Ryan Randazzo
Arizona Republic
Quacy Smith, a lawyer and retired Marine and former police officer, has announced he will run for Congress as a Democrat in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Rep. Paul Gosar serves.
Smith, a partner in Smith & Green law firm, is known in Arizona for representing clients in high-profile criminal cases.
The Buckeye resident served in the Marines from 1995 to 2000 and worked for the Blythe, Calif., police department from 2006-2011, where he grew up along the Colorado River, according to his personal biography.
He also worked for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, he said, while earning his law degree at night, which he used to open his own firm in 2017. He also is a bishop with Grace Unlimited International Church in California.
The western Arizona district that stretches from the West Valley south to Yuma and north to the borders of Nevada and Utah should be represented by a moderate who can work with both parties, Smith said. Gosar didn’t face a Democratic opponent in the 2022 election, which followed a redrawing of districts.
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