After serving in the Arizona State Senate from 2006 until 2010, this Democratic politician represented Arizona's twenty-fourth district in the state's House of Representatives.
After earning a chemistry degree from Mexico's University of Sonora, she received a graduate degree in nutrition from California State University, Los Angeles.
She was both the first woman and the first person of Hispanic heritage to become an Arizona District 24 state representative.
She grew up in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, as the daughter of teachers.
She and Texas politician Vida Trevino were both born in Mexico.