Meet Laura

Laura is a teacher, community leader, and candidate for re-election to the Arizona State House.

I have lived in Arizona since I was two years old, and can't imagine living anywhere besides the desert. Throughout my childhood, I attended public K-12 schools and later received a BA from the University of Arizona.

While attending grad school in New York, I was inspired to get involved in my community and make our world a better place. I knew I needed to act, so I left my job as a teaching assistant and my life in New York and moved back to Arizona.

I continued my education and earned a Master’s in Education from Arizona State University and began teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade in a Title I school. In 2010, I was named as my school’s Teacher of the Year.

 It was early in my teaching career when part of my classroom ceiling collapsed over a rug full of kindergarteners. I jumped up to shield the children.  Luckily, I was the only one hurt.

Though I was focused on staying calm for my students, I felt scared and appalled. I was also angry.

In a state with our resources, this shouldn’t happen. The legislature is tasked with taking care of our schools, and they are not doing their job. You can count on me to take our schools and their needs seriously because I know what happens when our state government does not invest in our public schools.

After a career as an elementary school teacher in the Pendergast Elementary School District, I turned to community organizing, knowing something needs to change so that every Arizonan gets the chance to succeed. I have spent the last several years as a leader in our community by working with local advocacy groups focused on public education, voting rights, gun violence prevention, and equality for all. 

My career now is centered around helping citizens make their voices heard in local government through my work as a Community Outreach Director with the nonpartisan organization Civic Engagement Beyond Voting. Through this experience, I have defended our democracy at the local level and helped Arizonans advocate for the causes and issues that matter most to them.

It’s been my honor to serve in the legislature, and I know there is still so much left to accomplish.

I am ready to finish what we started at the legislature, finding common sense solutions to Arizona’s tough challenges like our water shortage, our education funding crisis and attacks on our reproductive and voting freedoms. With your help, we can deliver real results for Legislative District 4.