With a decade of leadership under his belt, Rep. Lupe Contreras is one of the most experienced Democrats at the state Legislature. Earlier this session, the Avondale representative announced he would not seek re-election in his west valley district of Legislative District 22. In a recent Q&A with the Arizona Capitol Times, the former House minority leader spoke about his decision to step away from the Legislature after this year to focus on his family and his job at Pomeroy Group, an insurance agency based in Phoenix.

The questions and answers have been edited lightly for style and clarity.

You were first elected in 2012. Did you ever think you’d still be here at the Legislature all these years later?

No, to be honest with you. Running to begin with was something I never thought I was going to be doing. It was never a thought in my mind. I never thought I’d be here this long.

Looking back, what would you tell younger Rep. Contreras now?

What are you doing? No, but seriously, take everything in stride. The makeup of the Legislature changes every two years so there’s a learning curve, all the time. It’s one of those things you really just have to work at and it’s not easy. It’s going to be tough. It’s a grind and if you let it, this place will eat you up and chew you out. Keep being yourself, ultimately. 

What did it take for that message to really click with you?

When I first started here, I was taking a lot of my stress home with me because everything was just compiling. I was spending a lot of hours here because this is a full-time job. People may think this is a part-time Legislature. It’s not. This is a full-time job. People in your district are calling you and asking you about what you’re doing. This is a full-time job and I have a regular full-time job to pay the bills. I would take the stress here back home, and I had realized I can’t put my family through that. I need to be a father and a husband when I’m home, and I had to separate it. 

How much has your family supported you through your legislative career?

Immensely. I couldn’t do it without my family. They’re my world. My mom and dad help me with the kids. My wife can’t do it all when I’m here. I have my other parents too. I’m blessed with my mother-in-law and father-in-law and my wife is awesome. In the time we’ve been here, she’s not only raised our kids, she’s gotten a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees with a full-time job and being on a school board while I’ve been here. It’s been hard and it’s taken this village of hep to allow me to be here. 

You mentioned a mentor when House Democrats announced your decision not to run. Who was that person and what kind of impact did they have on your life?

He’s a special man to me. He was a friend of the family. His name was Ben Miranda and he was a legislator in the past. When I was 19, he reached out to me and offered me a job at his law firm and we blossomed into a great friendship. He’s the one who called me and asked me to run for office. I brushed him off at first and then spoke to my wife and she said “if Ben believes it, you can do it. He’s always looked into your best interest.” My wife’s my best friend so I called him back and he mentioned that both sides of my family are from the district with great name ID, and people just want somebody that’s just a regular person from the district and is going to go over there and fight for them. Unfortunately, he passed away about a year later after I got elected.

Are you going to miss the Legislature?

I never thought I would. Especially in the second half with how crazy it’s gotten, but… definitely. Coming into this year knowing it was going to be my last has been hitting hard. It’s not just my colleagues. It’s the staff, the security team, the custodians. All of them, they’re family to me. I’ve spent so many years here and my kids would walk around that Senate and they would just open doors for them from the first floor to the third floor. Everyone knew them and they’d walk around with candies in their hands that they got from so and so. Everyone here has been so beautiful to my whole family. Having to say goodbye is going to be the hardest damn thing in my life. 

What’s been crazy about the second half of your career?

The political climate and divide within the country amongst everyone. When it goes as far as to where my kids are questioning my safety, that’s pretty bad. We all have the right to our differences and opinions, but when people start crossing that line, that’s problematic. 

What led to your decision not to seek re-election?

My kids. All three of my kids are going to be in high school next year. Having two full-time jobs, I’ve taken a lot away from them that other parents get to do. Everyone is waiting for sine die to get out of here and go do things. The day after sine die, I go to work. Monday to Thursday, we’re here. On Friday, I go to my regular job. Other people are planning vacations or on summer break. I’m not. I’m at work. My kids are being robbed from being able to go and have fun dad, and they’re okay with it, but they don’t know any different. I just want to have more time with them so it was time. 

What’s been the highlights of your legislative career? 

As a young legislator, it would be Medicaid expansion. I still remember getting that call — I was in Avondale and I had just turned in my wife’s car to get an oil change, and I got a call to be back at the Capitol in 15 minutes because we were going to do Medicaid expansion. I told them “I need a car, or a ride, or give me my car back and I need it now.” I still remember that vote like it was yesterday. It was so exciting because I was young. And then the repeal of the 1864 abortion ban law. I’ve got a picture of Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton hugging me right in my office when I was leader and we passed that. Out of my 14 years here, I was in leadership for 10 of them and for a guy who never wanted to be in this damn place and to hold my friend in that moment — it was awesome because it meant so much to so many people. 

Tell me more about your district in the West Valley and how that represents your work at the Legislature.

My district has been my life. My family goes back more than 100 years in Tolleson. My mom and dad are high school sweethearts in Tolleson. We’re so deeply rooted in my district. Everybody there knows each other and we’re so generational in that area. It’s grown so much, but you can still go to certain houses where certain people lived from back in the day. When people talk about our small towns, it’s not just our small towns. It’s a community that you can’t just describe as a community. It’s different. You have a love for it, a passion for it. We had Whoopie Days this past week and everyone’s there. It becomes a reunion where people come from all over the Valley. These are fiestas that we have every year because everyone wants to see everyone. If you understand the heart that the West Valley has, people would start thinking twice about what their areas are about because the West Valley is something special. Those small towns are hardworking individuals, and there’s a lot of special people that live there. That’s why that’s our home. It’ll always be our home and I’ll never move from there.