Brian S. Colón is an American lawyer and politician who served as the

New Mexico state auditor The state auditor of New Mexico is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Twenty-eight individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Brian Colón, a De ...

from 2019 to 2023. He is the former chairman of the

Democratic Party of New Mexico The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Jessica Velasquez, Vice Chair Manny Crespin, Secretary Pamelya Herndon, and Tr ...

. In 2010, he ran for and lost his bid for

Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico The lieutenant governor of New Mexico ( es, Lista de Vicegobernadores de Nuevo México) is an elected official in the state of New Mexico that ranks just below the governor of New Mexico. The lieutenant governor is the first person in the order of ...

. He has chaired Popejoy Hall's board of directors and has served with the board of trustees for the Albuquerque Community Foundation. On November 6, 2018, he defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Wayne Johnson in the general election for New Mexico state auditor. He was an unsuccessful candidate for

Attorney General of New Mexico The Attorney General of New Mexico, an elected executive officer of the state, oversees the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and serves as head of the New Mexico Department of Justice. The officeholder, who is required to be a licensed attor ...

in the 2022 election.

Early life and education

Colón is of Puerto Rican descent. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and moved to

Valencia County, New Mexico Valencia County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 76,569. The county seat is Los Lunas. Valencia County is included in the Albuquerque, NM Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county was a si ...

as a child. He was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

in 1998 after spending 10 years taking courses and starting a number of small businesses to pay his way through school. He then entered the

University of New Mexico School of Law The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1947, it is the first and only law school in the state. ...

and earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 2001.

Career

In 2004, Colón was named Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year by the

State Bar of New Mexico The State Bar of New Mexico (SBNM) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The State Bar of New Mexico first met on January 19, 1886 in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a voluntary professional organizati ...

and one of New Mexico's Forty Under 40 Power Brokers by the New Mexico Business Weekly. Colón has served on the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association's Board of Directors since 2001 and is a member of the

American Inns of Court American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approx ...

. Colón has also served on the

’s Committee on Diversity since 2003, and is a board member for the New Mexico College Success Network. He has been a board member for the

Alumni Association, is active in Aggies for Legislation, and has twice been appointed by Governor

Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...

as a commissioner for the Judicial Selection Commission. Colón is the Managing Partner of Singleton Schreiber’s New Mexico offices, practicing in the areas of transactional negotiations, personal injury, medical malpractice, inadequate security, products liability, insurance bad faith, and corporate transactions. Colón also has extensive experience in working with local, state and federal elected officials in order to assist individuals and organizations with their various agendas.Robles, Rael & Anaya

Chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party

Prior to his run for lieutenant governor, he served as chairman of the

, resigning in October 2009 after serving two and a half years. During his tenure as chairman, Democrats picked up two Congressional seats, a

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat, six seats in the

New Mexico Legislature The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate. History The Ne ...

, and a majority of the popular vote in the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

2010 gubernatorial election

Brian Colón was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of New Mexico in 2010, running alongside gubernatorial candidate and former Lieutenant Governor

Diane Denish Diane Daniels Denish ( ; born March 7, 1949) is an American politician, who was the 28th Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico, lieutenant governor of New Mexico. She was elected in 2002, running on the same ticket as Governor Bill Richardson, and wa ...

. Denish and Colón lost to

Susana Martinez Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 31st governor of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, she served as chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) from 2015 to 2016. She ...

and John Sanchez, respectively, each by approximately seven percent of the total vote.

2017 Albuquerque mayoral election

On January 25, 2017, Colón announced his campaign for

mayor of Albuquerque The mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico is the chief executive officer of the city, elected for a four-year term. There are no term limits for the mayor. Under the New Mexico State Constitution, municipal elections are nonpartisan. The 30th and cur ...

. He was defeated in the general election on October 3, 2017.

New Mexico state auditor

On November 6, 2018, Colón was elected as the New Mexico state auditor in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

after advancing from the primary on June 5, 2018.

New Mexico attorney general

On June 7, 2022, Colón lost the Democratic primary for

2022 New Mexico Attorney General election The 2022 New Mexico Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Attorney General of New Mexico, attorney general of New Mexico. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Attorney General Hector Balder ...

Raúl Torrez Raúl Torrez (born 1975/1976) is an American lawyer and politician from New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Torrez is the Attorney General of New Mexico. Early life and education Torrez's father, Presi ...

53.4% to 46.6%, or by about 9,000 votes.

References

External links

Government websiteBrian Colón for Attorney General
campaign website , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Colon, Brian 1970 births American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Living people Hispanic and Latino American people in New Mexico politics New Mexico Democrats People from Valencia County, New Mexico State auditors of New Mexico State political party chairs of New Mexico University of New Mexico School of Law alumni