Our Elected Officials

“AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, I’VE BEEN GUIDED BY THE WORDS I SPOKE FROM THE FIRST TIME I STOOD IN A COURTROOM: KAMALA HARRIS, FOR THE PEOPLE.”

KAMALA HARRIS, AUGUST 19, 2020

Luján, a Democrat, was elected in November 2020 has served since Jan 3, 2021. Luján is up for reelection in 2026.

He was previously the representative for Congressional District 3 in northern New Mexico from 2009 to 2020.

His official governmental website: https://www.lujan.senate.gov/

Soon after taking office in January, 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales to take charge of the State Public Education Department (PED). He did that until a permanent Secretary later could be named, Dr. Karen Trujillo. During that period, Howie Morales joined the Governor in calling for a historic $500 million budget investment in public school classrooms, part of the Governor’s “Education Moonshot”.

In the past, PED saw itself as a policeman of schools. Lt. Governor Morales pushed for a lasting culture shift at PED, to ensure that from now on, the agency which oversees more than 850 public schools will serve those schools and teachers in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation; lifting up schools that struggle, not shutting them down. The Governor issued her first two executive orders during that time, eliminating future use of the PARCC standardized test in New Mexico classrooms.

Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales, raised in Silver City, New Mexico, has spent his whole life working to improve the lives of people in his community and across our state. He served in the New Mexico Legislature on the Legislative Finance Committee for 11 years. A classroom teacher and proven leader who stands up for seniors and public education, he said “No more cuts to New Mexico’s classrooms.” Howie Morales has fought to protect our most vulnerable communities and local schools, to build a fair economy that works for all of us, and to move New Mexico forward.

Howie learned the value of a dollar at an early age. His father was a Vietnam Veteran who worked in the copper mine while his mother worked multiple hourly-wage jobs. He went to work as a teenager to help provide for the family and later worked as a shoe salesman and maintenance worker to put himself through Western New Mexico University. The first in his family to go to college, Howie went on to earn a PhD in education from NMSU.

Howie went home to instruct students in special education in Silver City and Cobre School Districts and became active in the community. He coached local high school baseball teams to state championships and is the longest serving volunteer of Big Brothers/Big Sisters in New Mexico, while raising two children ages 6 and 9. Howie earned the trust of his neighbors and was elected Grant County Clerk, where he modernized voting systems to make sure every vote counted.

Since 2008, Howie has been an aggressive leader for children and classrooms in the State Senate, fighting for his district, and to make every corner of New Mexico a better place to live. He has pushed for progressive policies such as universal health care. He fought for rural and tribal economic development, and he fought to protect veterans’ and senior services across the state, and mental health programs.

An experienced leader with solutions, Howie Morales has a solid record helping to lead the effort to meet our state’s big challenges for better jobs and wages, and real improvements to public education.

The Office of Lt. Governor Howie Morales is located on the 4th floor of the New Mexico State Capitol in Room 417.

Address:
490 Old Santa Fe Trail Room 417
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: (505) 476-2250

​​Hector Balderas is serving his second term as New Mexico’s Attorney General and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. As the chief law enforcement officer and chief civil officer for the State of New Mexico, Hector has transformed the Office of the Attorney General to focus on keeping our children and families safe, empowering New Mexican families and small businesses for financial success, and protecting New Mexico’s pristine environment.

As Attorney General, Balderas transformed the Special Prosecutions Division, Special Investigations Division, New Mexico Human Trafficking Task Force, and expanded the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in a successful effort to combat the most dangerous offenders, violent sexual predators, and corrupt politicians. Balderas has secured convictions for victims of unspeakable acts of sexual and other violence around the state, and secured the first state level conviction of a statewide elected official and another against a former legislator. Balderas’ Criminal Appeals Division has also obtained several landmark Supreme Court opinions that have kept New Mexico’s most violent criminals in prison.

Attorney General Balderas has achieved unprecedented victories for New Mexicans in civil courts by securing the largest Tobacco Settlement payment in state history and tens of millions of dollars in settlements from large corporations for preying on New Mexicans. Balderas is also aggressively litigating against the opioid industry and made New Mexico the first state to sue opioid distributors, in addition to manufacturers, for inundating New Mexico with highly addictive opioids that have devastated the state for decades.

After law school Hector became a Bernalillo County Assistant District Attorney, was elected to a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives at age 29, and then served two terms as New Mexico’s State Auditor. As State Auditor, Balderas had oversight of $60 billion in assets collectively held by over 1,000 government entities in New Mexico. He immediately pursued an aggressive agenda designed to protect taxpayer funds and hold government agencies accountable. During his time as State Auditor, Hector’s effort to target corruption yielded historic results. His special audits and investigations exposed rampant financial mismanagement of taxpayer funds throughout many government agencies and schools.

Brian Colón was elected State Auditor of New Mexico in November 2018 with decisive wins during both the primary and general elections. As State Auditor, Brian is committed to bringing awareness to the important work of the office that uncovers fraud, waste, and abuse in agencies and entities statewide.

Raised in Los Lunas, Bosque Farms, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brian learned the value of hard work, determination, and the sustaining power of an optimistic attitude from his parents. Although he lost his father when he was a teenager, Brian hasn’t forgotten the many lessons he received, particularly the importance of education.

The first in his family to go to college, Brian received his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from New Mexico State University and later earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. He has practiced law since 2001, but his top priority has always been one of service and a desire to give back to his community.

Brian has been called a “force in fundraising” because he is able to inspire others to get involved. His evenings and weekends are spent helping local cultural and community-focused nonprofits raise money to support their causes or meeting with the young women and men he mentors. Brian knows first-hand the power of mentoring and the difference it can make in strengthening our communities.

While he is a dedicated community ambassador and civil servant, Brian’s true treasures are his family. For more than 22 years, Brian has been married to Aleli Colón, an educator at Van Buren Middle School, a current doctoral candidate with a Civil Engineering degree and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics. Together they have one son, Rafael, a graduate of Albuquerque High School, currently a junior attending The George Washington University on a Presidential Scholarship, studying Biomedical Engineering. His sister, Cheryl Colón, recently moved to Albuquerque to come home and be close to Brian and his family.