14 June 13th-June 19th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | denied the landlord accusation, telling Phoenix New Times Ansari lives in the only property she owns. The May 22 exchange was a tense and unexpected clash between two progressive Democrats who agree on most policy issues. To that point, their campaigns had been mostly cordial with each other. But as they square off in the July 30 primary for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District — one of the safest Democratic seats in the state, representing a wide swath of Phoenix that stretches from Maryvale to the border of Tempe — that dust-up highlighted the choice confronting voters. Primary voters are not choosing between differing political ideologies but judging a battle of contrasting styles, skills and backgrounds. One, Terán, is a political force of nature with a track record of mobi- lizing Democratic voters across the ticket. The other, Ansari, is an even-keeled, silver- tongued young policy star who quickly rose to a top position in America’s fifth- largest city. (A third is Phoenix pediatrician Duane Wooten, but he’s never held political office and is considered a longshot.) There is no clear favorite in the race. But in a heavily Democratic district — GOP primary candidates Jesus Mendoza, Jeffrey Zink and Nicholas Glenn have no chance — the primary winner is a shoo-in for the seat in November’s general election. There is no need to play to the middle to attract swing voters, allowing both Ansari and Terán to let their progressive freak flags fly. The winner could represent the district for a decade or more, as Gallego has. That leaves voters with a dilemma: When candi- dates support almost all the same policies, how do you choose between them? Different paths Ansari and Terán both have forged distin- guished political resumes. Both are progressives who have focused their campaigns on socioeconomic issues like affordable housing, stagnating wages, homelessness, the right to abortion, health care and education. Both have held top positions in Arizona politics, Ansari as vice mayor of Phoenix and Terán as the chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and, for a short time, state Senate minority leader. Both are would-be trailblazers — Terán would be the first Latina to represent Arizona in Congress, while Ansari would be the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to the body. If there are notable differences between the two women, they can be found in their background and style. The 46-year-old Terán grew up in Douglas and Agua Prieta on the U.S.- Mexico border and made her name in Phoenix as a grassroots activist during the fight over Arizona’s infamous SB 1070 immigration law. After it passed, and before it was ruled unconstitutional, Terán helped lead a successful effort to recall its sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Russell Pearce. Her name means something on the streets of Phoenix, which has a population that, like her, is two-thirds Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2018, Terán “traded in her mega- phone for a microphone,” winning election to the Arizona House. She was later appointed to the state Senate in 2021, where she became the Democratic leader before resigning in 2023 to focus on the congressional race. She was also the chair of the Arizona Democratic Party during the 2022 election cycle, in which Democrats emerged victorious in most statewide races. If Terán has roots in community orga- nizing, Ansari is something of a policy wonk wunderkind. The daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled the country in 1979, she grew up in Scottsdale, volun- teering on the 2008 Obama campaign while a student at Chaparral High. Her resume gets only more impressive from there: Stanford for undergrad, Cambridge for a master’s, a job working on the land- mark Paris Climate Agreement as a senior policy advisor to the United Nations secre- tary-general and a Phoenix City Council election win at age 28. In 2023, Ansari was selected by the council to be vice mayor, also resigning in March to pursue Gallego’s seat. If elected, Ansari would be the second-youngest member of Congress at just 32 years old, just in front of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and behind 27-year-old Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost. Unsurprisingly, Ansari’s campaign staff reflects her youth — she told New Times almost all of her campaign workers are younger than her, as was the case for her staff at City Hall. On the campaign trail, Ansari is wont to talk about her work at City Hall, which included leading an effort to electrify Phoenix’s bus fleet by 2040, spending money from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on affordable housing units and rental assistance, legalizing casitas, raising wages and strengthening protections for city workers — though Phoenix contracts plenty of workers in its facilities. If voters in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District want an accomplished, progressive woman to represent them in Congress, they’ve got two to pick from. “I think what it’s coming down to,” Democratic political consultant Stacy Pearson told New Times, “is who’s gotten what done.” And who’s gotten whose endorsement. Endorsements edge Having been a player in the state for longer, there is at least some sense that Terán is the favored candidate of the Democratic establishment. Her list of endorsements certainly seems to suggest as much. According to Terán’s website, she’s been endorsed by 29 organizations and unions from across the state and country, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Working Families Party and several Latino organizations. That’s more than double the 13 endorsements listed on Ansari’s website, some of which are union endorsements shared by both candidates. Terán also has nabbed endorsements from Sen. Mark Kelly, the Democrat whom Terán helped win reelection in 2022, and Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a venerated Democratic lawmaker who has represented Tucson in Congress for over two decades. Big endorsements — and especially Kelly’s — appear to be crucial to her campaign strategy. As of June 6, the “media” page of Terán’s website featured what appeared to be an internal memo. “White voters over 50,” it stated, “also need to know that Raquel is the only candidate in the race endorsed by Senator Mark Kelly.” Kelly’s backing Terán as the heir apparent to Gallego, who has not made a formal endorsement in the race. But Pearson pointed out that a young Gallego — only three years older at the time than Ansari is now — was originally elected to the seat in 2014 as an underdog candidate against Mary Rose Wilcox, the longtime Phoenix council- member and county supervisor. “In 2014, the succession plan that folks had created didn’t work out either,” said Pearson, who records show donated $3,300 to the Ansari campaign in the last year. “Ruben was the disrupter.” Ansari, Pearson said, shouldn’t be counted out. Pearson said Ansari has the favor in Arizona’s elite business commu- nity that has “crowned kings and queens for decades” but has mostly been aban- doned by the Republican Party’s shift into extremist populism. “Those are the folks that have come to the table for Ansari,” Pearson said. “That group of moderate business leaders have had an outsized influence and a very strong track record of picking the winners.” And it’s that support — from king- making moneyed donors and not regular citizens — that’s the biggest point of contention in the race. Donor scrutiny Ansari’s backing from business leaders is borne out by the size of her war chest. As of March 31, the last time candidates had to submit disclosures, Ansari’s campaign had about $900,000 in cash, far outpacing Terán’s $448,000. Terán has tried to make up the difference with her Left: Raquel Terán has raised only half the cash Yassamin Ansari has but has criticized Ansari’s backing from Phoenix’s business elites. Top: If elected in November, Yassamin Ansari would be the second-youngest member of Congress at 32 years old. (Photos by TJ L’Heureux) Wonk vs. Fighter from p 13 >> p 16
