Meet Rocque
Meet Rocque Perez
Rocque is a fourth-generation Tucsonan raised by a working-class single mother from Mexico, alongside his little brother, Carlos. He was shaped by public schools and the lived reality of families who are doing everything they can to get by. Rocque studied at the University of Arizona and went on to work there, before ASU, and eventually leading academic and civic empowerment programs through joint investment by the City and County. In 2025, he was unanimously appointed to the Tucson City Council, becoming the youngest official in city or county government in Arizona. He lives in Barrio Santa Rosa and can often be found in neighborhood coffee shops across Tucson.
Meet Rocque
Meet Rocque
Rocque is a fourth-generation Tucsonan raised by a working-class single mother from Mexico, alongside his little brother, Carlos. He was shaped by public schools and the lived reality of families who are doing everything they can to get by. Rocque studied at the University of Arizona and went on to work there, before ASU, and eventually leading academic and civic empowerment programs through joint investment by the City and County. In 2025, he was unanimously appointed to the Tucson City Council, becoming the youngest official in city or county government in Arizona. He lives in Barrio Santa Rosa and can often be found in neighborhood coffee shops across Tucson.
Rooted in Tucson
Rocque was born and raised in Tucson alongside his brother, Carlos. His family’s roots span Southern Arizona and Mexico. He attended a mix of public and charter schools across Tucson and Marana. In sixth grade, Rocque crossed paths with Christina-Taylor Green, a fellow student council member whose life was tragically taken in the 2011 shooting targeting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Helping raise funds for Christina’s memorial became Rocque’s first experience with public service born from loss. During his senior year of high school, he was invited to get involved with the Metro Education Commission's Tucson Teen Congress and attend its Teen Town Hall. Through this work, he was introduced to local leadership, including Regina Romero, Paul Cunningham and Richard Fimbres. These exposures to public service and civic leadership—coinciding with the 2016 presidential election—marked a formative moment for Rocque and solidified his decision to pursue higher education.
Finding Direction Through Service
Rocque enrolled at the University of Arizona, where, at the end of his freshman year, he was elected to represent the undergraduate student body. Serving during Trump’s first presidential term, Rocque advanced a values-driven agenda centered on expanding student voting access; supporting DACA recipients, LGBTQ+ students, student veterans, and students with disabilities; condemning political violence and bigotry; and strengthening institutional accountability. Rocque simultaneously worked in the Office of Government and Community Relations, supporting relationships with local, state, and federal officials. As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, the university shutdown led to his layoff. Rocque was later selected for a congressional press internship in Washington, D.C. His first day was January 6, 2021—the day the U.S. Capitol was violently attacked. In the wake of that moment and the instability surrounding it, Rocque stepped away from the internship and coursework, beginning a nontraditional learning journey.
Resolve Sharped by Loss
While working in public institutions, Rocque returned home to live with his mother as his family navigated his younger brother Carlos’s long battle with addiction. After completing six months of treatment, Carlos overdosed shortly after returning home. This loss occurred amid a national policy environment defined by failure and political obstruction. Federal efforts to address the influx of synthetic opioids were deliberately undermined by Trump, while Arizona Republicans redirected opioid settlement funds away from treatment, recovery, and prevention—choosing instead to funnel resources toward private prison interests.
For Rocque, the connection between policy decisions and real-world consequences became painfully clear. Addiction is not a moral failure; it is a public health crisis fueled by corporate misconduct and compounded by government inaction, delay, and misdirection. This loss sharpened Rocque’s resolve to pursue public service with urgency, accountability, and a refusal to look away from the human cost of political decisions.
Supporting Learners Across Public Institutions
Rocque rejoined the University of Arizona as a strategist supporting the university’s research enterprise. His work focused on its environmental resilience, space sciences, and innovation ecosystem, in addition to special initiatives. Rocque helped launch the Women of Impact Awards, recognizing women whose work strengthened the university’s standing as a billion-dollar research institution. He later joined ASU in the Office of the Provost, where he led communications around its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and advanced inclusive excellence initiatives aligned with the university’s charter. His role also included executive communications and enrollment strategies. Rocque later brought this experience to the Metro Education Commission, where he worked to strengthen regional postsecondary access systems across Pima County in partnership with K–12 schools, higher education institutions, and local governments.
