Leah Landrum Taylor
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:
| Arizona committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Economic Development and Jobs Creation |
| • Education Accountability and Reform |
| • Public Safety and Human Services |
| • Senate Ethics |
| • Veterans and Military Affairs |
| • Adjudication Monitoring |
| • DES Block Grants |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Landrum-Taylor served on these committees:
| Arizona committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Education Accountability and Reform |
| • Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt |
| • Public Safety and Human Services |
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]
Sponsored Legislation
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]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Leah Landrum Incumbent |
76.2% | 33,137 | |
| Republican | Sarah Coleman | 23.8% | 10,333 | |
| Total Votes | 43,470 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Leah 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 | |||
| 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 | |||
| 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.
Scorecards
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
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the 51st Arizona State Legislature was in session from January 14 to June 14.
|
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
- Arizona State Senate
- Arizona Senate Committees
- Arizona State Senate District 27
- Arizona State Legislature
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Project Vote Smart biography of Senator Leah Landrum-Taylor
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 1996
- Facebook page
- Twitter feed
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "AZ Capitol Times," "Democrats oust Landrum Taylor as Senate Minority Leader in favor of Tovar," accessed October 30, 2013
- ↑ "ArizonaCentral.com," "Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor ousted as minority leader," accessed October 30, 2013
- ↑ "Seattlepi.com," "Ariz. Senate Dems oust Landrum Taylor as leader," accessed October 30, 2013
- ↑ "Arizona Informant," "Leah Landrum-Taylor Explores Run For Arizona Secretary Of State," accessed October 30, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2012 Primary candidate list," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "2010 Primary results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "General election results," accessed December 13, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ leahlandrum.com, "Issues," accessed April 7, 2014 (dead link)
| 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) |
