Brian Fernandez is an American politician who is State Senator for the

Arizona 23rd Legislative District Arizona's 23rd legislative district is one of 30 in the state, consisting of sections of Maricopa County, Pima County, Pinal County, and Yuma County. As of 2023, there are 65 precincts in the district, with a total registered voter population o ...

and former member of the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from the 4th legislative district beginning in 2021. He was appointed to the seat after incumbent Representative Charlene Fernandez, his mother, resigned the seat to become Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Fernandez is a sixth generation native of Yuma and a graduate of

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 ...

. Prior to joining the legislature, he volunteered for several political campaigns, including those of former Governor

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

, Congressmen

Ruben Gallego Rubén Marinelarena Gallego ( ; born November 20, 1979) is an American politician and USMC, Marine Corps veteran serving since 2025 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senator, United States senator from Arizona. ...

and Congressman

Ed Pastor Edward Lopez Pastor (; June 28, 1943 – November 27, 2018) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 1991 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arizon ...

. Brian also founded a software startup, Team Start, which does business in Arizona and Mexico City.

Early life and education

Fernandez was born in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

to Sergio and Charlene Fernandez. He attended Yuma High School where he graduated, and went on to attend

earning a Bachelor's degree.

Career

Fernandez worked for the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is made up of Black members of the United States Congress. Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, the current chairperson, succeeded Steven Horsford from Nevada in 2025. Although most members belong ...

under Chairwoman

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick (born June 25, 1945) is a former American politician who was U.S. Representative for and then from 1997 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In August 2010 she lost the Democratic primary election t ...

as Technology Director. Upon leaving, Fernandez co-founded Symfodium, building a CRM software for members of congress. After exiting, Fernandez founded Team Start in Arizona, building software for different entities including the

University of Arizona College of Medicine A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, Phoenix. In November 2021, Fernandez's mother resigned to become Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. Within eight days Fernandez was appointed and sworn in to replace her.

Political career

Arizona House of Representatives

Fernandez was appointed to the unfinished term of his mother, Arizona House Democratic Leader Charlene Fernandez after her resignation to run

USDA Rural Development USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States. Rural Development has a loan portfolio o ...

in Arizona under President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. Fernandez was appointed to the Committee on Transportation and the Committee on Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Arizona Senate

Fernandez ran for the seat left open by the retirement of Senator

Lisa Otondo Lisa Otondo is a former state senator from Arizona, who represented the 4th district. She served on three committees: Appropriations; Transportation and Technology; and Natural Resources, Energy and Water (Ranking Member). A member of the Democra ...

. He was uncontested in the primary and won the general election by over 7 points against the Republican candidate Gary Snyder. Many prominent Republicans supported him, including his seat mate Representative

Joel John Joel John is an American politician and former member of the Arizona House of Representatives. A member of the Arizona Republican Party, he served alongside Democrat Brian Fernandez in Arizona's 4th legislative district. Career John was born ...

. Fernandez was appointed to the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Environment, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Governor

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 24th governor of Arizona. A member of the Democratic Party, she was secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023 and a member of the Arizona Le ...

appointed Fernandez to the Governor’s Independent Prison Oversight Commission.

Arizona Legislative Career

Committee on Transportation

Fernandez was instrumental in passing and later funding in a last minute budget deal the expansion and modernization of Cesar Chavez Blvd in

San Luis, Arizona San Luis is a city in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 35,257 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area. San Luis, located in the southwest corner of the state directly adjacent to Mexico ...

for 34 million dollars. The road which connects the Interstate 8 with Highway 95 is heavily used by local residents, business, and international trade as it connects both border checkpoints in Yuma County. Much of the opposition was centered on the cost of the road. Fernandez has worked with other legislators around the state to spend over a billion dollars on critical infrastructure needs funded primarily by the bipartisan infrastructure deal enacted by President

Education

Fernandez brought 5 million dollars in a last minute budget deal to the Yuma campus of

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

. The money is being used to bring more bachelor degree and job training programs to Yuma County being requested by Yuma business leaders. Fernandez continues to work with all three universities to bring additional education programing to the southwestern Arizona. Fernandez was instrumental in the bipartisan education deal which brought another 1 billion dollars to public education.

Water

Fernandez brought together farmers and ranchers throughout the state to bring a billion dollar spending bill on water infrastructure. The money will be used for water augmentation and conservation.

Electoral history

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 ...

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Brian Living people People from Yuma, Arizona Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Arizona State University alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona Democratic Party Arizona state senators 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature 1977 births