Four Republican candidates are on the July 30 primary ballot for Arizona's 16th Legislative District.
LD 16 is one of 30 in the state, consisting of sections of Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties. It was created in January 2022.
In the Republican primary, incumbent Teresa Martinez, Rob Hudelson, Chris Lopez and Gabriela Saucedo Mercer are on the ballot.
Incumbent Keith Seaman is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Rob Hudelson
Rob Hudelson ran for election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 16 in November 2022. He lost to Martinez and Seaman.
In a Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022, Hudelson described himself as “a Christian family man.”
“He has been married for 28 years and has seven children and four grandchildren. Rob is a U.S. Navy veteran, having fought in the Gulf War, and he has lived in Arizona for the past 17 years. Rob has been in Christian ministry for 27 years and has been the senior pastor of his current church for the past 16 years,” the survey stated.
Chris Lopez
Lopez was born and raised in Casa Grande and the Republican has stated that he has dedicated his life to upholding conservative values.
Lopez describes himself as being committed to funding police, defending the Second Amendment, protecting neighborhoods and fighting for small business owners throughout the state.
Lopez lives in Casa Grande with his wife, Jody, where they raised their five kids and love spending time with their seven grandchildren.
Teresa Martinez
Although appointed as Legislative District 11 representative in 2021 and elected to LD 16 in 2022, incumbent Martinez has quickly risen through the ranks to become the Republican majority whip.
Born and raised in Casa Grande, Martinez is a single mother of a 19-year-old college student. She is the eldest of five children and her father was a miner at the San Manuel Mine.
Martinez has held multiple positions for two members of Congress, as well as for a former Republican Arizona Secretary of State. She has worked with candidates and political party officials for 20 years to get Republicans elected.
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer
Mercer ran for election to the Pima County Board of Supervisors to represent District 3 in November 2020. She lost in the general election to incumbent Democrat Sharon Bronson.
Mercer legally emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1986 and became a U.S. citizen in 1991. She previously worked for a defense electronics firm. A native Spanish speaker, she has more than 30 years of experience translating verbal, written and spoken Spanish to English.
With the U.S. Department of Justice she has clearance to work with law enforcement, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Keith Seaman
The lone Democratic candidate in the primary, Seaman is running for his second term as representative for LD 16. He moved to Arizona in 1974 to start his first teaching job in Lake Havasu City. He also worked as a teacher, principal and superintendent in Mohave County.
Upon his retirement in 2010, he started volunteering more frequently with the Casa Grande and Pinal County Democrats. In 2018, he ran for and won a seat on the Coolidge Unified School Board.
He ran to represent LD 16 in the state Legislature in November 2022 because he stated that he wanted to continue his life’s work of supporting his communities.
The primary election takes place July 30.
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