Simon Morales

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Revision as of 19:52, 8 November 2007

Simon Morales (born February 16th, 1980) is an American politician from Arizona. Morales served as a Pima County Supervisor representing the city of Tucson. In 2011 he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Sun Belt Lieutenant Governor. With the resignation of the Democratic candidate for Governor he became the replacement candidate. He was defeated by Alvera in 2012 by a margin of 58% to 42%. Following his defeat he was appointed as editor of the Arizona Daily Star, a Tucson based daily. In 2016 it was announced that he would once again be the Democratic candidate for Sun Belt Lieutenant Governor. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Simon Morales
Pima County Supervisor
In Office: 2010 - 2014
Preceded by	Adelita Grijalva
Succeeded by	Sam Runckel
Born	February 16th 1980 Laredo, Texas
Political Party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Single
Religion	Roman Catholic

Early Life

Simon Morales was born February 16th 1980 in Laredo, Texas. He never knew his father who divorced from his mother a few months before his birth. His mother Flora was a librarian and single mother to her three children, of whom Simon was the youngest. When Simon was four years old the Morales family moved to El Paso so his mother could take a job as a librarian for the city of El Paso.

After graduating from El Paso High School with decent but not stellar grades Simon entered UTEP. During his four years at UTEP he was an active member of the Young Democrats on campus while working part time as a special education teaching aid. During this time he lived at home. After graduation he decided to leave Texas, for what would be the first time in his life he left the state and entered law school at the University of Arizona.

Upon moving to Tucson to start law school he went to work as a substitute teacher in the Tucson school district. In the three years it took him to graduate from law school he settled in Tucson and changed his mind about moving back to El Paso after graduation.

Early Career

After finishing law school he went to work as an assistant Pima County District Attorney. However after just one year in that role before he joined the staff of Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva. He spent four years as an aid to Grijalva earning political support and good will in the Pima County political establishment. During this time he was active in several local civic groups and settled on the west side of Tucson.

Political Career

In 2010 Simon decided to use his political good will on a long shot bid for a seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. He entered the Democratic primary as an unknown who had only lived in the county for seven years. However he was able to score an important endorsement from Congressman Grijalva. This, coupled with a strong grassroots base on the west side of Tucson allowed him to finish second in the primary and advance to the runoff. In the runoff he narrowly defeated a former State Senator with 52% of the vote. He won the general election easily over a Republican who called for the border patrol to “shoot to kill”.

In 2012 Morales announced a long shot bid for Lieutenant Governor. He set out on a listening tour across the region, hoping his grass roots support and Arizona base would help him in what could likely be a contentious primary. In the general election he is expected to face incumbent Republican Russell Hale. However the Democratic candidate, Hugh Furgeson was unable to contest his race for health reasons. On short notice Morales became the Democratic candidate for Governor, running against U.S. Senator Aida Alvera.

After Politics

Following his defeat in 2012 Morales served out the rest of his term on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. His name was floated about as a potential challenger to Senator Akeem Mellis, however Morales stated a desire to retire from politics for the time being. In 2014 he became editor of The Arizona Daily Star, a popular Tucson daily. As editor he has been an active editorial columnist, and has been the subject of speculation for a bid to become Tucson's mayor. However Morales reminded out of politics and concentrated on his work as an editor until 2016.

Return to Politics

In 2016 Morales wrote several scathing editorials about Texas House Majority Leader Kathleen Nelson. When it became apparent that Nelson would run for Governor Morales became a vocal leader in the movement to find a strong challenger.[[Image:Awiki.PNG] When former Senate candidate James Cheshire agree to run he asked that Morales serve as his running mate. Simon greed, and in the process he came to be Nelson's opponent after she was forced out of the race for Governor. The election will be held in November 2016.

Elections Results