Jacob Martinez believes age is only a number.

Martinez said he circulated a petition in his elementary school to provide better lunch options at age 9.

He has served on the student council since elementary school, been elected student-body president at every school he has attended, and was chairman of the Arizona Teenage Republicans.

Last year, as a junior at Dobson High School, he became involved in the March For Our Lives student-led push for stricter gun laws in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students and staff dead. The group held protests at the state Capitol last spring and hosted a town hall for gubernatorial candidates in August.

He is also part of Dobson's "We The People" group that hosted a national voter registration drive in the fall, registering more voting-age students than any other Mesa school. Martinez said he registered 200 students in west Mesa himself.

Now, the 17-year-old senior plans to run for Mesa's District 3 City Council seat.

Martinez filed a statement of organization with the city, one of the first steps to run for public office, on Nov. 27. The election is in August 2020.

If elected, Martinez would become the youngest person ever elected to the Mesa City Council at 19. That title is currently held by Councilman Chris Glover, who was 23 when he was sworn into office in 2011.

Political consultants say Martinez will face an uphill battle, not just because of his age but because he will likely face a large pool of candidates, which could include incumbent Francisco Heredia.

Martinez said some may question his candidacy, but he doesn't believe his age puts him at a disadvantage. He touts his youth and previous political experience as two reasons he believes he'll be elected.

History of political activism

Martinez, who works as a clerk at a QuikTrip convenience store, has been politically active for years.

He has served on advisory boards; volunteered for Republican campaigns; served as executive director of American Youth in Politics, a student-run non-profit focused on educating teens about the political process; and is student-body president at Dobson.

He was chairman of the Arizona Teenage Republicans until stepping down in March, and he was a lead organizer of the Arizona chapter of March For Our Lives.

Evolving views

Although city elections are nonpartisan, Martinez doesn't shy away from talking about his changing political views.

He said he first identified with the Republican Party in middle school, partly because of teachers and mentors who were more conservative.

But his experience at the Capitol during the 2018 session and his work with March For Our Lives have caused him to reconsider some of his political beliefs. He said he was discouraged by Republican lawmakers' refusal to meet with student activists.

Martinez said he still believes in Republican tenets such as limited government and fiscal responsibility but has become disillusioned with the intraparty fighting and partisan politics.

"The party is in a weird place right now. So, no, honestly, I don't consider myself a Republican anymore. I'm more interested in how to work together to benefit everyone," he said. "I'm really more center-leaning, probably even a little bit left-leaning."

Martinez said he sees his campaign as a continuation of his political activism and was inspired to run by what he sees as a declining economy in his district.

He said he decided to run for City Council rather than school board, where many young politicians get their start, because he felt he could make a greater impact.

He said he plans to challenge the status quo at the city.

"For the longest time, it has usually been older people who are making all the decisions, but when it comes down to it, it's my generation that's going to be impacted by the decisions that are being made now," he said. "We're the ones that are going to have to face the repercussions and it's better that we get in there now rather than later."

Priorities: economic development, public safety

Martinez, a lifelong resident of west Mesa's District 3, said his top priorities, if elected, would be economic development, especially in the Fiesta District; education; public safety; and infrastructure.

He said Mesa was once an economic and commercial powerhouse in the East Valley with the now-shuttered Tri-City and Fiesta malls. He said the closure of Fiesta Mall affected families in his district and he has seen how difficult it can be for some of his classmates and their families to get by.

He said one of his goals is to bring jobs to the area, and he plans to work with property owners and developers to maximize the space of the old mall and surrounding area. Martinez said one way to attract new businesses is to bring the city into the 21st century by updating and expanding the city's broadband connection and fiber optic network.

Martinez said he would also work to secure increased funding for Mesa Community College and the East Valley Institute of Technology, which are in his district. He said he would also call for student housing near MCC and expanded public transportation to ensure the campus is accessible for students without cars.

He said he would support hiring more public safety officers and providing police and fire with necessary resources using bond money and other funds set aside for public safety.

In terms of infrastructure, he said he would fund road improvement and repaving projects; look at expanding existing roads to reduce traffic flow; and add bicycles lanes.

MORE:Fiesta Mall closing: Here's what's planned at former Mesa retail giant

Getting an early start

Candidate packets won't be available until April but candidates can already begin collecting signatures, City Clerk DeeAnn Mickelsen said.

Candidates in District 3 need to collect at least 250 valid signatures from registered voters in the district to qualify for the ballot, but Mickelsen said she recommends candidates collect twice as many to fend off potential election challenges.

No other candidate has yet created a candidate committee for the 2020 election in District 3.

Although the election is still more than 1½ years away, Martinez said he wants to use this time to walk District 3 and knock on as many doors as possible.

"I need to spend as much time as possible talking to people and getting my message across," he said. "I want to knock on almost every single door in this district and make sure that I understand what the people want to see happen and what they have issues with."

Ryan Winkle, a former city councilman who is advising Martinez's campaign, said knocking on doors in the district contributed to his own 2016 win.

"If he gets out there and talks to people, he has a chance," he said.

Martinez said he also wants to get an early start so that he can better balance his school schedule in the fall.

Martinez will graduate in May from Dobson and plans to enroll in Arizona State University's political science program in the fall. He said he doesn't see it as any different than candidates or officials who work full-time jobs and are running or serve in elected positions.

He said he will re-evaluate his school workload, if elected.

The challenge ahead

If elected, Martinez would be the youngest person ever to serve on the Mesa City Council.

But it's not unheard of for young people to be elected at the municipal level, said Drew Sexton, a Republican political consultant.

Sexton pointed to Glover, the current youngest Mesa councilman, as one example that residents are open to electing young people to the council. Millennials also fared well in local and nationwide races in the 2018 elections, he said.

But Martinez is so young he isn't even considered a millennial. Martinez belongs to Generation Z, those born after 1996.

Still, Sexton said while some may describe young candidates as naive, others are looking for authentic and high-energy candidates like Martinez.

"It can be done," he said.

Sexton said Martinez likely faces an uphill battle, especially if Heredia seeks re-election.

Heredia was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Winkle in District 3 in 2017. The council booted Winkle, a first-term councilman, after he pleaded guilty to a DUI.

Voters elected Heredia to serve the remaining two years of the term in November. He has not yet filed to run for a full four-year term in 2020 but is expected to run again.

"It is incredibly difficult no matter how much support, how much money you have, to beat an incumbent," Sexton said. "We've seen that at the state legislative level all the way down to the municipal level"

He said Heredia not only has name identification, is well known in the community and was just elected, he is also backed by the police and fire associations and has strong ties to the local Democratic party.

The field is also far from set since the election is more than a year away, he said.

However, Sexton said Martinez could benefit from the district's low voter turnout. He said roughly 16,000 voters in District 3 participated in the 2018 election and he estimates about 14,000 to 18,000 voters would head to the polls in 2020.

He said fundraising is a challenge for any campaign, especially for younger candidates who don’t have a large professional network, experience or personal money. But a lower-turnout district means candidates don't need as much money to get their message out. It's also not impossible for candidates, with the help of a volunteer army, to knock on all those doors, he said.

Sexton said that Martinez's work with March For Our Lives could put off voters whose views don't align with the group's, but he could capitalize on the association by creating a network of volunteers and a voter base of students and young people as well as getting national attention.

Martinez said he welcomes the challenge.

"I don't usually think, 'What If I don't win,'" he said. "I've never lost an election. I'm 6-0."

Reach the reporter at paulina.pineda@azcentral.com. Follow her on Twitter: @paulinapineda22.

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