Tolleson Mayor-elect Anna Tovar is the first woman elected to the post and the first new mayor in 22 years.
By Adrian Hedden | The Republic
Anna Tovar watched in disbelief from her hospital bed in Phoenix as smoke and dust emanated from the World Trade Center and the twin towers fell to the ground.
Tovar had just awoken from her first bone-marrow transplant on Sept. 11, 2001, one month after being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and two months after she was first elected to the Tolleson City Council.
She saw the newscasters on the brink of hysterics and thought she was watching a movie. Later, Tovar said it felt like waking up to an alternate universe.