Robert Meza is an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

from

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 ...

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 District 30 from 2019 to 2023. He previously served in the

Arizona State Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

from 2011 to 2019, and also served four prior terms in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2003 to 2011.

Career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he represented the reliably Democratic 30th legislative district which covers parts of central and west Phoenix and part of Glendale, Arizona. He was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2002 and won re-election in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s prevented him from seeking a fifth House term in 2010, he ran unopposed for the district's

seat. Meza has won ten consecutive elections since beginning his political career. While serving in the Arizona House of Representatives and in his first term in the Arizona State Senate, Meza represented the 14th Legislative District. Meza began serving the 30th Legislative District following the 2012 election. This was due to redistricting based on results from the 2010 Census. In the 2017–2018 legislative biennium, he served on three committees: Commerce and Public Safety, Government, and Senate Ethics. Meza currently serves on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and the Phoenix Theatre, where he worked as a teenager. He is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, and was the first openly gay Hispanic legislator in the nation. Meza served alongside two other openly

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

legislators: Rep. Daniel Hernández Jr., D-Tucson and Rep.

César Chávez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

, D-Phoenix. In October 2017, on National Coming Out Day, the four lawmakers announced the creation of a new LGBTQ Caucus in the legislature.

Personal life

Before studying at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, Meza attended Bourgade Catholic High School in Phoenix. After graduating from the university, Meza spent seven years in the banking industry, where he worked on small and commercial loans. Meza is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, becoming so after converting from

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Elections

Meza was unopposed in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican John Lyon in the general election with 66% of the vote.

References

External links

Arizona State Legislature Person Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Robert Democratic Party Arizona state senators Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Living people American gay politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Arizona Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona Jews from Arizona University of Notre Dame alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people Jewish American people in Arizona politics Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism Gay Jews 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature