Brian Garcia

Brian Garcia was born in Arizona. He earned a high school diploma from McClintock High School, a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in 2015, a graduate degree from Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 2017, and a law degree from the Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 2020. His career experience includes working as an attorney, Maricopa co-director for the Arizona School Board Association Board of Directors, civic engagement mentor, child advocate, and an LGBTQ Victory Empowerment Fellow for Victory Institute. Garcia has been affiliated with Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy, School Board Partners, National Native American Bar Association, State Bar of New Mexico, State Bar of the District of Columbia, State Bar of Arizona, and New Pathways for Youth.[1]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

For my family, education is the American Dream. I was born and raised in Arizona by parents from El Salvador and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Mexico. Upon becoming citizens, they fought to ensure my brother Aaron and I had access to opportunities.

My desire to serve is rooted in fighting for our families and our community. This is home – I was raised by our community. I’m the first in his family to graduate from high school, college, graduate school, and earn a law degree.

I’m a community advocate, an attorney, and a proud product of the LD8 community. As a first-generation graduate of Tempe public schools, I served on the Tempe Union HSD Board as president and vice president. I have been fighting to protect public education, advocating for pro-democracy policies, and have represented unaccompanied children.

I’m committed to fighting for public education, housing, abortion and reproductive freedom, healthcare, and democracy, among others. In Yaqui I like to say Itépoté nábuhti sáhaka amán wamé. “We shall go on beyond to those who have (already) gone by here.” (Crumrine, Lynne S. 1961 - Phonology of Arizona Yaqui). I’m determined to build on the work done at the legislature by our LD 8 representatives – at the legislature and in our community.

Brian Garcia is running as a Clean Elections candidate for the AZ House in Legislative District 8.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

As a product of our local public schools, fighting for public education and against ESA vouchers.Abortion access and reproductive freedom for all.Protecting voting rights and our democracy.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Public education, voting rights, indigenous rights, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive justice, and protecting working families, among many others.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

9/11 - I was in 3rd grade and vividly remember my teacher Mrs. Carlson keeping us distracted as we were concerned about one of our classmates who was visiting New York.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Aside from working during the summer with my uncle at his prickly pear company, my first official job was at the Desert Botanical Garden's gift shop.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

ENERGY by Beyoncé

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

A few that have been pretty impactful in my life.

My parents struggled to ends meet growing up and I vividly remember their stress. They worked incredibly hard to ensure our family had what we needed.

Spanish is my first language. I was an ELL student growing up and often struggled to keep up because of the frequency that I was taken out of class. In law school I had to teach myself additional grammar to keep up with my peers. After law school, I was diagnosed with ADHD and it helped understand my compounded symptoms in early childhood.

In 2019, I lost my father to stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 52. I had just been elected to the school board, I was in my second year of law school, and my mental health was at risk. I took care of my family and handled the arrangements. While grief comes in waves, I learned how better to take care of myself and my family.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Public education, climate, water, and protecting the right to vote.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes. To be an effective legislator, you must know the rules of procedure and have a knowledge on how the levers of power work. While various backgrounds and lived experiences inform your perspectives on policies, you cannot move policy forward without knowing the inner workings of the legislative system.

Similar to my experience on the school board and serving in leadership, we could not govern and move business forward without the rules of procedure.

During my tenure, we protected LGBTQ+ students, re-established government-to-government relationship with tribes, expanded mental health providers, increased student resources, spearheaded an effort to modernize our science wings, established a Yaqui language course, expanded our AVID schools, among many others. On my final year, I led the district to earn the prestigious Lou Ella Kleinz Excellence in Governance Award – the second time in the district’s history.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Generally, yes. I have found that the best experiences and most success from my school board service was rooted in coalition building, community co-governance, relationship building, and being true to your values. Similar to my service on the school board, I would take a similar but adapted governing approach that I have found successful.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Deb Haaland and the late Governor Rose Mofford.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes, former AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, former Tempe Vice-Mayor Lauren Kuby, Save Our Schools AZ, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, National Organization for Women-AZ, Teamsters Local 104, AFL-CIO, Unite Here Local 11, Worker Power, Communications Workers of America-AZ State Council, IBEW Local 640, Run For Something, Working Families Party, Stonewall Democrats, and growing!

Please visit briangarciaaz.com/endorsements for updated endorsements.

What committees interest you?

Education and elections.