Angela Cotera

Dr. Angela Cotera, an astrophysicist, calls herself "literally the person who would have never run for office without Emerge."  Her extensive research background includes working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope, in collaboration with scientists from around the world. She has also conducted research at the Steward Observatory, part of the University of Arizona. She is a co-founder of GCNEWS, passing that group on to the next generation of leaders at the 26^th Assembly of International Astronomical Union (the meeting where Pluto got demoted).

In the fall of 2006, frustrated by the actions of our local, state and national political leaders, Angela decided to start getting involved with her local community. She joined the Planning and Zoning Commission and ran for State Senate in 2008. Angela was not successful in this first race, but actually received the third highest number of votes for any Democrat in the Senate races in Arizona. This accomplishment motivated her to throw her hat back in the race for the State House for 2010.

As she launches her second campaign for State House, Angela believes that Emerge Arizona "opened doors to incredible networks of people," many of whom she sees at other democratic committees and functions around the state. "Without Emerge, I never would have known what to do nor had the confidence to run. It has taken me from relative obscurity to a concrete campaign plan," she remarks. In fact, she even hired one of her fellow Emerge program members to help manage her first campaign. 

Angela has a challenging campaign ahead of her, but has demonstrated that she has the passion and strength to accomplish great things.

Learn more about her campaign at www.cotera4az.com