Patricia Torres Ray (born March 25, 1964) is a Colombian-American politician and former member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Represen ...

(DFL), she represented District 63, which includes portions of southeastern

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and eastern Richfield in

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...

in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

metropolitan area. She is the first

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

woman to serve in the Minnesota Senate. She ran for Congress in Minnesota's 5th district in 2018 to succeed Congressman

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...

, but lost the primary to

Ilhan Omar Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota ...

. In November 2021, she announced that she would not run for reelection in 2022.

Education

Torres Ray studied at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, earning a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

urban studies Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to the impact of urban design on community development efforts. The core theoretica ...

and a

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mound ...

from the

Humphrey Institute The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert ...

in 2004.

Minnesota Senate

Torres Ray was first elected in 2006, succeeding retiring Wes Skoglund. She was reelected in 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Torres Ray's legislative concerns included education, health and human services, the environment, and economic development.

2010 lieutenant gubernatorial campaign

On March 31, 2010, state senator and 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial candidate

John Marty John J. Marty (born November 1, 1956) is a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 40, which includes parts of Ramsey County in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area. As a young state senator, he ran for governor of Minnesota ...

announced that Torres Ray would be his running mate for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. The team withdrew from the race at the 2010 DFL State Convention.

2018 Congressional campaign

On June 5, 2018, Torres Ray filed to run for the 5th district congressional seat previously held by

. Her platform focused on public education, immigration, and climate change. The primary election was held on

August 14 Events Pre-1600 * 74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan. The articles, enumerating t ...

, with State Representative

receiving a plurality of votes to advance to the general election.

Electoral history

*Minnesota Senate 63rd district election, 2020 **Patricia Torres Ray (DFL), 40,742 (77.64%) **Diane Napper (R), 8,231 (15.69%) **Chris Wright (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis) 3,460 (6.59%) *Minnesota Senate 63rd district election, 2016 **Patricia Torres Ray (DFL), 38,470 (80.70%) **Ron Moey (R), 9068, (19.02%) **

Write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

, 135 (0.28%) *Minnesota Senate 63rd district election, 2012 **Patricia Torres Ray (DFL), 36,866 (80.81%) **Patrick Marron (R), 8,636 (18.93%) **

, 117 (0.26%) *Minnesota Senate 62nd district election, 2010 **Patricia Torres Ray (DFL), 26,671 (79.64%) **Patrick Elgin (R), 6,751 (20.16%) **

, 68 (0.20%) *Minnesota Senate 62nd district election, 2006 **Patricia Torres Ray (DFL), 28,787 (81.25%) **Dan Mathias (R), 6,569 (18.54%) **

, 76 (0.21%)

Personal life

Torres Ray met her husband, Jack, when he was a

student in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

for a study abroad internship. They married in 1987. She then immigrated to Minnesota with him, learned

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and became a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. She and Jack have two sons.

References

External links

Senator Patricia Torres Ray
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Patricia Torres Ray for Congress
''congressional campaign website''
Minnesota Public Radio - Votetracker: Patricia Torres Ray Voting RecordProject Vote Smart - Senator Patricia Torres Ray Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres Ray, Patricia Democratic Party Minnesota state senators 1964 births Living people University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Politicians from Minneapolis Women state legislators in Minnesota Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Colombian emigrants to the United States People from Pasto, Colombia American politicians of Colombian descent 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Humphrey School of Public Affairs alumni