Sen. Amanda Aguirre has spent her professional life advocating for the needs of families in rural communities. Through her work with non-profits, she gave voice to the most underserved population in Arizona. "For many years I had been coming to the legislature advocating for funding and assistance for those families...the most needy...," she says.

In 2003, after prodding from a friend in the legislature, Aguirre decided that she could serve her community even more effectively as a lawmaker herself. After being appointed to a vacant state House seat, she ran and won the next election and eventually moved on to the state Senate in 2006, where she continues to serve today.

Sen. Aguirre also made history by becoming the first Latina elected to the Arizona state legislature from her district, and only the second Latino to run at all. "It was quite a challenge to run in my county," she says. The first and only other Latino to run was all the way back in 1876, when Arizona was still a territory. And the district has traditionally been heavily Anglo, making it even more difficult for a minority candidate to run, let alone win a seat.

Her journey into public service would likely not have been possible only a short time ago. Sen. Aguirre is not independently wealthy. She does not have access to lists of big money political donors. Prior to the passage of the Arizona Clean Elections Act in 1998, the lack of these credentials would have stopped most potential candidates before they even filed the necessary paperwork to run for public office. This legislation allows candidates to run for office without having to spend all of their time raising money from special interests and well-heeled donors. Under Clean Elections, candidates show community support by collecting a set number of $5 donations. Once qualified, candidates must adhere to strict spending limits and forgo all private fundraising. Thanks to the Clean Elections law, she had the only real requisites you need: the desire to serve her community and the willingness to get her hands dirty on the grassroots.

Sen. Aguirre, whose background is working for health care-centered non-profit organizations, readily acknowledges the fact that she couldn't have run and won without Clean Elections. "I'm a working mom, raised two kids...I just don't have the big cash behind me to spend $50K or $60K or maybe $100K in a campaign." The Clean Elections systems allows anyone with a desire to serve and a baseline level of support to run for public office, regardless of who they know and how many zeroes come on each pay check. And the benefits are not just for the candidates, but for the people they seek to serve as well.

The people of her district also appreciate the benefits of the Clean Elections program. Not only do they see a lot of their representative, they also have the opportunity to voice their concerns directly to the Senator. "You listen all the time," she says. This mutually beneficial relationship allows Sen. Aguirre to better understand the needs of her district and, in turn, allows her district to be better served in the legislature.

Since her initial appointment, Sen. Aguirre has used the Clean Elections program in every election and has recommended it to others who have gone on to serve as well. In her district alone, three women have sought and won elective office, and all ran using the Clean Elections system. This mirrors what we've seen in other Clean Elections systems and according to Sen. Aguirre, "for women (and minorities), it makes a difference." And thanks in large part to publicly financed elections, public servants like Sen. Aguirre can make a difference for their constituents as well.