2 more Arizona state reps resigning

Fernandez, Friese latest to leave Legislature

Arizona Reps. Charlene Fernandez and Dr. Randy Friese, both Democrats, announced they’ll be the latest to leave the Legislature this year.

Fernandez, who first won election to office in 2014 to Yuma’s District 4, said on social media that she is taking a job as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Arizona director for rural development.

Friese and Fernandez said their last day in office will be Nov. 15. Both won their fourth reelection to office last year and because of term limits would have had to run for state senator next year to remain in the Legislature.

A former House minority leader and minority whip, Fernandez said in her resignation letter to the Arizona House that it’s been “the honor of a lifetime” to serve her constituents.

She’s advocated for families, farmers, teachers, “border communities, Native Nations, suburban neighborhoods, as well as the largest producers of lettuce across the world,” she wrote in the letter. “I will continue serving those communities, with the same Democratic values, in a new capacity as I move on to a new chapter.”

She previously worked as an Arizona Department of Environmental Quality liaison for Yuma, was a longtime staffer for the late Arizona Congressman Ed Pastor, and served on the Yuma Union High School District governing board from 2006-2012.

Friese, a trauma surgeon who treated former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords when she was shot in 2011, represented the Tucson area’s District 9. He was assistant minority leader from 2017 to 2021 and is known in part for his strong support of gun control measures.

Friese abruptly quit a run for Congressional District 2 in September, saying he needed to stay in medicine to fight the COVID-19 delta variant. He

cited similar reasons for leaving in a resignation letter he submitted to the House on Wednesday.

“The decision to resign was not an easy one to make, however I am ready to refocus my time and attention on my medical career and service, “he wrote. “There are many who are willing to step up in my stead.”

Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, who worked closely in Democratic leadership with Friese, would disagree with him about that last part.

“I can tell you the intellect and enthusiasm and just grit that he brings to the floor and in conversation is going to be hard to replace,” he said.

Bolding also praised Fernandez’s “strength and conviction” in her role as Democratic leader and said he expected her to serve the Biden administration and Arizona citizens well in her new job.

According to his count, the House alone will have five new Democratic members next year.

Two Democratic state senators also quit this year: Kirsten Engel, who’s running for Congress, and Tony Navarrete, who faces criminal charges of child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor.

The House Democrats who resigned are Aaron Lieberman, who’s running for Congress; Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, who resigned to take Sen. Kirsten Engel’s seat; and Raquel Terán, who resigned to take Navarrete’s seat.

Republicans have lost Reps. Frank Pratt, who died in September, Bret Roberts, and Becky Nutt. The latter two didn’t state a reason for leaving.