Quantá Crews appointed to Democratic seat in Arizona Legislature by Maricopa supervisors

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misidentified the church where Quantá Crews is a minister.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has selected Quantá Crews to fill a vacancy in the Arizona House of Representatives.

The board voted 4-0 to appoint Crews, a real estate appraiser who has also worked in the property tax assessment field for various government offices. She's also a minister at the Historic Tanner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Phoenix. She holds a bachelor's degree in history and behavioral science from Grand Canyon University.

Crews is no stranger to the appointment process. Last month, she was one of three candidates considered for the Senate vacancy that ultimately went to now-Sen. Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, who gave up his House seat in the west-central Phoenix Legislative District 26 for the move and created the vacancy filled Monday.

By law, replacements must come from the same party as the person leaving a legislative seat.

Crews was nominated by Supervisor Steve Gallardo, whose district includes the legislative district. He noted her array of experience and said she "has a thumb on the critical issues facing Legislative District 26 and the state of Arizona."

He also noted the diversity Crews will bring to the Legislature. She will become one of two African American lawmakers and the only Black Democrat at the Capitol.

"Thank you District 26 and my family and friends in the community. I am so honored and so thankful for you guys appointing me and giving me this opportunity to serve. I look forward to working with the Leg and Gov. Katie Hobbs and her staff to move Arizona forward," Crews told board members after the vote.

The appointment will bring the 60-member House of Representatives back to full strength, just in time for a scheduled June 12 resumption of legislative work.

County boards of supervisors, by law, are authorized to fill legislative vacancies. With this appointment, that will have happened three times in the last month.

The other candidates considered by the Board of Supervisors were:

• Christian Solorio is a studio leader with the Architectural Resource Team and has worked on numerous affordable-housing projects in the metro area. He was appointed to the House in late 2021 to fill a vacancy but lost in a four-way primary last August for two House seats.Solorio earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Arizona State University.

• Veronica Monge has worked as office manager for several legal firms, including those run by former Attorney General Terry Goddard and former Maricopa County attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle. Monge also volunteered as office manager for the Stop Dark Money campaign, one of Goddard's key projects. She is working on a bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice from ASU.

This won't be the last legislative seat to turn over this year. House Minority Leader Andrés Cano, D-Tucson, announced last month that he will resign his seat when the Legislature wraps up its regular session.

Cano was accepted into the Harvard Kennedy School in Boston. His eventual departure will trigger not only another legislative replacement, but also an election among House Democrats for a new leader.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa supervisors pick Quantá Crews for seat in AZ Legislature