:[10]

  • Mark Cardenas, AZ State Representative LD 19
  • Jonathan Rothschild, Mayor, Tucson
  • Paul Cunningham, Councilmember, Tucson
  • Kristel Foster, Tucson Unified School District Board
  • Buck Crouch, Sunnyside Unified School District Board

2014

See also: Sunnyside Unified School District elections (2014)

Two incumbents, Eva Carrillo Dong and Daniel Hernandez, Jr., were up for re-election to the at-large seats. They were joined on the ballot by newcomer Malcom Pavey.[11]

Results

Sunnyside Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngDaniel Hernandez, Jr. Incumbent 44.6% 5,780
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngEva Carrillo Dong Incumbent 29.5% 3,832
     Nonpartisan Malcom Pavey 25.2% 3,269
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.7% 88
Total Votes 12,969
Source: Pima County Elections, "Official Results," accessed December 30, 2014

2011

Sunnyside Unified School District, At-Large Special Election, 2-year term, 2011
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngDaniel Hernandez, Jr. 63.1% 3,317
     Nonpartisan Sherrie L. Burdic 34.3% 1,804
Total Votes 5,256
Source: Pima County Elections Department, "Consolidated Elections November 8, 2011, Election Results," accessed August 29, 2014

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Daniel Hernandez Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Daniel Hernandez Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Daniel Hernandez Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Hernandez's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

Stand up for workers an veterans

  • Raise the minimum wage
  • Ensure women receive equal pay for equal work
  • Reward companies that recruit and hire veterans
  • Ensure veterans have access to quality healthcare

Invest in quality education

  • Reduce class sizes
  • Recruit and retain quality teachers
  • Work to make state colleges and universities affordable

Common sense gun safety

  • Keep illegal weapons out of the hands of the mentally unstable
  • Close the gun show loophole[12]
—Daniel Hernandez[13]

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.


Daniel Hernandez Jr. campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2025* U.S. House Arizona District 7Lost primary$1,136,880 $1,136,880
2022U.S. House Arizona District 6Lost primary$1,196,216 $1,194,732
2020Arizona House of Representatives District 2Won general$138,065 N/A**
2016Arizona House of Representatives, District 2Won $131,029 N/A**
Grand total$2,602,190 $2,331,612
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Arizona

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


2020


2019


2018


2017



See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Chris Ackerley (R)
Arizona House of Representatives District 2
2017-2023
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Sunnyside Unified School District, At-large
2011-2017
Succeeded by
-


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Eli Crane (R)
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Vacant
District 8
District 9
Republican Party (6)
Democratic Party (4)
Vacancies (1)