David Schapira makes it official: Next stop, Congress

State Senator David Schapira (D-LD17) ended weeks of speculation Tuesday when he announced that he is running for Congress in Arizona's new 9th Congressional District.

His focus, both personally and politically, has been, is, and will be on education and economic issues.

One of his motivations for running for a Congressional seat is to see that the coming reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind act is handled properly.

Schapira has been a legislator since 2007, serving two terms in the Arizona House before winning a seat in the Arizona State Senate in 2010.  He is also now serving as the captain of the Senate Democrats' softball team Democratic caucus (hey - there's nine of them, and I'm not too proud to go for the obvious punch line :) ).

In addition to that, currently he is a member of the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board.

Even before his first election, Schapira was already a public servant, working as a high school teacher.

In addition to his legislative duties over the last few years, he has been a small business owner and an instructor at Arizona State University.

Schapira was born in west Mesa and lives in Tempe with his wife Rosemary and their two daughters.

His campaign website is here.

A few pics from his announcement event Tuesday night -

In case you're more of a visual learner.

Schapira greeting some supporters (OK, family :) )

Rosemary Schapira introducing her husband

The next Congressman from Arizona, and the first from Arizona's 9th District, speaking to the crowd of supporters (crowd's the right word, too - more than 150 people attended)

Schapira and his friend and colleague, Representative Ed Ableser

Schapira talking to Tim Palmer of Tempe










My favorite two pics from the night aren't of the people (though there were many great people there), but it is of the cake from Honeymoon Sweets in Tempe -

Before

After :))