AZ-3: Yassamin Ansari first candidate in, crowded primary incoming

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/04/04/phoenix-vice-mayor-yassamin-ansari-mounts-congressional-bid/70080384007/

Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari announced Tuesday she is running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 3rd Congressional District.

She joins a field of Democratic hopefuls who are contemplating candidacies to replace U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024. The demographics of the Democrat-friendly district are such that the winner of the party's primary is likely to clinch the overall election.

Ansari, who turns 31 on Friday, became the youngest person ever elected to the Phoenix City Council when she won her seat in 2021 and has served as vice mayor since the start of 2023. She is the first Iranian-American elected to political office in Arizona. Ansari previously worked at the United Nations and Mission 2020, a campaign aimed at hastening action to combat climate change.

....

In addition to Ansari, other Phoenix Democrats are considering entering the race. State Sen. Raquel Terán left her leadership position in the Arizona Legislature to explore running for the seat. State Sen. Catherine Miranda; former state Rep. Cesar Chavez; and former Phoenix City Councilperson Laura Pastor also are contemplating runs. Pastor's father, the late U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., represented the area in Congress for years.

[Orwell]

All this talk of Vice Mayors makes me wanna watch Spin City

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/RaquelTeran/status/1643599912427298816

Teran just stepped down as the Minority Leader of the Arizona State Senate, and might well be the favorite in the Democratic Primary going forward.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Endorsed

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/Politics1com/status/1662180170097147913

Pastor is the fifth Democrat in the race, joining Raquel Teran, who was the former Minority Leader of the Arizona State Senate, Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari, member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board and Osborn School District Board Ylenia Aguilar and Glendale School Board member Hector Jaramillo.

In addition, former State Representative (and Minority Leader) Reginald Bolding, and Phoenix City Councilor Betty Guardado have expressed interest in a run.

[MATTROSE94]

I endorse Yassamin Ansari

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/Garrett_Archer/status/1665072919481839619

[NewYorkExpress]

Laura Pastor and Ylenia Aguliar have both recently suspended their campaigns.

https://twitter.com/jeremyduda/status/1690021490589327360

https://twitter.com/laurapastoraz/status/1692583443949924368