Arizona State Rep. Laura Terech Nominated for EMILYs List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Arizona state Rep. Laura Terech is a nominee for the 2024 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler released the following statement:
“When state Rep. Laura Terech’s classroom roof caved, she sprang into action to fight for Arizona’s children and families. Terech’s accomplishments as an educator, organizer, and nonprofit leader have changed lives and shaped futures, and her passion and dedication have inspired the people of her district and the entire EMILYs List community. Terech has been a resounding voice for reproductive freedom in the Arizona state legislature, where abortion access hangs in the balance, and we are honored to announce her nomination for this prestigious award.”
Laura Terech is a lifelong Arizonan, former teacher, and an Arizona state representative fighting to champion education and protect students in her state. Terech has called Arizona home since she was two years old, and after attending Arizona K-12 public schools, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University, she went on to teach kindergarten and second grade. She later turned to community organizing to ensure all students and families have a chance to succeed. Her advocacy led her to run for Arizona’s 4th Legislative District, where she now fights for public education, voting rights, and gun violence prevention. Terech was endorsed by EMILYs List in 2022 and 2024.
Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include: former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014; former Boston City Councilwoman, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley in 2015; former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016; former Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017; Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018; California Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo in 2019; former Ohio House Minority Leader, U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes in 2020; Harris County, Texas Judge Lina Hidalgo in 2021; former Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen in 2022; and Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell in 2023.
The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input. Online voting will open on Friday, March 15 and can be found here.
Laura Terech is nominated alongside:
Nabilah Islam Parkes, Georgia state senator
Sarah Anthony, Michigan state senator
Selena Torres, Nevada state assemblymember
La’Tasha D. Mayes, Pennsylvania state representative
Laschrecse Aird, Virginia state senator
Greta Neubauer, Wisconsin Assembly minority leader
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.
