Democrat Marco López relies on work ethic in long-sought run for Arizona Governor's Office

When he was a boy, Marco López often witnessed his parents at the dining table in their Nogales home, doing the bills for his mom's candy store and his father's plumbing jobs.

From the sofa where he slept — his sisters claimed the home's second bedroom — López witnessed a work ethic that has driven his career in public service and the private sector. He's made it a central focus of his pitch to voters in his bid to become Arizona's next governor.

"This is the example that they set," said López, who is seeking the Democratic nomination. "I was awake, they were working. I was going to sleep, they were working. When I woke up, they were working."

López has long sought the state's top elected office, vowing as a 22-year-old mayor of his hometown that he'd be governor by 40.

At 44, a few years past that goal, López's vision for Arizona includes a $2.5 billion education spending plan and a promise of equity, to focus on economic opportunities for the state's lower and middle class residents.

If elected, López would be Arizona's second Latino governor — and first in 45 years. Former Gov. Raúl Castro left the office in 1977 after he was tapped to serve as ambassador to Argentina. López is the only candidate of color in the race and the only one running a bilingual campaign.

Arizona primary is Aug. 2: Everything you need to know to vote in the election

He highlights that diversity as he seeks to cast himself opposite Republican candidates who speak about the border in divisive terms and apart from his Democratic opponent whose campaign was stained by a discrimination case.

"The real strength of our border is the economic potential that it has that is unmet, and it's unfulfilled," López said. 

"Maybe I appreciate it more because I'm an immigrant and I'm a son of immigrants, and I grew up in that in that ecosystem. But none of the other candidates have that diversity themselves or understanding."

'I'm here. What do you need?'

López's parents immigrated to Nogales five decades ago, and his mother returned to Mexico to give birth because health care was much cheaper, López said. López is the middle of three children and only boy, and he became a naturalized citizen in 1994 when he was 16.

Around that time, he was at a job site with his father drilling concrete to run a pipe through.

"He remembers me saying, 'I don't like this work, dad,'" López recalled. "He said, 'Look, if you want to do something beyond this, you've got to work hard and get a good education.' I always heard that from my parents, but it was just a reminder that at every step ... education is the key."

López was drawn to politics because he saw it as a way to affect people's lives. He worked as a page for U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Arizona, in Washington, D.C., as a teenager, and for then-presidential candidate Al Gore's campaign. López earned a degree in liberal studies and political science at the University of Arizona.

At 22, he sought his first public office and was elected mayor of Nogales, his hometown. He tapped a university classmate, Juan Pablo Guzman, to join his administration.

The hallmark of López's tenure as mayor was an approach that helped residents understand the city, and that helped state and national leaders — both in the U.S. and Mexico — understand it too, Guzman said. López's diplomacy built connections with government leaders, and his shoe leather opened City Hall to residents.

Where they stand:What Arizona's governor candidates say about the border, elections, abortion

As mayor, López frequently appeared on call-in radio programs and continued going door to door with city leaders, as if he were still campaigning. Guzman would often accompany López on those trips, popping into homes during telenovelas or dinner hours.

López wanted to let residents know, "I'm here, what do you need?” Guzman recalled. 

“People were happy to see us, they were impressed," Guzman said. "It was very satisfying to see that people were embracing of that program.” Guzman, now the Superior Court clerk in Santa Cruz County, spoke about working with López but stressed he could not endorse any candidate in the race.

After three years as mayor, former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano named López to lead the Arizona-Mexico Commission, charging him with revitalizing the ties between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, in particular. Napolitano again named him to lead the Arizona Department of Commerce several years later.

Having become a trusted adviser to Napolitano on Mexican and Latin America affairs, López was one of several staffers who followed her to Washington, D.C., after she was appointed by Barack Obama as secretary of homeland security. 

López served as chief of staff for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, helping lead the immigration law enforcement agency whose officers he'd grown up around.

In Washington, D.C., López saw that bureaucrats and businesses weren't able to handily navigate between American and Mexican cultures, the way he'd learned to do with ease growing up on the border.

So in 2011, he left the administration for the private sector to fill that gap, launching consulting firms to help U.S.-based companies grow in Mexico and help Mexican companies grow in the U.S. 

López's companies, International Strategic Solutions and International Business Solutions, count several high-profile clients and projects in their portfolio. Doing business as Intermestic Capital, López helped launch SkyBridge Arizona, a cargo hub and joint U.S.-Mexico customs facility in development in Mesa.

The Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, is another client. López served on the board of EveryoneOn and helped advise its flagship program Connect2Compete, an effort to get affordable broadband internet to low income families. About 1 million people have gotten online through the program, a partnership that Slim helped start, according to EveryoneOn.

Despite his business success, López, who is single and now lives in Phoenix, counts his mayorship two decades ago — when he was commonly noted to be one of the youngest mayors in America — among his proudest accomplishments. He hopes it set an example for other young people about what they can accomplish.

"And when I was mayor I was always very careful that I acted and responded in such a way so that I wouldn't ruin it for other young people behind me, because I didn't want ... me to be used against them as a bad example of leadership," López  said.

López won an endorsement from Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund, a leading advocacy group for social justice and equity issues, in December.

“Marco has the executive experience needed to deliver real results for all Arizonans, including longtime, new and future residents,” said David Adame, board chairman of the advocacy group.

Controversy with bribery scandal

López's international business connections came under scrutiny last year after two investigative news reports revealed his company received about $35,000 connected to a massive international bribery scandal.

U.S. prosecutors charged that Odebrecht, a construction contracting firm based in Brazil, paid government officials and political parties in a dozen countries, using a department within the company that "effectively functioned as a stand-alone bribe department." One of those recipients was an adviser to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Emilio Lozoya, who later began cooperating with authorities.

Lozoya told investigators in mid-2020 that Peña Nieto, on whose campaign Lozoya worked, and a top aide ordered him to use the bribe money to pay consultants working on the campaign and on policy. One payment went to López's company, and reporting by the Arizona Agenda newsletter raised questions whether López should have seen red flags about how the payments were handled.

Who else is running:These are the major candidates in the race for Arizona governor

López said at the time he served as an informal adviser to Peña Nieto, denying wrongdoing and saying he knew nothing of the bribery scheme. In an interview, he dismissed the reports as a politically motivated and racist attack against him and his success. 

Yet one López supporter revoked her endorsement after the payment came to light. Sophia Carrillo Dahl, president of the Creighton School District board and co-chair of the Latino outreach committee with Maricopa County Democrats, endorsed López last year. 

But Carrillo Dahl, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, said she couldn't support someone tied to the "oppression and corruption" of the Peña Nieto regime. López didn't disclose his connection when he was seeking her support, and that bothered Carrillo Dahl, who revoked her endorsement.

“If he’s not going to be transparent in the little things, how is he going to be transparent in the bigger things?” she said.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Follow her on Twitter @sbarchenger.

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