Ricky Hurtado (born December 7, 1988) is an American politician and educator who previously served as a member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

from the 63rd district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on January 1, 2021.

Early life and education

Hurtado was raised in

Sanford, North Carolina Sanford is a city in Lee County, North Carolina, Lee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 30,261 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lee County. History Sanford was named for C.O. Sanford, a railroad civil engineer i ...

, the son of immigrants from

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. He also received a

Master of Public Affairs The master of public affairs (M.P.Aff., M.P.A. or MPA) is a master-level professional degree offered in public policy schools that provides training in public policy and the operation of government. Courses required for this degree educate stud ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Career

From 2010 to 2013, Hurtado worked as a consultant at Frontline Solutions, a business management consultancy service in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. He then worked as a public policy intern for the

mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

and for

PolicyLink PolicyLink is a national research and action institute dedicated to advancing economic and social equity. It focuses on policies affecting low-income communities and communities of color. It is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. As a graduate student, Hurtado was also a teaching assistant at

. In 2018, Hurtado founded LatinxEd. He has also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education and as the executive director of the Scholars' Latino Initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill. Hurtado was elected to the

in November 2020. When he assumed office, he became the first

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

Democrat to serve in the General Assembly. He was defeated in the 2022 North Carolina House of Representatives election in a rematch with Stephen Ross.

Electoral history

2022

2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurtado, Ricky Living people 1988 births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Salvadoran descent University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Princeton University alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators