Raúl Torrez

Raúl Torrez
Raúl Torrez
32nd Attorney General of New Mexico
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 1, 2023
Governor	Michelle Lujan Grisham
Preceded by	Hector Balderas
District Attorney of Bernalillo County
	In office; January 1, 2017 – January 1, 2023
Preceded by	Kari Brandenburg
Succeeded by	Sam Bregman
Personal details
Born	July 24, 1976 (age 48); Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nasha
Children	2
Education	Harvard University (AB); London School of Economics (MS); Stanford University (JD)

Raúl Torrez (born July 24, 1976)^[1]^[2] is an American lawyer and politician from New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, Torrez is the Attorney General of New Mexico.

Early life and education

Torrez's father, Presiliano Torrez, was a federal prosecutor and his mother taught Spanish at Sandia Preparatory School. He graduated from Sandia Prep, and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude^[3] with a Bachelor of Arts in government. He earned a Master of Science in international political economy from the London School of Economics,^[4] and then worked for the Cesar Chavez Foundation in Los Angeles before attending Stanford Law School, earning his Juris Doctor.^[3]^[4]

After graduating from law school in 2005, Torrez became an assistant district attorney in Valencia County, New Mexico. The next year, he took a job in the office of the New Mexico attorney general. In 2008, Torrez was chief counsel to Ben Luján, the speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives, and then he served as a White House Fellow in the class of 2009–2010 during the presidency of Barack Obama.^[3]^[5] He returned to Albuquerque to work in the United States attorney's office and operated a solo law firm.^[3]

Torrez won the Democratic Party nomination for district attorney of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, in 2016. He won the general election without opposition from a Republican.^[6]^[7]

With Hector Balderas unable to run for reelection as New Mexico Attorney General in the 2022 election due to term limits, Torrez announced his candidacy to succeed him in May 2021.^[8] Torrez won the Democratic nomination, defeating New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colón,^[9] and faced Republican Jeremy Gay.^[10] Torrez defeated Gay in the general election.^[11]

Torrez's wife, Nasha, is also an attorney and is a dean at the University of New Mexico.^[3] They have two children.^[4]

2022 New Mexico Attorney General election^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Raúl Torrez	388,592	55.3
	Republican	Jeremy Gay	314,023	44.6
Total votes			702,615	100.0

Legal offices
Preceded by Hector Balderas	Attorney General of New Mexico 2023–present	Incumbent