Tucson Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez has built a reputation for saying the thing others won’t.
Last year, she publicly questioned whether the ailing then-U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva should continue serving after missing more than 700 votes in Congress. Weeks later, the longtime Tucson Democrat died after 22 years in office.
Hernandez didn’t retreat from her comments and she didn’t apologize. She later threw her full support behind her brother’s run to fill the Congressional District 7 seat in the special election.
It’s a pattern: When Hernandez believes something needs to be said, she says it. Even when it’s uncomfortable, politically risky or guaranteed to draw backlash.
So when the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie flooded local social media and national attention turned toward Tucson, Hernandez watched with growing alarm as coverage spiraled into what she described as a 24/7 circus outside Guthrie’s home, with reporters and independent streamers approaching residents’ homes.
In the rush for constant updates, whispers, rumors and speculation ricocheted across social media, transforming Guthrie’s entire neighborhood into an extended crime scene — and, Hernandez argued, turning Tucson into a global spectacle.
That’s when Hernandez began posting, repeatedly sparring with trolls who she believed were exploiting the situation for clicks.
We sat down with Hernandez over the weekend to discuss how she became the face of media criticism related to the kidnapping of Guthrie. One of her biggest concerns was certain bloggers and influencers were just casually throwing out conspiracy theories that name individuals — even if they were not considered suspects.
“A lot of (Guthrie’s neighbors) were even scared to come out of their homes,” Hernandez said. “People that were innocent just living their normal life in Tucson were somehow now dragged and looked at like they were the kidnappers.“
One streamer with Tucson ties caught Hernandez’s attention. She soon realized he was the same man who once filed a lawsuit against former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords after she was shot in 2011, posing as Jared Lee Loughner.
“I’m like, oh my God, this is the guy who literally tried suing Gabby,” Hernandez said. “It was very troubling that he was getting a lot of the attention like his stuff is real. It became the fight of legacy media versus the streamers and content creators. But I just felt like it was too sensitive of an issue to just kind of let go.”
Her first set of tweets were met with mixed results. Locals, journalists and people close to the family welcomed her comments, calling out reckless social media posts that rarely retracted or corrected unfounded conspiracies.
But there was blowback from supporters of true crime streamers and content creators, telling the state representative and still-very-much a native-born American citizen to “go back to Mexico.”
Conservative media boosted her tweets, putting her on a national stage and inadvertently launching new unfounded conspiracy theories about her … connection to drug cartels?
“I guess Fox News had to put my tweet on their recording, talking about what’s going on here. Of course, that set off a lot of the MAGA crazies who then realize I’m a Democrat, who then realized, oh, she’s also Hispanic, so she must be connected to the drug cartels,” Hernandez said.
That changed the tone of the public discussion from shitty hot takes to threats of violence. At least one was serious enough to catch the attention of law enforcement.
“I did get a death threat notification from (the Arizona Department of Public Safety). They reached out to me. They were trying to assess where it came from,” Hernandez said. “I won’t say I’m used to it, but I was not shocked by it, unfortunately.”
Her restraint drew criticism from some corners, and accusations that she was protecting Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos — despite her well-documented history of publicly clashing with him.
“I’m certainly not going to start attacking the sheriff for trying his best that he can with the resources. Also, resources are a problem in Pima County. We all know this,” Hernandez said, noting deputies don’t have time for “the YouTubers and all these folks who are ordering pizza and doing stupid shit.”
Still, she has no regrets, despite the angry messages and calls and direct threats of violence.
“I had so many people reach out, and I did get a lot of positive feedback,” Hernandez said. “I started getting messages from people, not even just in Arizona, but from all over, saying, thank you for, like, humanizing this.”
For Hernandez, the episode underscored something she says guides both her politics and her public posture: a belief that silence can sometimes do more damage than criticism.
Last week, Hernandez sat for the Arizona State Bar exam — after introducing 16 bills this legislative session. While she was sparring online over media ethics, she was also moving forward with a slate of bread-and-butter policy proposals.
“Every year, I run my feminine hygiene product and diaper (sales tax) exemption bill because these are not luxuries. These things are essentials that people need,” Hernandez said. “I have come to the realization that there are a lot of Democrats, people who I knock on their doors every single day, who bring up the fact that even saving five, ten dollars a month is huge for them.”
