Marlene Galán-Woods

A Champion for Democracy 

Marlene Galán-Woods is a former broadcast journalist and longtime Arizona resident who has spent her career serving Arizona’s families. Galán-Woods’s parents fled communism in Cuba to start a new life in America, and she became a broadcast journalist focusing on exposing corruption and holding leaders accountable. Her late husband, Grant Woods, served as Arizona’s attorney general from 1991 to 1999. In 2022, Galán-Woods served as the campaign chair for now-Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and was at the forefront of protecting democracy while state Republicans spread disinformation about the election. She also served on the transition committee for Gov. Katie Hobbs and is committed to continuing to help move Arizona forward in Congress.

Fighting for Arizonans

Galán-Woods has been dedicated to improving the lives of Arizona children. She founded the Mesa Arts Academy within the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley. Additionally, she served as president of the school board, spearheaded a local tennis tournament that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help underserved kids, and helped found the Phoenix Children’s Museum.

Galán-Woods was motivated to run for elected office after a lifetime of public service because she was alarmed by the ways that Arizona Republicans were working to roll back reproductive rights, voting rights, and democracy itself. She is a lifelong supporter of reproductive freedom and is running for Congress, “because she can’t sit back and watch our freedoms and our liberties attacked while our politicians do nothing about it.” 

Running to unseat an anti-choice extremist

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District is currently represented by anti-choice extremist Rep. David Schweikert, who co-sponsored a national abortion ban with no exceptions and voted against protecting Americans’ access to contraception. Last cycle, Galán-Woods lost a crowded primary by less than 1,800 votes and was the only candidate Republicans spent against because they knew she was the candidate who could defeat Rep. David Schweikert. Schweikert voted to charge doctors with felonies for providing reproductive health care, and is standing idly by as Donald Trump threatens our democracy and cuts critical programs Arizonans rely on. The time is now to unseat anti-choice extremists and elect Democratic pro-choice women. Marlene Galán-Woods is ready to get Arizona’s 1st Congressional District back on track and flip this critical seat in 2026 in order for Democrats to take back control of the U.S. House — and with EMILYs List’s support, we know she’ll be able to do just that.