Anna Abeytia is ready to take Arizona on

PHOENIX, AZ –Anna Abeytia was only a little girl when she attended her first protest with her grandparents. With activism boiling in her blood, Anna is telling Arizona she’s here to fight and stand for her community.

The activist is now running for a seat with running-mate Annalise Ortiz in the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 24.

“There’s so much beauty in this community that can thrive if people just give us a little more attention,” Abeytia said. “We’re handed a bunch of empty promises. You tell us we’re important and that our voice matters, but when we tell you what we want, nothing great comes out of it.”

Abeytia’s main campaign focus is improving her community’s education.

Arizona was ranked third to last in public education in 2021 within the United States. Now, public schools face a budget cut of $1.1 billion dollars. This is money that was already allocated to schools.

If legislators don’t make a decision to raise the spending cap before March 1, many schools will be forced to do layoffs, see a limitation of school resources, and may have potential school closures.

Now, the House candidate is a member of the Cartwright Governing Board, a district she attended when she was a child. The governing board member was appointed back in November 2020.

“My heart is really with public education,” Abeytia said. Her mother, uncles and aunts are all educators.

Abeytia is also fighting to fix housing issues within the Maryvale village, explaining that many community members are concerned about keeping up with affordable living.

“There’s not a cap on renters, so they could keep raising rent,” she said.

Due to the pandemic, many people in the west valley have faced evictions because they can’t keep up with their rent. In Maryvale alone, 19.2% of people live below the poverty line.

“Homelessness is a big problem in our community,” Abeytia said. “We should have community programs where people can find a place to sleep at night.”

“Maryvale is a community, but they also hear ‘scaryville’,” she said. “People want to skip over us because they’re scared and intimidated.”

Abeytia grew up in Maryvale her whole life, so she sympathizes with all concerns from the members of her community.

Her main strategy is going door-to-door throughout the neighborhood with running-mate Annalise Ortiz. “Our district has a high number of young registered voters in our community, but we have one of the lowest voter turnouts, as well.”

“The voter information and education is not being brought across to Maryvale and Glendale,” Abeytia said. “It’s really saddening. We really want people to understand the importance of coming out to vote.”

Abeytia wants to fix the broken promises many legislators have made to her community. That’s why she wants to get people to stand up and vote for the right candidates. “Primaries are extremely important to make sure the right person gets to the general election,” she said.

Anna comes from a history of political activism, stemming from her grandparents. Anna’s grandfather, Benito Abeytia, was a close aid and friend to civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

“I got hooked so fast in this type of work,” Anna said. “My grandpa used to take us out on marches and canvassing.”

“We didn’t really understand the importance of what he was trying to teach us at that time.”

Anna has a lot of support on her back.

“I’m very proud of her and what she’s accomplished with herself so far. She has the drive that it takes to be successful,” Margarita Abeytia, Anna’s aunt, said.

“[Annalise and I] are two young progressive latinas that are going to represent young progressive voters and community members here in Maryvale,” she said.

Midterm elections will be held on Nov. 8.