She also supports another bill that would ban sales taxes on unprepared food, noting only a handful of cities and towns still charge sales tax on groceries. However, that list includes South Tucson, which is part of her legislative district.
She said she didn’t consult city leadership, but the folks who live in the city of South Tucson probably could really benefit from not having to pay that food tax.
South Tucson officials have openly floated rolling back the tax, in part to incentivize a new business to come into the space vacated by Food City last year.
After eight years at the Capitol, Hernandez has hit her term limits in the House. This year, she’s running for the Legislative District 20 Senate seat. Her only opponent so far is former Tucson City Councilman Rocque Perez, who submitted a statement of interest in December.
A months-long standoff between Pima County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency over unpaid migrant housing costs may finally be winding down.
The federal agency sent the county a letter stating it would pay $5.9 million for expenses the county incurred in its agreement with the Biden administration. It’s perhaps the next best thing to a massive cardboard check for $9.7 million FEMA owes the county.
So what about the $3.8 million difference?
The county said FEMA is still reviewing other reimbursement requests.
Before the county closed its shelter for asylum seekers last year, a billboard greeted arrivals in several languages. (Source: Pima County.)
In a letter to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, County Administrator Jan Lesher said the Pima County Attorney’s Office is monitoring the relevant federal lawsuit (City of Chicago v. FEMA) that has ordered FEMA to pay out outstanding claims.
From Southern Arizona to Iran: Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani described President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran as “holding this dangerous regime accountable,” while Democratic U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva called the attack “completely reckless” and “blatantly unconstitutional.” And Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller says he’s fed up with members of Congress like Ciscomani handing over their constitutional powers without a second thought. Beyond the political rhetoric, Southern Arizona has a deeper tie to the attack on Iran. Missiles made by Raytheon in Tucson, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, are being used by the U.S. military in Iran, KGUN’s Craig Smith reports.
Skyrocketing arrests: Immigration arrests by ICE agents in Arizona jumped from about 200 a month in early 2025 to nearly 1,000 a month by September, the Arizona Luminaria’s Yana Kunichoff reports with Raphael Romero Ruiz of CALÓ News. Most of the roughly 6,000 arrests last year were made at local jails or state prisons, but arrests on the street also jumped from several dozen to several hundred every month.
Singled out: A Tucsonan known as the “mushroom man” is fighting an accusation from federal immigration officials that he failed to disclose a drug arrest when he applied for citizenship. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services didn’t preserve the recording of Hernan Castro’s citizenship interview, which his lawyer says violates his constitutional right to present a complete defense, Paul Ingram reports for the Tucson Sentinel. Castro is the only person in Arizona to be charged with falsely certifying his application form in the last decade.
When local government had nice things: The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan turns 25 years old this year, and it’s a reminder of a time when political battles could actually end up with great results, Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock writes. Back then, environmentalists and pro-growth advocates hashed out their differences and came up with what Morlock calls “the most daring success story in growth management, anywhere in the country.”
That was also back when local journalism was much more robust than it is now. Maybe if you click this button we’ll start to see more daring success stories.
Stepping up: A group of neighbors who live just beyond the area where Pima County maintains roads came together to fix a pothole-ridden road, KGUN’s Vanessa Gongora reports. Drivers had to swerve to miss deep holes on Fuller Road, the main thoroughfare in Three Points, so Larry Worden and Kevin Kassner decided to raise money to fix it. They knocked on doors, posted signs, hit up their Facebook friends and eventually raised more than $5,000, which they spent on material to fill holes on Fuller Road.
"I call that road 100% better than it was before the first effort went into it,” one neighbor said. “Not as bumpy. You can actually get above 10 miles an hour without feeling like you're gonna put your head through the roof of the car.”
Tucson City Councilwoman Nikki Lee wants to start a war with potholes. Don’t tell her that the potholes probably have the numbers on their side.
In her newsletter this week, the two-term Democrat said she wants the city to re-think how it fixes potholes.
Among her suggestions:
Dedicated pothole crews
Surge capacity to fill more potholes during peak times
Using tech to detect cracks in the road, a precursor to potholes
A public facing dashboard so residents can track potholes and their destruction
All laudable goals, but it is unclear whether the cash-strapped city can afford it right now. Even if we are mostly talking about asphalt patches.
To submit a request to fill a pothole, you can dial 311 on your cell.