Michelle Lujan Grisham

Michelle Lujan Grisham (; born October 24, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 32nd governor of New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, Lujan Grisham previously served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2013 to 2019. Lujan Grisham served as the state secretary of health from 2004 to 2007 and as a Bernalillo County commissioner from 2010 to 2012. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, defeating Janice Arnold-Jones. In 2016, Lujan Grisham was selected as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She won the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico in 2018 and defeated Republican Steve Pearce on November 6, 2018. She was reelected in 2022. Early life and education Michelle Lynn Lujan was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico and grew up in Santa Fe. Her father, Llewellyn Eugene "Buddy" Lujan, practiced dentistry into his eighties until he died in March 2011. Her mother, Sonja Lee (née Jackson), was a homemaker originally from Indiana who died in 2022. Her sister Kimberly was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of two and died at 21. Lujan Grisham says that her ancestors have inhabited New Mexico for 12 generations. She is part of the prominent Lujan political family in New Mexico, many of whose members have served in elected and appointed positions in government.