David Schapira

David Schapira (born February 17, 1980) is the Assistant Superintendent of the East Valley Institute of Technology, who is better known by his time as an Arizona elected official. He served from 2007–2013 in the Arizona Legislature, where he was most recently the Minority Leader of the Arizona State Senate, representing the cities of Tempe and South Scottsdale in Legislative District 17. In 2010, he was elected to the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board. In 2014, he was elected to the Tempe City Council where he currently serves.

Schapira is a third-generation Arizonan who was born in Mesa, Arizona. He later moved to Tempe and then Phoenix, where he attended North Canyon High School after which he attended George Washington University, earning a degree in political science. He returned to North Canyon High School to teach after college. Additionally, he has worked as an adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University.

Schapira first entered the Arizona Legislature in 2006 as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing the 17th district. He served two terms in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2010. As a freshman Senator, he was selected by his colleagues to serve as the Senate Minority Leader.

He served on the Appropriations Committee for his first five years in office and on the Education Committee all six years. He was the Education Committee's ranking member for his last two terms in the House and Senate, respectively. He also served on the Banking and Insurance Committee during his final year in office.

On August 28, 2012, Schapira lost a race for the Democratic nomination to Congress in the newly created 9th district, placing second with 29.97% to Kyrsten Sinema who got 40.78% in the three-way primary. Sinema received 47.5% of the votes to win the seat.