On Thursday, Governor Doug Ducey announced that he would be shuffling the former Arizona Speaker of the House Andy Tobin away from the Arizona Corporation Commission to serve as Director of the Arizona Department of Administration. Ducey announced he is replacing Tobin with failed congressional candidate Lea Marquez Peterson.
Ducey said he was “thrilled to be able to bring Andy back into our administration.”
Before his appointment to the Commission in 2015 by Ducey, Tobin served as the director of the Arizona Department of Insurance and the interim director of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. Prior to those appointments, he served as director of the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures.
Marquez Peterson is best known for her unsuccessful bid for the CD2 seat in 2018.
Marquez Peterson served as the CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce before running for Congress. During her tenure the chamber grew from 300 member businesses to over 1,800. Shortly before Marquez Peterson’s departure, the chamber had become a shadow of its former self.
Prior to joining the chamber, Marquez Peterson served as Executive Director for Greater Tucson Leadership.
In 2017, Marquez Peterson was recognized with a Top Latino Leader Award by the National Latino Leadership Conference. Prior to that, she was appointed by the Obama administration to the National Woman’s Business Council (NWBC) a group that advises the President, Congress and the Small Business Administration on challenges facing women-owned businesses.