Samantha Vasquez

**Samantha Miriam Vasquez** (née **Mitchell**; born May 22, 1965) is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Arizona, in office since 2011. She has been the Republican Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Party leadership in the Senate, since 2017, and has served as Minority Whip since then, as well.

Vasquez was raised in San Diego, California. After graduating from The Bishop's School, she began attending University of California, Irvine, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. She subsequently graduated with a law degree from Stanford Law School. After working as a lawyer in a private practice, Vasquez began a political career after being elected to the Arizona Senate from the Mesa-based 21st district in 2006. She remained in the Arizona Senate for four years, until being elected to the United States Senate in 2010 by a six-point margin. She was appointed Republican Whip in 2017 by Republican Leader Henry Frank.

As Republican Whip, Vasquez has served as Senate Minority Whip since her appointment. Throughout her political career, Vasquez has been described as a moderate and is the first Hispanic or Latino female to be elected to the United States Senate from Arizona.

## Early life, education, and career

Vasquez was born in the wealthy Del Mar Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California, to an English-American father, James Mitchell, and a Mexican mother of mainly European Spanish heritage, Thalía Gutiérrez. She has an elder brother, James Jr., who is a plastic surgeon. Vasquez attended a private elementary school, and then began middle school at the Episcopalian preparatory independent school The Bishop's School in La Jolla. She graduated from high school at The Bishop's School in 1983. While a high school student, Vasquez was the treasurer of her graduating class and salutatorian. She went on to attend University of California, Irvine, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1987. In her junior year, Vasquez studied a semester abroad in Istanbul. Vasquez subsequently began studying law at Stanford Law School, graduating with her juris doctor in 1990.

After graduating from law school, Vasquez moved to Phoenix, Arizona and passed the Arizona Bar Exam. Following her admittance to the bar, Vasquez began working as an associate attorney at an intellectual property firm. She was promoted to partner in 1995, and later left to begin her own intellectual property firm in 2003.

## Political career

### Arizona Senate

In 2006, Vasquez announced her candidacy to replace the retiring Janet Tanger in the Arizona Senate from the 21st district. The district includes the city of Mesa, Arizona, where Vasquez's personal residence is located. During the summer of 2006, Vasquez won the Republican primary and moved on to the November general election. She defeated the Democratic nominee Harris Berlin by a landslide. She was reelected in 2008, but did not run for a third term after announcing her candidacy for United States Senate in January 2010.

### U.S. Senate

In January 2010, Vasquez announced her candidacy for the United States Senate, challenging incumbent Timothy Nielson of the Democratic Party. Vasquez won the Republican primary in August 2010 by over twenty percentage points, moving on as the Republican nominee in the general election. The election was expected to be competitive, yet Vasquez went on to win by six percentage points. She was subsequently reelected in 2016.

#### Committees

* **Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs**
	+ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (Ranking Member)
	+ Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
	+ Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
* **Committee on Budget**
* **Committee on Finance**
	+ Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
	+ Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight

#### Leadership

In 2017, Vasquez was appointed Republican Whip by Republican Leader Henry Frank, to replace Gregory Clark who lost his seat. As the Republicans are the minority political party in the senate, she has served as Minority Whip since her appointment as well. She is the first senator from Arizona to hold a leadership position in the senate.

## Personal life

Vasquez married Joseph Vasquez in 1996, after beginning their relationship in Phoenix, Arizona after Vasquez first moved there in 1991. Joseph is the chief marketing officer for the Arizona-based furniture company Cobra. Shortly after their marriage, the couple moved to Mesa, Arizona, where Vasquez claims residency. They have three children together; Mackenzie Thalía Vasquez (born 13 July 1998), Matthew Joseph Vasquez (born 27 January 2000), and Sophia Paige Vasquez (born 5 October 2001). After becoming a United States Senator, the family has primarily resided in a townhouse in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., valued at $1.2 million.

Vasquez was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, but abandoned the religion in her teens. She later identified herself as a nondenominational Christian. In college, Vasquez became associated with the United Methodist Church. She has revealed that her and her husband are raising their children as Roman Catholics, as her husband is a member of the church.