Charlene Fernandez
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charlene Fernandez ( ''née'' Ramos; born February 24, 1955) is an American politician who was the Democratic leader of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. She was first elected to the state House in 2014 and represents Southwestern Arizona, specifically, the majority of Yuma County, western
Pima County Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...
, southwestern
Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
and southwestern
Pinal County Pinal County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was est ...
. She resigned on November 15, 2021 to take a position at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...
. Her son Brian Fernandez was appointed by the
Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 203,881. ...
Board of Supervisors to succeed her in the Arizona House of Representatives.


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 the late Antonio "Tony" Ramos and Carmen Ramos. She attended Yuma High School where she graduated, and went on to attend
Arizona Western College Arizona Western College (AWC) is a public community college in Yuma, Arizona. It offers associate degrees, occupational certificates, and transfer degrees. AWC also offers classes in Dateland, Parker, San Luis, Somerton, and Wellton. Aca ...
before transferring to
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 ...
earning a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
.


Career

Fernandez worked for 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 ...
for twelve years, coordinating constituent services for the western portion of then Congressional District 2. While working for Congressman Pastor, Charlene spearheaded an effort that culminated in bringing a
Veteran's Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
clinic to Yuma County for the first time in history; previously the Phoenix Veterans facility was the closest place for them to receive these services. Her experience led to her becoming a consultant for a software company that produced a Constituent Management System for the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
. Charlene later served 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 ...
as a liaison for the Arizona Department of Environment Quality in Yuma County. In this capacity she worked with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...
, as well as its counterpart in the Republic of Mexico, to ensure that the air and water in Southwestern Arizona remained safe while ensuring that businesses faced minimal impact.


Political career


Arizona House Democratic Leader

Fernandez was elected Democratic Leader on November 8, 2018. The Arizona House Democrats defeated four Republican incumbents to bring the chamber to a 31-29 Republican majority, the smallest it's been since the 1960s.


Arizona House of Representatives

In 2012, Fernandez ran for the Arizona State House from the newly drawn 4th Legislative District. Fernandez ultimately lost in the August primary by 140 votes to Juan Carlos Escamilla. Escamilla went on to win the general election. In May 2014, Fernandez announced her candidacy for the seat again. She won the August primary by a margin of 12.8%. The general election was unexpectedly competitive, Republican Richard Hopkins led Fernandez on election night as the heavily Republican portion of the district reported early. The next four days saw the margins go up and down, by the fifth day, with the Democratic strongholds in Pima and Yuma counties reporting, Fernandez was declared the victor by 188 votes. In 2016, Fernandez successfully ran for re-election; she was unopposed in the general election. In 2018, Fernandez successfully ran for re-election. She resigned on November 15, 2021 to take a position at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...
.


Vice Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party

In 2008, Fernandez was elected by the Arizona Democratic State Committee to be First Vice Chair of the
Arizona Democratic Party The Arizona Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. Along with its main rival, the Arizona Republican Party, it is one of two major parties in the state. The Arizon ...
, she served in this capacity until 2009.


Yuma Union High School Board

Fernandez was elected to the
Yuma Union High School District Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) is a high school district headquartered in Yuma, Arizona. Feeder elementary school districts include Crane Elementary School District (Arizona), Crane Elementary School District, Gadsden Elementary School ...
Governing Board, serving as both President and Vice President.


Arizona Legislative Career


Leadership

Fernandez served as the House Democratic Leader, the highest ranking Democratic member, previously having served as the House Democratic Whip.


Committee on Appropriations

In 2014, Fernandez was appointed to the coveted Committee on Appropriations, she also serves on the newly created Subcommittee on Public Safety, Infrastructure, and Resources. * Committee on Appropriations * Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety, Infrastructure, and Resources


Education

Fernandez has been very supportive of the #RedforEd movement. Speaking to reporters she called public education, "The great equalizer." Fernandez has worked with Save Our Schools Arizona, a grassroots organization collecting signatures to refer SB1431, the ESA voucher expansion bill, to the 2018 Arizona ballot, encouraging a "No" vote. Proponents believe that SB1431 takes money away from public schools and gives it to private schools with little to no accountability and our seeking its repeal. In 2016, Fernandez was named Legislator of Year by the Arizona Parent Teacher Association. 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 ...
published a guest editorial by Fernandez in September 2015 entitled, "How I'd reform private school tax credits." In it Fernandez details her views about Arizona education funding in general and private school tuition tax credits in particular. Fernandez was supportive of the RedForEd Teacher Walkout. Speaking to the media about the importance of treating educators fairly.


Volkswagen settlement

Fernandez supports using money from the Volkswagen emissions settlement for clean energy buses. She has argued that children are required to be in and around these buses on a daily basis and utilizing the settlement to help protect them from the harmful emissions would be a just use of the funds.


Gun laws

Fernandez has been a supporter of stricter gun control. She has been criticized for recognizing students visiting the capitol advocating for such measures.


Sexual harassment reporting

Fernandez fought her Republican colleagues who sought to limit the ability of sexual harassment and assault victims to report. Stating that, "We're blaming people."


LGBTQ

Fernandez has been an outspoken advocate of LGBT issues and helped form the Arizona State Legislature's LGBT Caucus.


Minimum wage

Fernandez was a supporter of the successful Proposition 206 which raised Arizona's minimum wage.


Environment

Fernandez called on Senator Jeff Flake to support higher ozone standards. She said, "When children have asthma, if your child stays home from school, mom and dad usually have to stay home with that child, and we're talking about productivity. If mom or dad have to take that child to urgent care, if they don't have insurance—that's dollars and cents. So this affects all of us."


Criminal justice

Fernandez has opposed the private prison system in Arizona supported by Governor
Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey ( ; ; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 23rd List of governors of Arizona, governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023 and as State Treas ...
. She has challenged the governor's staff from her seat on the Appropriations Committee to justify the need to provide more prison beds.


2016 presidential endorsement

Fernandez was one of the earliest to endorse
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
for
United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...
. She was elected as a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.


2016 election lawsuit

Fernandez filed a declaration in support of a Plaintiffs' Motion for a preliminary injunction against the impact of HB 2023. The law, which criminalizes the activities of citizens seeking to assist those in returning early ballots who otherwise may not is still being litigated in the courts. Fernandez wrote, "The collection and personal delivery of early ballots is particularly crucial among my constituency. In areas like mine that are very rural, many voters lack home mail delivery and can have trouble receiving and mailing their early ballots.” At least one county election official,
Helen Purcell Helen Purcell served seven terms as the County Recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona. First elected in 1988, Purcell is a member of the Republican Party, and served until 2017. Purcell faced significant controversy following Arizona's 2016 pres ...
, a Republican from
Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
, chose to not enforce the law saying, "We are not the police."


Personal life

Fernandez serves or has served on the Yuma Community Foundation, Board of the United Way of Yuma County, and Yuma Leadership. Fernandez and her husband Sergio have three adult children.


Electoral history


Non-partisan elections


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Charlene 1955 births 21st-century American women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Northern Arizona University alumni People from Yuma, Arizona Women state legislators in Arizona 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature