Veteran, civil rights leader Roberto Reveles’ plan to unseat controversial far-right state senator

His school was segregated, and he and his Latino and Indigenous classmates were punished if they spoke any language that wasn’t English. His parents, immigrants from Mexico, weren’t allowed to buy property in certain areas. The YMCA would drain the pool after he swam in it, in preparation for the “white’s only” swim days.

“My social conscience and my commitment to civic advocacy resulted from my childhood experience living in a segregated environment,” Reveles said. “That is a part of history that even our own descendants of Mexican immigrants like I am don’t know—or choose to ignore—the blatant racism that affected our lives.”

Those experiences shaped a lifetime of service for Reveles—and now, he hopes to capstone his legacy fighting against injustice and for civil liberties at the state legislature.

But first, he’ll have to unseat one of the most well–funded, far-right figures in local politics.

Taking on extremism

Reveles lives in Arizona’s 7th Legislative District, which covers the southeastern corner of Pinal County, portions of Gila and Navajo Counties, and a slice of Coconino County that includes a part of Flagstaff.  The District’s registered voters are overwhelmingly Republican, but the lifelong Democrat believes he has what it takes to unseat his current state senator and fellow veteran, Wendy Rogers.

“In my brief conversations, as I’ve been knocking on doors, is that as soon as I identify myself and the office I’m seeking, and I mention Wendy Rogers, there is a very, very well expressed need to replace her,” said Reveles. “What Wendy Rogers seems to be doing is destroying trust in the institutions of our governance. And to me, promoting the use of physical violence is just deplorable, quite frankly.”

Rogers is no stranger to violent political rhetoric. In 2022, she was censured by the Republican-controlled state senate for calling for violence against political rivals. Rogers, a member of the far-right militia known as the Oath Keepers, has publicly called for opponents to be hanged, had members of the public forcibly removed from committee meetings, and was sued by a former staffer for assault and emotional distress.

Even when former President Donald Trump was shot at during a Pennsylvania rally in July, Rogers never condemned political violence, reiterating Trump’s call to “FIGHT!” and accusing President Joe Biden, without evidence, of inciting the act.

Return to normalcy

Reveles sees Rogers’ influence at the legislature as detrimental to the democratic process, self-serving, and ultimately out-of-touch with those who live in the district. He rejected the notion that Rogers is a conservative, and believes his flavor of liberal conservatism more accurately reflects that of his community.

“There’s nothing conservative about the representation she’s offered LD 7—on the contrary,” Reveles said. “It’s been destructive of our conservative values. The belief in—first of all, the constitution, the belief in respect for the rule of law, and virtually everything major that she promotes is contrary to conservative, traditional Arizona values.”

Addressing threats to democracy is the cornerstone of those values, said Reveles, which includes ensuring a peaceful transfer of power, restoring trust in elections, and rejecting bad actors who have put democracy at risk. Restoring abortion rights, using education funding to pay for public schools instead of subsidizing private schools for the wealthy, and acknowledging and combatting climate change are also more in line with Arizona conservatism, according to Reveles. The alternative has resulted in governmental invasion of privacy, excessive misuse of tax dollars, and sacrificing economic opportunity at the expense of political ideology.

Continued fight for immigrants’ rights

One major issue that has spurred Reveles to action throughout his life has been a driving force in his campaign: racial equity.

Reveles has been an ardent advocate for immigrants’ rights since he saw the disparity firsthand as a child. In 2006, he co-founded the advocacy group Somos America, and organized one of the largest civil rights marches in state history. The action was in opposition to legislation that would have criminalized aiding undocumented immigrants in any way.

He continued to fight anti-immigration legislation like the 2010 “Show Me Your Papers” law known as SB 1070, led the ACLU of Arizona in a successful class-action lawsuit against former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling, and since 2017 has worked with the group Uncage and Reunite Families Coalition to help parents and children who were separated by the US government at the US-Mexico border.

This year, the state legislature sent a proposal to the ballot that is strikingly similar to SB 1070. Reveles sees this as a major step backward, and told The Copper Courier how he would address the humanitarian crisis at the border if elected to the legislature.

“It would be working in collaboration with the US Congress and with the other border-area state legislatures to do a comprehensive immigration reform,” said Reveles. “There is no political will in today’s MAGA Republicans to solve the broken immigration system. And it is broken, admittedly, and so long as it’s not fixed, Arizona and the border states and the other welcoming states will continue to hit their head against the wall with this monstrosity that’s unresolved.”

Always looking forward

At 91, Reveles would be the oldest person elected to the legislature since Polly Rosenbaum, who was also the longest-serving legislator in state history. Her 46 years at the Capitol ended in 1995 at the age of 96.

Like Rosenbaum, who was described as energetic and active even near the end of her tenure, Reveles said he’s up for the challenge being a legislator brings, and was disappointed that fellow Democrats have publicly called for him to “step aside” and clear the path for Haley Creighton, Reveles’ Gen Z challenger in the Democratic Primary.

“I think competition is healthy both in the general and in the primary elections. Then the responsibility is on the public to make a well-informed decision,” said Reveles “It was disappointing, quite frankly for me to read  Kyle Nitschke suggesting that I should consider stepping aside, which means becoming a doormat for Wendy Rogers to walk back into office.”

And if Reveles felt too old for the job, odds are he’d admit it. In early July, the nonagenarian told Cronkite News that President Joe Biden, ten years his junior, should end his reelection bid to preserve his legacy.

Voting in Arizona’s Primary Elections began July 3, and runs through July 30. Should Reveles win the Democratic nomination, he’ll face off against the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 General Election.