Otoniel "Tony" Navarrete (born October 14, 1986) is an American politician who served as the

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

for Arizona's 30th legislative district from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served one term as a

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

for Arizona's 30th legislative district from 2017 to 2019. He resigned from the state senate on August 10, 2021, after being charged with multiple counts of sexual conduct with underaged children.

Career

Navarrete was a community organizer with Promise Arizona, a pro-immigration advocacy group which helped Hispanics and Latinos register to vote at taco trucks after

Marco Gutierrez Marco Gutierrez is a Mexican-born American conservative political activist and co-founder of Latinos for Trump, an online organization dedicated to promoting the candidacy of Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In July 2016, Guti ...

's "taco trucks on every corner" remark. During his time in office, Navarrete was one of four 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 ...

members of the Arizona State Legislature, alongside Robert Meza, Daniel Hernández, and

Cesar Chavez 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), ...

, and was a founding member of the legislature's LGBT caucus.

Child sex abuse charges

On August 5, 2021, Navarrete was arrested in Phoenix on multiple charges of sexual conduct with a minor in 2019, including one count of molestation of a minor involving two boys aged 16 and 13. The two victims worked with the FBI to secure verbal testimony from Navarrete admitting to and apologizing for the sexual acts. The two boys, per the police report, were his nephews. Navarette abused one boy at night for several years per recorded conversations overhead by police. He was released on a $50,000 secured bond. The serious nature of the charges resulted in bipartisan calls for his resignation. Navarette resigned on August 10, 2021.

Elections

In 2016, Navarrete and Ray Martinez defeated incumbent Jonathan Larkin in the Democratic primary and went on to defeat Republican Gary Cox the general election.

References

External links

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:Navarrete, Tony Democratic Party Arizona state senators Arizona politicians convicted of crimes Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ state legislators in Arizona Living people Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives American politicians convicted of sex offences American people convicted of child sexual abuse 1986 births 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature Arizona State University alumni