Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Pursues a Brighter Future
Being a political trailblazer is in Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s DNA.
Her grandfather Eugene D. Lujan was one of the first Hispanic justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court. In 2019, she made history as the first Democratic Latina elected governor in the United States.
Lujan Grisham’s successes for New Mexicans—investing in high-quality education from early childhood through college, reaching historic economic growth, setting ambitious climate goals—come from the relationships she’s built during her forty-year career. She is honest about the challenges that lie ahead and the conversations that need to happen.
For Lujan Grisham, to be a leader is to represent your community. She sees her responsibility, her legacy, to uplift the next generation of Latinos and Latinas. To have our elected officials better represent America.
It’s a challenging path, but it’s one worth pursuing.
We want to hear from you. Tune in, subscribe and don’t forget to leave a review.
For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast episode.
About Our Guest
Michelle Lujan Grisham is the thirty-second governor of the state of New Mexico and the first Democratic Hispanic woman to be elected governor in U.S. history. Her second term began in 2023.
Whether it’s fighting climate change or fighting crime, increasing opportunities in education or the economy, Gov. Lujan Grisham has retained an unprecedented record in enacting real, lasting change for New Mexico families and communities.
Under Gov. Lujan Grisham, New Mexico made historic progress toward guaranteeing a high-quality education for all New Mexicans from cradle to career.
In her first term, Gov. Lujan Grisham led the creation of one of the nation’s first cabinet-level state agencies dedicated solely to early childhood education and care and helped secure stable funding sources for generations to come through the Early Childhood Trust Fund and Land Grant Permanent Fund. These investments have made a majority of New Mexico families eligible for free child care, established universal free PreK for four-year-olds, and increased wages for child care workers.
In 2023, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to pass Universal Healthy Meals, ensuring that every child in the state receives two healthy meals every school day for free. The Lujan Grisham administration also increased required instructional hours in schools around the state to 1,190 hours. The Governor has also made historic increases in educator salaries in her tenure and continues to prioritize educator quality of life.
The governor’s dedication to closing gaps in educational access and outcomes in New Mexico also extends to higher education, and New Mexico is the proud home to the nation’s most expansive free college program. Since its creation in 2019, the Opportunity Scholarship has helped more than 45,000 New Mexicans pursue higher education at colleges and universities around the state.
Key investments by Gov. Lujan Grisham in businesses, the workforce and families have resulted in historic economic growth, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue by expanding New Mexico’s film industry, legalizing recreational cannabis, and attracting international tech and manufacturing partners to the state. Under her leadership, New Mexico experienced its highest job numbers ever and the lowest unemployment rate since 2007. The governor also expanded the Working Families Tax Credit, enacted the Child Tax Credit and enacted the first Gross Receipts Tax cut in 40 years, putting millions of dollars back in New Mexican’s pockets.
A staunch advocate of environmental policy and sustainable development, Gov. Lujan Grisham has successfully put in place policies and investments driving sustainability and combating climate change while strengthening the economy. In one of her first actions as Governor, she signed an executive order setting the ambitious statewide target of a 45% reduction in net emissions by 2030. In 2019, she signed the Energy Transition Act setting zero-carbon resources standards for investor-owned utilities by 2045 and rural electric cooperatives by 2050. New Mexico is now home to nationally leading oil and gas regulations eliminating millions of pounds of harmful emissions. The administration adopted Clean Car Rules in 2021 and the governor announced in 2023 her intention to enact Advanced Clean Car Rules. She established New Mexico’s first-ever climate investment center and in 2023 welcomed Singapore-based Maxeon Technologies to New Mexico, which is set to construct the first U.S. based solar-cell manufacturing facility.
In 2023, she also signed an executive order to achieve a zero-emission state vehicle fleet for New Mexico.
Gov. Lujan Grisham currently serves as a member of the National Governors Association executive committee. She was a founding member of the Reproductive Freedom Alliance and also serves on the Alliance’s executive committee. She is the Vice-Chair of the Western Governors’ Association, co-chair elect of the United States Climate Alliance, and co-chair of the Council of Governors Emergency Management and Disaster Response Work Group. In 2021, she served as co-chair for the Biden-Harris transition team.
Gov. Lujan Grisham was born in Los Alamos and graduated from St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe and earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of New Mexico. Before her time as governor, she served as the New Mexico Secretary of Health under Gov. Bill Richardson. She also spent three terms representing New Mexico’s District 1 in the US House and served as chair of the House Hispanic Caucus.
A 12th-generation New Mexican, she is the mother of two adult children, grandmother of three, owner of dogs Java, Mocha, Latte and Salty and cat Curry. In May of 2022 she married her long-time fiancé, Manuel Cordova.
