Women’s History Month: A conversation with Sen. Lela Alston 

Arizona’s longest serving legislator said this session will be her last, but she looks back on her time in office with fond memories. 

Democratic Sen. Lela Alston, representing Legislative District 5 in Phoenix, was born and raised in the neighborhood surrounding the Capitol. She grew up on 7th Avenue and attended school down the street. Her future husband asked her out on their first date on the corner of 17th and Van Buren. She also attended church in the neighborhood. She has two children and six grandchildren. 

Alston was first elected in 1976, served her first term in 1977, and remained in the Senate until 1995. She returned to the Legislature in 2010, earning the Legislative District 24 seat in the House of Representatives and stayed there for eight years. She came back in 2019 after winning her current Senate seat with 72% of the vote. 

What has kept her coming back are several issues she is passionate about, including public education, homelessness, senior citizens and kinship families. But now, after her years of service, she’s ready to retire and enjoy life. 

What first sparked your interest in government and politics? 

I, like so many women, had to be asked to run. We found that to be pretty universally the case. I’ve heard it over and over and over the years that most women have to be asked to run. I never expected to do this at all. I was quietly teaching my classes at West High School and didn’t anticipate that, but my colleague and friend Marcia Weeks had already moved back here from Tucson, and her husband had run and won a seat on the Phoenix City Council. And she had run for a State Senate seat and won in her district, which was just north of mine. 

I agreed to do that, not thinking I would win. But what I discovered about myself was that I’m pretty competitive. It was a smaller district then, and with my family, myself, my volunteers, we hit every door, Republican and Democrat in the district two and a half times. That’s a lot of door knocking. We had a lot of fun in those early years. That was in 1976 when I first ran. 

It was always a big party on Saturday at my house. I had a great volunteer who fixed meals for the volunteers. So we had donuts and coffee in the morning when they went back out and then when they came back, we had a small lunch for them. There was a lot of camaraderie in the campaign and a lot of fun. I put some of my own money into it, and a lot at what would be considered not so much today, but in 1976 was a fairly significant investment. I decided that if we were going to spend that much money, we would have some fun with it, too. We also had kind of like star people come and walk with us that would help draw the crowds. Governor (Bruce) Babbitt walked with us several times.

Do you remember what your first day in office was like? 

It was pretty exciting and kind of fearful because I’d never thought I’d win. I didn’t know what to expect. And so I said to the Weeks, to Jim: “OK, what do I do now?” Even though I was really lucky to have a mentor in Marcia, she could be my pal and guide me and that sort of thing. But Jim (Weeks) gave me the best advice I’ve kept all these years: “Just make sure you can look in the mirror every day and like what you see.” That’s kind of been my guidepost for all these years.

You’ve seen cultural and political changes throughout your time in office. What has that been like to watch?

One of the biggest changes is the lack of camaraderie between each side of the aisle. Before this recent bunch, we had mixed seats. Some of my really good friends who, politically, I was totally in opposition with, I’d consider friends. You’d be surprised that some of them are the far right, not all of them, but a few of them. That was a direct result of sitting next to them on the floor. Now we are divided, all the D’s on one side, all the R’s on the other. If I were to give anybody advice that they’d like to listen to, which they don’t, would be to go back to that way of just placing people randomly, but making sure they’re mixed between House and Senate. There was always, in the early days, I think, an underlying, almost universal care about what’s best for the state of Arizona, and less about politics and what’s going to win, and less about the Republican Party or the Democratic Party or issues that would divide us.

The best example of that is the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, where diverse interests came together to do what was best for Arizona. That was probably one of the toughest because water remains one of our most difficult subjects to take care of and be thoughtful and wise about.

What has kept you coming back for more? 

My first 18 years were all in the Senate because we didn’t have term limits then. At the end of my 18th year here, I ran for state superintendent of public instruction and lost to Lisa Graham Keegan. Then I went back to teaching full time and did some other things. I’m not even quite sure what prompted the “let’s come back.” 

I think I always have that in the back of my mind. I decided, and I can’t remember what the prompt was exactly about, but Kyrsten Sinema was running for the state Senate and Katie Hobbs and I were the two running for the House. That was always my dream team, and look where those ladies are today. Well, Kyrsten, not so much, but she has achieved great things. 

I consider the governor a dear friend and I never lobby her. People ask me because they know our friendship goes back to Katie’s early days as a political participant. But I figure she needs a friend more than she needs me asking for favors or weighing in. Now I’ll write a letter to the office generally, maybe in support of a candidate, but I never, ever make a direct ask of her. The friendship’s more important. She’s got enough people trying to get her attention, trying to get her to do certain things. I’m not that person. 

What is the effort you’re most proud of during your time as a legislator? 

It was a vote and it had to do with a sales tax increase and that was back in my first term or group of terms that I was the deciding vote on the tax increase that put ASU West in the ground.

I didn’t start the initiative about ASU West, but as soon as I got elected, I jumped on the bandwagon. Because I had to get my master’s teaching school in three years to keep my job with Phoenix Union. I had to drive summers and nights to ASU Main without a freeway to do my classes. It was Stan Turley, who was president of the Senate, who told me, “OK, if you vote for this bill, we’ll get ASU in the ground.” I think it is my crowning achievement. When these younger people, my colleagues, talk about wins, I tell them, ‘You’re selling out too cheap.’ I got a whole university. 

Do you have a favorite memory from your time serving in the Legislature? 

Not a specific one time memory, but I think my association with the firefighters has been one of the most meaningful things. In the 90’s I was made an honorary firefighter, and there were only a handful of us, so I got that axe. My friend Mike Colletto, who is probably my best guy friend, was an ironworker who served as the firefighters’ pro bono lobbyist after he fell and broke his back on the job and was on industrial compensation. He has dedicated years of service to the firefighters, and so he’s been great to work on my campaign and bring others in. I think that association is probably the one that I hold most dear.

What are your plans once you’re done with your term? 

I don’t know. I’m going to miss it, but it’s time. I have mobility issues. I’d like to do some travel if my health holds out. Somebody asked me that a few weeks ago and I just sort of blurted out, because I think I’ve just parked it back there in my brain somewhere because I haven’t adjusted yet to the notion that I’m retiring. I just blurted out, I’m going to get a piano and a puppy. I knew how to play the piano when I was younger, but haven’t played it for literally years. My dog died last year and I didn’t want to replace him until after our session.