Cesar Chavez (legislator)


Cesar Chavez is a Mexican-American politician and a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives elected to represent District 29 in 2016. Prior to entering the political arena, Chavez had traveled internationally as a Mariachi vocalist. He is not related to Cesar Chavez, the civil rights activist.

Early life

Chavez was born in Moroleon, Guanajuato and immigrated to the United States at the age of three. The oldest of three, born to Nicolas Chavez and Maria Martinez both knew that in order to provide their children the opportunities that they never had, they would have to emigrate to the United States. Cesar and his parents lived in a small apartment in the projects of Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania having to endure exposure to everything that they didn't want their children to grow up around. Working endless hours, Chavez's father was able to afford the family's move to a quiet rural town where Cesar grew up amongst the Amish community. In 1996, the Chavez family trekked across the nation and moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

Arizona House of Representatives

In 2016, Chavez and incumbent Richard C. Andrade won the Democratic Primary. They went on to defeat Republican John Wilson in the general election.
He is openly gay, and serves alongside three other openly LGBT legislators: Daniel Hernández Jr., Robert Meza and Tony Navarrete. On October 11, 2017, the four lawmakers announced the creation of a new LGBTQ Caucus in the legislature.