In 2023, Arizona will welcome a new governor and a new legislature. Watch the video for insights shared by Arizona’s incoming Senate President Pro Tem and incoming House Democratic Leader as they discuss the road ahead.
Recorded at the AZBio Trailblazers Luncheon on December 15, 2022.
Senator T.J. Shope (left) is a resident of Coolidge, Arizona, and has long been active in the community. He will serve as Senate President Pro Tem and Health Chair in the 56th legislature that begins in January 2023.
Senator Shope was elected to the Arizona State Senate in 2020 and took office January 11, 2021. In the Senate, he served as the Vice Chairman of three committees: Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Water; Transportation & Technology; Education; and as a Member of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services. In addition, he served as a Senate Member of the Legislative Council.
Prior to being elected to the Senate, he served in the House of Representatives on the House Committee on Agriculture & Water, the House Committee on Energy, Environment & Natural Resources as well as the House Committee on Commerce. He served as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House from 2017-2021 as well as serving as the Chairman of the House Committee on Ethics, Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Rules, member of the House Committee on Education, and member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water.
Representative Andrés Cano (Right) was first elected to Arizona House of Representatives in 2018. In the 56th legislator, he will serve as House Democratic Leader.
He has served on the House Committee on Ways & Means, and served as the Ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, & Water.
Representative Cano is a first-generation college graduate and a native Tucsonan. Prior to elected office, he served as a senior aide to Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías from 2012 to 2018. In this role, Andrés prioritized juvenile justice reform, public health, and neighborhood relations. His extensive community engagement has been recognized by the Center for the Future of Arizona (2016, Emerging Leader,) the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (2017, 40 Under 40,) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (2020, Young Alumnus Award.)
Andrés is a Gates Millennium Scholar, a founding member of the Human Rights Campaign’s HIV360 Fellowship, and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State & Local Government program.