Georgene Louis

Georgene Louis (Acoma Pueblo) is an attorney and politician, elected as a Democratic member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, representing District 26. Elected in 2012 as the first Pueblo woman to serve in the legislature, she has served since 2013 as vice-Chair of the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee. She was re-elected to a second term in 2014.
Working in the field of tribal law, Louis is a graduate of Emerge New Mexico, a candidate training program for Democratic Party women.

Georgene Louis was born and grew up in the Acoma Pueblo. She credits her parents as life mentors, and has said they supported her to finish school after she bore a daughter while in high school. Louis graduated with her class, earned her undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico in four years, and graduated from its law school. She has said family, friends, teachers, and community leaders all encouraged her to finish high school and continue with higher education.

Louis has worked in the field of tribal law. After joining the Democratic Party (United States) and wanting to run for electoral office, she is among the women who have received candidate training in the seven-month program Emerge New Mexico. It enlists other women in office to teach "new candidates how to run a campaign, from fundraising to public speaking to shaping a platform." Five of its alumni were elected to office in New Mexico in 2012. As of 2015, Louis is one of five Native American legislators in the State House; two serve in the State Senate.

Louis represents District 26, which includes part of West Albuquerque and has a high number of Latino residents. The district has about 30,000 people, of whom 4% are Native American.

In 2014 a record number of Native American women ran for office in New Mexico, including in districts without a high proportion of Native Americans, like District 26, and for statewide positions. They are part of a wave of Native Americans becoming more active in electoral politics outside their tribes and reservations.

• Inaugural Achievement Award, Indian Law Section, State Bar of New Mexico, 2013 (cite for this and following entries)
• Emerging Democratic Woman of the Year, Emerge New Mexico, 2013
• Toll Fellow, Council of State Governments, 2013
• 40 Under Forty Honoree, Albuquerque Business First, 2013
• Award Nominee, American Council of Young Political Leaders, 2013

• Bio: "Georgene Louis", Project Vote Smart, 2016; accessed 28 June 2016