Daniel Hernández Jr.


Daniel Hernández Jr. is an American politician serving as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives. A member of the Arizona Democratic Party, he serves alongside Rosanna Gabaldón in Legislative District 2.

Early life and education

Hernandez was born in 1990 to Daniel Hernandez Sr. and Consuelo Quiñones Hernandez, a working-class family in Tucson, Arizona. He has two younger sisters, Consuelo and fellow state representative, Alma Hernandez.
In 2008m Hernandez volunteered for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and for Gabrielle Giffords' re-election campaign. He graduated from Sunnyside High School in 2008 and started at the University of Arizona in the fall.

Career

In 2011, while a student at the University of Arizona, Hernandez worked as an intern in the office of Gabby Giffords. During the first week of his internship, Hernandez helps organize a "Congress on your Corner" event, which was the site of the 2011 Tucson shooting. After Giffords was shot in the head, Hernandez held her up and stanched the bleeding with his hand until employees from the nearby grocery store brought him clean smocks. In doing so, he is credited with saving the Congresswoman's life. Later that year, he was elected to the board of the Sunnyside Unified School District.

Arizona Legislature

In 2016, Hernández ran for the Arizona House of Representatives. He and Democratic incumbent Rosanna Gabaldon defeated Republican incumbent J. Christopher Ackerley in the general election with Hernandez receiving 32,651 votes. Hernandez and Gabaldon had previously defeated Aaron Baumann in the Democratic primary. He is one of four openly gay members of the Arizona State Legislature, alongside Robert Meza, Tony Navarrete and Cesar Chavez, and is a co-founder of the LGBT Caucus in Arizona.
Hernandez endorsed a 2016 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona.