Another Democrat in the Arizona House of Representatives announced she’s resigning before her legislative term ends, making the number of members from the caucus greater than the number of months in the last half-year.
Rep. Laura Terech, D-Scottsdale, issued a statement Monday announcing her upcoming resignation. The first-term lawmaker will resign on Sunday.
“Serving Legislative District 4 in the Arizona State Legislature has been a profound honor,” Terech said in her statement.
Terech is the seventh Democrat to resign since Dec. 31, following former Reps. Athena Salman, Amish Shah, Jennifer Longdon, Leezah Sun, Jevin Hodge and Marcelino Quinonez.
However, Terech’s resignation will come after the Legislature has adjourned sine die. She also announced in March she isn’t running for re-election in one of the most competitive swing districts of the state.
Terech said she’s stepping down to accept another role to serve the state but didn’t say what she will be doing. More information will come next week, she said.
Legislative District 4 covers North Phoenix and Central Scottsdale. It is one of the few districts represented by both Democratic and Republican members, with Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix; and Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, also representing the district.
Terech highlighted some key issues she helped negotiate during her time at the Legislature, including her work on delivering a bill to fix the elections calendar for potential automatic recounts and getting a water solution to the residents of Rio Verde Foothills in the 2023.
During her two years at the Legislature, Terech saw four of her bills receive a committee hearing. She said that was “quite a feat” in a narrowly divided legislature as a member of the minority party in a swing district.
“These achievements are a testament to the collaborative spirit I brought to the Capitol. It was my privilege to work with fellow legislators, community leaders, and the many passionate citizens who engage in the democratic process,” Terech said in her statement.
Terech previously told the Arizona Capitol Times that she believed GOP leadership in the House deliberately held bills that she had a majority of the chamber’s support on in an effort to win her seat in the 2024 election.
One measure that was held in 2023 was a bill that proposed to exempt school blueprints from public record requests as an effort to improve school safety.
The bill was widely supported among House members and had enough votes to pass but Terech said Republicans that control the House told her she needed to get 16 Republican members to sign their support of her bill before it would be heard on the floor for a vote.
This happened with some other Democratic bills, leading to a brief period of the 2023 session where House Democrats universally voted against all legislation to protest the rule.
House Majority Whip Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, said at the time that the rule has always existed and applied to Republican members too, but some bills have been placed on the board over the last two years that had less than 16 Republican members voting in support of.
Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, pointed that out on June 4 when SB 1052 failed in the House. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West and proposed tighter regulations over off-road vehicles. It failed 19-39 with only 12 Republicans voting in support of the measure.
“This bill is up there when we have supposedly had rules of the 16. And I know good bills that are not on this board right now that have 16 votes or are being held in the Senate,” Cook said, during SB1052’s vote in the House.
Terech’s school safety bill eventually did get through the House in the form of a provision for a larger school safety bill that Gress sponsored, HB2400. That bill received approval from the Senate Education Committee but wasn’t heard for a full vote in the chamber.
Gress delivered high praise for Terech on sine die night and said he was proud to have served with her.
“When I met her, I immediately knew, wow, what a terrific person who has a heart of a public servant,” Gress said. “Too many people in this profession engage in the politics of personal destruction. It’s a tough business to be in and you have to have some thick skin from within your own party and on the other side of the aisle. I think Rep. Terech and I know a little about that.”
The Democratic candidates running to replace Terech and challenge Gress in LD 4 are former state Rep. Kelli Butler and Madison Elementary School District Governing Board President Karen Gresham. Gress is running with Republican Pamela Carter for the House.
Terech’s resignation will also require the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appoint another member to the legislature, although supervisors will have more time to appoint a member since the Legislature is not in session.
Elected Democratic precinct committeemen will have three weeks to nominate three potential replacements for the board of supervisors to consider after Terech resigns.
Filling Terech’s seat quickly could be vital as Gov. Katie Hobbs’ water policy advisor Patrick Adams said during a Water Policy Council meeting on June 18 that the governor is considering a special session for groundwater legislation.
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