Hi there, i'm Rocque

Along the campaign trail, I have shared about what I and what I know many in our community have endured, and why I'm running for the Arizona State Senate.

 

I shared about the loss of Christina-Taylor Green in assassination attempt on my Congresswoman, and the failure of politicians to act on gun reform; the prejudice my mom faced as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico during periods of rising anti-immigrant rhetoric; the impact of the pandemic on my personal and professional journey amid failing public health leadership at the state and federal levels; and how sexual violence, compounded by Arizona’s abortion ban, impacted my family.

 

I also shared the most defining moment of my life: losing my little brother. My family navigated complicated systems to support him in overcoming addiction in a state that dedicated opioid settlement funds to the private prison system rather than prevention and rehabilitation programs for Arizonans. Then, I lost him to the fentanyl crisis. He was 19 years old, and an hour after unknowingly speaking to him for the last time, I watched a coroner roll him away.

 

I shared all of this because I’ve watched political inaction, ideological cruelty, and public disinvestment cost the people and communities I love their safety, health, and lives.

 

The commitment to fight for the people and communities I love is something I share with Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, and Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen. Alongside them, I'm proud to have the support of a dozen more elected officials, labor leaders, community organizations, educators and students. Together, their endorsements and support of my campaign reflect a simple belief that Tucson deserves a senator who will show up for our community and put people ahead of personal gain.

 

I have spent my career helping people achieve their aspirations. I worked across Arizona’s public university system supporting students during challenging times and helping researchers develop solutions to some of our state’s most pressing challenges. Today, as President & CEO of the Southern Arizona Education Council, I lead programs embedded in public high schools across Pima County that help students explore journeys of service, prepare for college, earn financial aid, and transition to life after graduation despite the uncertainty many young people face about their futures.

 

When I was appointed to the Tucson City Council as the first of my generation to hold office in City or County government, I carried those same values into public office.

 

I directed more than half a million dollars into schools, nonprofits, small businesses, and neighborhood projects. I supported affordable housing and early childhood education investments. I supported local ballot measures for local school districts, including Sunnyside, Flowing Wells, and Tucson Unified. I led the fight again the Trump Administration when it came to the University of Arizona looking to dismantle student programs for Latino students. And when powerful corporate interests pushed a massive data center project that threatened our community’s long-term interests, I said no.

 

Business leaders told me my political future depended on supporting the project. I voted against it anyway. That’s the difference between serving the public versus those writing checks. Unfortunately, that difference is exactly what is at stake in this election. 

 

Over the last four years, Representative Alma Hernandez has voted with Republicans more than 151 times — more than any Democrat in the Arizona Legislature.

 

Our District leadership voted to issue her a strong warning on her votes, and asked that she correct her behavior. Rather than engaging in a proposed process, she dismissed their concerns entirely. The issue was never about one vote. It was about a pattern that includes siding with corporate interests while accepting campaign contributions and consulting gigs from the likes of utilities, developers, pharmaceutical companies, and weapons manufacturers. 

 

Here are just a few of the decisions they bought:

 

• A vote calling for an Article V Constitutional Convention. Our rights to vote, organize, marry, and self-autonomy would be in danger if Trump MAGA Republicans in congress were afforded the opportunity to re-write the constitution.

• A vote for a public database of undocumented immigrants who interact with the justice system. Instead of standing with immigrant families, she broke with Democrats to further their harm.

• A vote to undermine local challenges to projects like large-scale data centers. When folks in Marana gathered thousands of signatures to force a vote on a proposed data center, she sided with lobbyists to dismiss them before reaching the ballot. 

• A bill that would allow parents to sue teachers. Instead of protecting our schools, she sought to make teachers legally vulnerable over classroom discussions about race, identity, and history. 

• A vote to suppress protests on college campuses and in our communities. As Tucsonans take to the streets against the dehumanization of our immigrant neighbors and the killing of Palestinians, she chose to criminalize our right to protest.

• A vote to criminalize LGBTQ+ content online and give people a legal tool to target websites hosting sex education or transgender resources. She praised it on the floor, then reversed her vote later only under pressure.

• A co-sponsored bill that takes money away from affordable housing programs and redirects it toward locking people up in facilities against their will. Instead of helping our unhoused neighbors find stable housing, she sought to institutionalize them.

• A vote to ban cities from adjusting their own police budgets. Taking control away from local leaders as money gets tight, Tucson would be forced to cut firefighters, libraries, parks, and social services before touching a single dollar of police funding.

 

There is also something that goes beyond her voting record and speaks to how she chooses to use power.

 

When Democrats across the country began rejecting donations tied to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying organization tens of thousands of Palestinians were murdered in Gaza, Representative Hernandez attacked them publicly and by name. She also serves on the board of Democratic Majority for Israel, an organization that has spent millions in Democratic primaries to unseat candidates who have called for a ceasefire or criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza. She has built her political identity around these relationships since before she first ran for office.  

 

I will not take money from organizations that exist to defeat the values I am running on. That is the difference between us.

 

I fundamentally believe we need a senator who will demand a ceasefire and stand with Palestinian civilians, because the same values that compel us to fight for immigrant families in Tucson compel us to oppose harm to civilians anywhere. I believe we need a senator who will protect our Constitution from Donald Trump, not hand him the tools to rewrite it. And I believe we need a senator who cannot be bought. But more importantly, I believe Arizona can do better.

 

For decades, our state has been held back by politicians who have treated public investment as a liability rather than an opportunity. The result is a state where too many families struggle to afford housing, too many workers live paycheck to paycheck, too many students are denied opportunity, and too many communities are left competing for resources instead of building prosperity together.

 

My aspirations for Arizona are simple:

 

• An Arizona where every person is treated with dignity, humanity, and respect, and where we actively work to undo generations of harm inflicted on communities of color, LGBTQ+ Arizonans, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, and others who have too often been targeted by those in power.

• An Arizona that generates the revenue necessary to invest in public education, housing, healthcare, workforce development, and the services that strengthen communities.

• An Arizona where housing is affordable, renters have meaningful protections, and local communities have the tools they need to address their own housing challenges.

• An Arizona where healthcare is accessible and we invest in prevention, treatment, recovery, and community support so families can get help before a crisis becomes a tragedy.

• An Arizona where every child has access to a quality education, from early childhood through college, apprenticeships, and other postsecondary pathways.

• An Arizona where teachers, healthcare workers, public employees, and working families are treated with dignity, fairly compensated for their work, and protected on the job.

• An Arizona that invests in transportation, mobility, and infrastructure so opportunity is not limited by where someone lives.

 

After decades of Republican control—and with allies like Representative Hernandez helping sustain it—I believe Arizona has an opportunity to choose a different path. 

 

If you want representation that is grounded in Tucson, accountable to Tucson, and willing to fight for the people who have waited too long for someone to truly show up, I am asking you to vote for me on or before July 21.

 

In comunidad, 

 

Rocque Perez