Samantha Vasquez

**Samantha Susan Vasquez** (née **Mitchell**; born August 12, 1972) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, she served as Arizona Attorney General from 2009 to 2011. Vasquez has additionally served as Vice Chair of the Senate Republican Conference since 2019.

Vasquez was born in San Diego, California and graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in 1990. After graduating, she moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University, graduating with a degree in political science in 1994. She later returned to California, and received her law degree from the UCLA School of Law in 1997. Vasquez returned to Arizona shortly after graduating law school, settling in Phoenix. She worked at the Maricopa County District Attorney office as a prosecutor from 1997 to 2009.

Vasquez began her political career in 2006, launching an unsuccessful campaign for Maricopa County District Attorney. She finished third in the Republican primary. Vasquez later launched her campaign for Arizona District Attorney in 2008, winning the Republican primary and advancing to the general election, which she also went on to win. Vasquez took office as Arizona Attorney General on January 5, 2009. In 2010, she announced her candidacy for United States Senate, and won the Republican primary that summer. She advanced to the general election and won, becoming seated as the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona on January 3, 2011.

## Early life and family

Vasquez was born on August 12, 1972 in San Diego, California to parents John Mitchell (born 1940) and Susanna Valenzuela-Mitchell (born 1945). Her father is an Ohio-born corporate attorney and Republican political donor, while her mother is a former housewife who later began working as a Spanish-language professor at the University of California, San Diego. Through her father, she is primarily of English and Scotch-Irish origin and from a Presbyterian background, while her mother was born in California to Mexican immigrants from Chihuahua. Vasquez was raised in her mother's Catholic faith, speaking both Spanish and English from a young age. Vasquez grew up in the affluent La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. She is the youngest and only daughter of three children; her elder brothers include Damian, born  (1969-04-08) April 8, 1969 (age 54), and Henry, born  (1970-12-30) December 30, 1970 (age 53). Both Damian and Henry work as lawyers in California.

## Education and law career

Vasquez began her education in 1978, attending La Jolla Country Day School (LJCDS), an independent coeducational nursery through twelfth school in San Diego. Vasquez began high school at LJCDS in 1986. While in high school, Vasquez was an honors student who was active in class government, the drama department, and varsity cheerleading. She was elected vice president of her graduating class in her junior and senior years, after serving as a class treasurer in her freshman and sophomore years. Vasquez graduated from high school in 1990, and afterwards moved to Tempe, Arizona to attend Arizona State University (ASU). While at ASU, Vasquez majored in political science and joined the Delta Zeta (ΔΖ) sorority. She graduated *summa cum laude* in 1994. After graduating, Vasquez returned to California and settled in Los Angeles to attend the UCLA School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. She graduated with her law degree in 1997.

After graduating from the UCLA School of Law, Vasquez returned to Phoenix and was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona. She began working as a prosecutor at the Maricopa County District Attorney office shortly afterwards. As a prosecutor, Vasquez prosecuted numerous cases against drug dealers, rapists, and child abusers. She left her career as a prosecutor in 2009, in order to begin her political career.

## Political career

### Arizona state office

Vasquez's first foray into politics was in 2006, when she launched her campaign for Maricopa County District Attorney. Vasquez campaigned lightly and placed third of seven in the Republican primary. After her loss she returned to her work as a prosecutor. She would later state that her campaign was meant for her to "get used to" the world of politics and "experiment" with campaigning for office.

#### Arizona Attorney General

In 2008, Vasquez launched her campaign for Arizona Attorney General. Shortly after launching her campaign, she was endorsed by Martin Tippen, the leading contender for the Republican nomination for Governor of Arizona. This greatly boosted Vasquez's polling, and she soon won the Republican nomination. In the general election, Vasquez defeated Democratic opponent Janet Nygaard. She was sworn into office on January 5, 2009.

Vasquez resigned from office as Attorney General on January 3, 2011 to be sworn into office as a member of the United States Senate. After her resignation, Governor Tippen appointed Kendra Willis as her successor.

### U.S. Senate

In 2010, Vasquez announced her candidacy to succeed Albert Lyons as U.S. Senator from Arizona after Lyons had announced his retirement. Vasquez's announcement was seen as a surprise, as she had just been sworn in as Arizona Attorney General the previous year. Vasquez was endorsed by Lyons shortly before the Republican primary, and won the nomination easily. She defeated U.S. Representative Jalissa Lorne in the general election. Vasquez easily won her second term as U.S. Senator in 2016, against Arizona State Senator Pablo Guevara.

In 2019, Vasquez was appointed by Majority Leader John Hedges to serve as Republican Conference Vice Chair.

#### Committee assignments

* **Committee on Appropriations**
* **Committee on Foreign Relations**
* **Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship**
* **Special Committee on Aging**

## Political positions

*Main article: Political positions of Samantha Vasquez.*

## Personal life

Vasquez began dating Mexican-born corporate attorney Julio Vasquez in 1996. The two first met two-years prior as students at UCLA School of Law, but did not pursue a romantic relationship and remained friends. After graduating from law school in 1997, they moved into an apartment together in Phoenix, Arizona, where Julio was raised. They became engaged in 1998, and married the following year. Together, they have two children together: Isabella, born  (2002-07-16) July 16, 2002 (age 21), and Julian, born  (2003-11-29) November 29, 2003 (age 20).

Vasquez moved from Phoenix to the suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona in 2001, purchasing a five-bedroom home valued at $1.6 million. After being elected to the United States Senate in 2010, Vasquez purchased a four-bedroom townhouse in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., valued at $2.2 million. The family splits their time between D.C. and Arizona. Vasquez speaks fluent Spanish and is a practicing Roman Catholic.