Georgene Louis


Georgene Louis is an attorney and politician, elected as a Democratic member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, representing District 26. Louis was first elected in 2012 and began serving in 2013 as the first Pueblo woman in the legislature. She is the chair of the House State Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee and is also a member of the House Judiciary and Rules & Order of Business Committees. She was re-elected to a fourth 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.

Biography

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 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.

Honors