Athena Salman (born 1989) is an American politician and activist who served as a member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

from the

26th 26 (twenty-six) is the natural number following 25 and preceding 27. In mathematics *26 is the seventh discrete semiprime (2 \times 13) and the fifth with 2 as the lowest non-unitary factor thus of the form (2.q), where q is a higher prime. ...

and 8th districts from 2017 to 2024. She resigned from the legislature effective January 1, 2024.

Early life and education

Athena Salman was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Her family has roots in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Salman led community service projects during her youth. In college, she was an organizing intern and senior fellow with the Arizona Students’ Association. She graduated ''magna cum laude'' from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

with degrees in economics and political science.

Career

In 2016, Salman defeated incumbent

Celeste Plumlee Celeste Plumlee is an American social worker and community advocate who was appointed to the Arizona House of Representatives in December 2015. She is a Democrat and represented Legislative District 26 which includes parts of Tempe, Mesa, Phoeni ...

and Michael Martinez in the District 26 Democratic primary. Salman defeated Republican Steven Adkins and Green party candidate Cara Trujillo in the general election. In 2018, Salman defeated Republican Ray Speakman in the general election. In both elections, Salman ran as a Clean Election Candidate and received no PAC contributions. Salman, an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, made national headlines during her first legislative session when she gave a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

prayer on the House floor, which was ruled out of order by the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2018, Salman's legislation to provide unlimited feminine hygiene products to incarcerated women was heard in an all-male committee. As a result, a viral campaign to pressure immediate change ensued leading to a policy change by the Arizona Department of Corrections that increased the allotment of pads and for the first time included tampons. Salman was one of nine women to come forward with sexual harassment allegations against former Arizona House of Representatives member Don Shooter, eventually leading to his expulsion. Salman supported Proposition 205 in 2016, which would legalize recreational use of marijuana for those 21 and older. Salman also supports public education, immigration reform, reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality. On January 1, 2024, Salman submitted her resignation from the legislature to Speaker of the House Ben Toma. She resigned in order to take a position as the director of Arizona campaigns for the state chapter of Reproductive Freedom for All.

Recognition

Salman was recognized as 2018 Best Politician by ''

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''Phoenix'' ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, arts, cannabis, as well as longform narrative journalism. A ...

'' and named by

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

's top ten newsmakers to watch in 2019. Salman and state senator Juan Mendez received Phoenix New Time's 2017 Best Power Couple. She was also awarded the City of Tempe's MLK Diversity Award in 2016.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the ...

Profile
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Financial information (state office)
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salman, Athena 1989 births 21st-century American women politicians American atheists American people of German descent American politicians of Mexican descent American politicians of Palestinian descent Arizona State University alumni Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Living people 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature