Leah Landrum Taylor

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Leah Landrum Taylor
Image of Leah Landrum Taylor
Prior offices
Arizona House of Representatives

Arizona State Senate District 27

Education

Bachelor's

Arizona State University, 1989

Graduate

Arizona State University, 1991

Personal
Religion
Christian: Catholic
Profession
Business owner

Leah Landrum Taylor (b. August 23, 1966) is a former Democratic member of the Arizona State Senate, representing District 27 from 2007 to 2015. In the 2013 session, Landrum-Taylor served as Minority Leader, but was ousted from the post during a caucus vote on October 29, 2013.[1] She previously served as State Senate Assistant Minority Leader. Taylor did not seek re-election in 2014.

Biography

Landrum-Taylor earned her B.A. in political science from Arizona State University in 1989, her M.A. in political science from Arizona State University in 1991 and attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her professional experience includes working as a business owner since 1996, as Adjunct Faculty for Maricopa Community College and as the Founder, Vice-President of Landrum Foundation and Senior Adviser to the Arizona Children's Association.

Landrum-Taylor began her political career as a Committee-person for Sierra Vista Precinct in 1995. In 1997 she became Vice-Chair of District 23 Democrats.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Landrum-Taylor served on the following committees:

Arizona committee assignments, 2013
Education
Rules
Adjudication Monitoring
Capital Review
DES Block Grants
K-12 School District Receivership Study

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Landrum-Taylor served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Landrum-Taylor served on these committees:

Issues

Senate Democratic leadership change-up

In an 8-5 vote on October 29, 2013, Senate Democrats ousted Taylor as State Senate Minority Leader in favor of Anna Tovar, who had served as State Senate Minority Whip during the 2013 legislative session. The leadership change-up drew a heated reaction from several party members with Sens. Taylor, Linda Lopez, David Bradley, Olivia Cajero Bedford and Barbara McGuire reportedly storming from the room following the vote. The eight remaining caucus members then picked Lynne Pancrazi to serve as State Senate Assistant Minority Leader and Steve Gallardo as State Senate Minority Whip. Following the meeting, Taylor — who is exploring a bid for Arizona Secretary of State in 2014 — expressed shock over her removal. The caucus had met with the purpose of replacing Lopez, who resigned her post as State Senate Assistant Minority Leader in order to focus on new job responsibilities. Taylor said the caucus had no cause to remove her from the minority leader position, adding that the vote was “the most blatant, racist, disrespectful move I’ve ever seen in my life.” According to Gallardo, who opened up the floor to elect a new minority leader, the decision wasn't personal, "...it was just about the caucus wanting to go in a different direction." Tovar refuted Taylor's comments about the vote being over race. “I feel sorry she feels that way, because that is definitely not the case. If you look at me I’m a female and I’m a minority as well, and that was not the issue,” she said. According to reports, party members had called into question Taylor's effectiveness as a party leader if running for statewide office.[2][1][3]

See Leah Landrun-Taylor's official website for a list of sponsored legislation.

Elections

2014

In April 2013, Taylor formed an exploratory committee for a 2014 run for Arizona Secretary of State.[4]

2012

See also: Arizona State Senate elections, 2012

Landrum-Taylor ran in the 2012 election for Arizona State Senate District 27. She defeated Victor Jett Contreras in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2012. She won the general election on November 6, 2012.[5][6]

Arizona State Senate, District 27, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLeah Landrum Incumbent 76.2% 33,137
     Republican Sarah Coleman 23.8% 10,333
Total Votes 43,470
Arizona State Senate, District 27 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLeah Landrum-Taylor Incumbent 60.9% 5,516
Victor Jett Contreras 39.1% 3,546
Total Votes 9,062

2010

See also: Arizona State Senate elections, 2010

Landrum-Taylor sought re-election to the 16th District seat in 2010. She defeated Victor Jett Contreras is the primary and won election in the November 2 general election with no opposition.[7][8]

Arizona State Senate, District 16 Democratic Primary (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Leah Landrum-Taylor (D) 5,101
Victor Jett Contreras (D) 3,681

2008

In 2008 Taylor was re-elected to the Arizona State Senate, District 16. She finished with 33,368 votes while her opponent Daniel Veres finished with 12,149.[9] Taylor raised $35,013 for her campaign funds.

Arizona State Senate, District 16
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Leah Landrum-Taylor (D) 33,368
Daniel Veres 12,149

Campaign themes

2012

Landrum-Taylor's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[10]

  • Education
Excerpt: "As once a member of the Education Accountability and Reform Committee, I have fought hard to keep funding for education. During the most recent session, I’ve been a fighter for full-day Kindergarten"
  • Jobs/Economic Development
Excerpt: "Arizona’s unemployment rate is currently an astronomical 8.6%. Job creation needs to be at the forefront of our legislative efforts as unemployment has a detrimental effect on families across the State."
  • Veterans and Jobs
Excerpt: "As veterans have fought for our nation’s security and continue to be pillars of our community, I firmly believes it is important to support our veterans as they are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan."
  • Affordable Housing for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren
Excerpt: "With the opening of the special housing community, Grand Families Place of Phoenix, the second of its kind in the nation, Phoenix has become a pioneer in helping families stay together with securing affordable housing for grandparents and their grandchildren."
  • Foster Care/Adoption Issues
Excerpt: "In an effort to truly address issues related to foster care and adoption, I have brought together local, state and national leaders to develop various initiatives. Most recently, I worked with the business and faith community in the creation of a Suitcase Initiative for young adults aging out of the foster care system."

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Leah Landrum Taylor campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2012Arizona State Senate, District 27Won $27,248 N/A**
2010Arizona State Senate, District 16Won $35,447 N/A**
2008Arizona State Senate, District 16Won $35,013 N/A**
2006Arizona State Senate, District 16Won $32,833 N/A**
2004Arizona State House, District 16Won $20,850 N/A**
2002Arizona State House, District 16Won $18,320 N/A**
2000Arizona House of Representatives District 23Won $26,666 N/A**
1998Arizona State House, District 23Won $9,281 N/A**
1996Arizona State House, District 23Lost $6,183 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Arizona

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

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Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arizona scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.










2014

In 2014, the 51st Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 13 to April 24.

Legislators are scored on their votes on ASBA's legislative priority bills.
Legislators are scored on their stances on animal issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.
Legislators are scored on their stances on secular policy.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2013

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Leah and her husband, Gregory, have three children.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term ""Leah + Landrum-Taylor" + Arizona + Senate"

See also

External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Olivia Cajero Bedford (D)
Arizona State Senate District 27
2013–2015
Succeeded by
Catherine Miranda (D)
Preceded by
-
Arizona State Senate District 16
2007–2013
Succeeded by
Rich Crandall (R)


Current members of the Arizona State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Warren Petersen
Majority Leader:Janae Shamp
Minority Leader:Priya Sundareshan
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
Eva Burch (D)
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
Eva Diaz (D)
District 23
District 24
District 25
Tim Dunn (R)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
Republican Party (17)
Democratic Party (13)