Delivering for Tucson
In 2025, Rocque was unanimously appointed to the Tucson City Council, becoming the youngest official in city or county government in Arizona and the first member of Generation Z to hold such a role. He temporarily left the Metro Education Commission but continued to lead its work as its Chair. During this period, the Tucson Mayor and Council addressed an unusually broad portfolio of municipal, regional, and intergovernmental issues, including fiscal governance, housing and homelessness, public health, infrastructure, climate resilience, civil rights, institutional accountability, and democratic processes. On Council, he supported advancements in each of these areas and directed more than $520,000 in investments across educational institutions, nonprofits, small businesses, and neighborhood projects in Tucson’s historic barrios and Southside. He also invested in the creation of STAR Village, a low-barrier transitional housing pilot, and the continuation of senior meal services at Quincie Douglas Center.
Fighting for Tucsonans
Issues & Priorities
Housing affordability is one of the biggest threats to working families in Tucson and across Arizona, and the Legislature has real power to help—or to get in the way. At the State Capitol, I will fight for state investments in affordable housing, stronger tenant protections, funding for homelessness prevention, and the removal of state barriers that block cities from responding to housing crises—because housing stability is economic stability.
Reproductive healthcare decisions belong to individuals—not politicians and not someone else’s beliefs—and Arizona lawmakers have the power to protect that freedom or strip it away. At the State Capitol, I will fight to protect and restore access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, oppose the criminalization of patients or providers, ensure access to contraception and prenatal and postpartum care, and defend the right of people to make decisions with their doctors—free from political interference.
Arizona’s democracy has been under attack, and the Legislature has too often fueled the fire. At the State Capitol, I will fight to defend Vote by Mail, oppose voter suppression, expand ballot access for working people, seniors, and students, protect election workers and local officials from intimidation, and reject partisan interference in election administration—because elections belong to the people, not politicians clinging to power.
The Arizona Legislature controls education funding, and for too long it has failed students, educators, and working families. At the State Capitol, I will fight for full funding of public K–12 schools, expanded early childhood education and childcare, stronger investment in community colleges and universities, accountability for the ESA voucher program, and clear college and career pathways—because public education is foundational to Arizona’s future.
Water, heat, air quality, and land use are state decisions—and the consequences of inaction are already here. At the State Capitol, I will fight for enforceable water protections, responsible development that reflects water reality, investments in heat resilience for working-class and frontline communities, accountability for polluters, and clean energy policies that create jobs and protect public health—because environmental justice is about survival, and Arizona must lead.
While Congress debates cuts, Arizona lawmakers decide whether our state protects access to care or puts it at risk. At the Legislature, I will defend and strengthen AHCCCS, oppose barriers that reduce coverage, fully fund veterans’ services, and reject any effort to undermine Social Security or privatize care—because healthcare is a human right, and Arizona must act like it.
Arizona has become a testing ground for extremist policies that strip people of their rights, and the Legislature must be a firewall—not an accomplice. At the State Capitol, I will fight to protect reproductive freedom, defend LGBTQ+ and transgender Arizonans, oppose fear-based policies that target immigrants and mixed-status families, and stand up for civil and disability rights—because freedom in Arizona should belong to everyone.
Arizona’s economy should reward work—not exploitation—and the Legislature has a responsibility to set that standard. At the State Capitol, I will fight to support living wages and safe workplaces, protect the right to organize, invest in workforce training tied to real jobs, and hold corporations accountable when they drive up costs for families—because working people deserve dignity, stability, and opportunity.
Veterans deserve more than gratitude—they deserve real support, and Arizona has a responsibility to deliver it. At the State Capitol, I will fight to fully fund state veterans’ services, expand access to healthcare and mental health care, support housing stability and workforce pathways, and ensure Arizona honors its commitment to those who served.
