Lydia Hernandez is an at-large
member of the Cartwright Elementary School
District Governing Board in Arizona. Her current
term ends on January 1, 2023. Hernandez (DINO)
is running for election to the Arizona House of
Representatives to represent District 24. She is
on the ballot in the Democratic primary on
August 2, 2022. She was unopposed in her 2014
re-election bid and was appointed to retain her
seat following the cancellation of the election
on September 10, 2014.
"Hernandez has
apparently allowed
mental health issues
to cloud her
judgment, and her
lack of character,
empathy, decency and
prudence makes it
extremely difficult
to fathom the
possibility of
respect for her as
Chair of our
National Hispanic
Council,"
"Lydia
Hernández...made her opposition to reproductive
rights known in 2013 when she signed the
Center for Arizona Policy statement denouncing Roe
v. Wade."
Stonewall Democrats
of Arizona denounce
Lydia
Hernández
PRESS RELEASE
Stonewall
Democrats of Arizona
3 May, 2014
On Wednesday, April 31,
2014 the West Side Town
Hall Steering Committee held a bipartisan
candidate debate for legislative candidates
in district 29 (a Phoenix LD). During the
event Francisco Mendoza, a top financial donor
and campaign manager for LD 29 State House
Rep. Lydia Hernández, asked "when it comes
to preferences, and we have children here so
I will not say the word, when it comes to
those love preferences, do you prefer the
same gender?" While questions of this sort
are common among the Tea Party, they are out
of place amongst Democrats. A person’s
orientation should have no bearing in
regards elected office. She did not at
that time, nor since, distance herself or her
campaign from these comments and has not
denounced them or her manager in any way.
Stonewall has repeatedly attempted to
contact Rep. Hernández in regards this issue
but with no results. In consideration of
these comments and others, the failure of
Rep. Hernández to denounce Mr. Mendoza and
reject his comments, Stonewall Democrats of
Arizona, as of today (May 3) denounce LD-29
State Representative Lydia Hernández and
support the candidacy of State Rep. Martin
Quezada for State Senate LD-29.
The chairwoman of the Democrats in Legislative District 13 in west Phoenix is facing state and county investigations looking into allegations that she forged petition signatures on political-candidacy documents for herself and two other women.
The investigations into Lydia Hernandez's petitions for two races were prompted by complaints filed by Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, earlier this month. The claim will likely intensify tension between the two, who sit on the Cartwright Elementary School District governing board and are critical of each other's leadership.
In a letter sent last week to Secretary of State Ken Bennett, Gallardo accused Hernandez of submitting 53 forged signatures on two Arizona House candidacy petitions: one for herself and a second on behalf of another candidate, Martha Garcia, in District 13, which spans Avondale, Tolleson and Maryvale.
Hernandez and Garcia backed out of the House race before the August primary. Hernandez did not return calls seeking comment about why she dropped out or the pending investigations. Garcia said she wasn't aware of the investigations and declined to comment further.
Gallardo is also accusing Hernandez of submitting 98 additional invalid signatures from residents who weren't registered to vote and residents who lived outside the district.
He said he found what appeared to be forged signatures after comparing the House seat petitions with the county's record of registered-voter signatures. Gallardo said the same forged signatures on Garcia's petition appeared on Hernandez's.
Matthew Benson, spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office, said officials are looking into the matter.
In a separate complaint to Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne, Gallardo questioned 10 signatures on the District 13 Democratic-precinct petitions that Hernandez submitted for herself and another precinct committee candidate, Rosa Cantu.
He said the petition signatures did not match the voters' signatures on file with the county.
Hernandez, Cantu and Garcia have not returned repeated phone calls seeking comment.
"In the event that Ms. Hernandez and Mrs. Cantu are guilty of petition forgery, I ask that they be disqualified and that they not be eligible to seek elections to public office for a period of five years," Gallardo wrote.
Osborne has forwarded the complaint to the County Attorney's Office, which is investigating.
"There were some pretty serious allegations in the complaint, so we felt it was best to ship it on up and let them deal with it, as we do with any allegation of that nature," Osborne said.
In Arizona, forgery is a felony punishable by one to three years in prison.
Gallardo said if Cantu and Hernandez are charged, he wants them to give up their seats on the Cartwright board.
He has been at odds with Cantu and Hernandez because they, with Cartwright board member Terrence McTier, ousted Superintendent Michael Martinez.
Their decision upset hundreds of residents, but the three board members have declined to explain their decision.
Gallardo and a half-dozen other community members have launched a recall against Cantu, Hernandez and McTier. "This is about assuring that our election system is done properly and correctly," Gallardo said.
"She continues to want to try to ignore certain (standards) and commit election fraud. That's not something that we should be letting go."
A Phoenix
civil rights
and
immigration
advocate
says another
activist has
impersonated
her on a
local radio
talk show.
Lydia
Guzman, who
is the
leader of
Somos
America,
said she
learned
recently
that a July
28th broadcast
of the local
public radio
show on KJZZ,
“Here and
Now,”
featured a
phone
interview
about
immigration
with a woman
who claimed
she was
Guzman of
Somos
America.
But Guzman
said she did
not give the
interview.
“It was
Lydia
Hernandez,”
Guzman said
she realized
after
listening to
the
recording.
“Throughout
the
interview on
NPR, the guy
kept saying
‘Lydia
Guzman’ and
throughout
that whole
time, she
didn’t say
she was
Lydia
Hernandez.”
Guzman said
Hernandez is
not
affiliated
with Somos
America.
“A lot of
folks in the
community
confuse us,”
Guzman said.
“There were
a couple of
other times
people like
journalists
from out of
town would
call someone
and say
they’re
looking for
Lydia.”
Community
members have
sometimes
given
Hernandez’s
phone number
unaware that
the
journalists
wanted to
speak to
Guzman, she
said.
Guzman said
this
happened a
few years
ago with
producers
for
Univision’s
now-defunct
TV talk show
in Miami,
“Cristina.”
Producers
were looking
to reach
Guzman but
instead
unknowingly
called
Hernandez.
Guzman said
Hernandez
didn’t tell
them until
the show was
nearly on
air that she
was not
Guzman.
Guzman said
she learned
later what
happened and
let it go.
But with
this latest
incident, Guzman
said she is
asking
attorneys
what she can
do to stop
it from
happening
again. “Why
would she do
this? This
is so odd,
weird and
bizarre to
usurp my
identity,”
Guzman said.
Hernandez is
currently
governing
board
president of
Cartwright
Elementary
School
District in
the Maryvale
area in west
Phoenix.
Next month,
she is
expected to
face a
community
recall
effort for
leading the
ouster of a
well-liked
superintendent,
Michael
Martinez.
PAID
FOR BY STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF ARIZONA
• NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S
COMMITTEE
