Former Tempe Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Lauren Kuby will represent Legislative District 8 as its state senator. The Democrat will serve on the Senate Appropriations, Judiciary and Elections committees. According to her campaign website, Kuby has a background in sustainability, serving as a senior global futures scientist at ASU and leading Tempe’s climate action planning when she served on the City Council. Her top priorities include clean energy, increasing mass transit options, expanding the Groundwater Management Act and allowing cities to maintain local control. She also wants to increase accountability and transparency, and highlighted her success leading a dark money ballot initiative that received support from Tempe voters in 2018. In addition, Kuby wants to focus on campaign finance reform and enhancing voter participation through measures like automatic voter registration, according to her website. Her other main issues include eliminating ESA vouchers, developing long-term sources for education funding, protecting abortion rights, increasing affordable housing and worker protections. Kuby did not respond to a request for an interview before deadline. 

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct Sen. Kuby’s committee assignments.