Luisa María de Guadalupe Calderón Hinojosa (born October 23, 1956 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the National Action Party who served in the

Senate of Mexico The Senate of the Republic, ( es, Senado de la República) constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union ( es, Cámara de Senadores del H. Congreso de la Unión), is the upper house of Mexico's bicameral Congre ...

from 2000 until September 2006. She is currently senator-elect as a PAN proportional representative. Her term in the senate began in late 2012 and will continue through 2018. "Cocoa" (her nickname) is known as a champion for women and minority rights throughout Mexico.

Personal life

Luisa María belongs to a family of prominent Mexican politicians. She is the sister of former President

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworth ...

and Juan Luis Calderón Hinojosa. She studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Tlaquepaque,

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...

, and has pursued graduate studies at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Luisa María is a single mother.

Political career

Calderón joined the National Action Party in 1976. She served as a local deputy in the Congress of Michoacán from 1983 to 1986 and served in the federal

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

during the LIV Legislature. In 2000 she was elected via

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

to serve as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

during the LVIII Legislature and the LIX Legislature.

2011 Michoacan gubernatorial race

In 2011, Luisa Calderón ran for Governor of Michoacan in a highly contested race. Although she lost, the election was marred with accusations of corruption by the PRI and intimidation by narco-affiliated criminals. She was the candidate of the PAN-

PANAL The New Alliance Party ( es, Partido Nueva Alianza, PNA or PANAL) is a state-level (previously national, until 2018) political party in Mexico founded in 2005. Its creation was proposed by the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación ( ...

coalition. Calderón narrowly lost against PRI candidate

Fausto Vallejo Y Figueroa Fausto Vallejo y Figueroa (born May 17, 1949 in Morelia, Michoacán) is a Mexican lawyer, politician, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a and former governor of Michoacán. He has served three times as mayor of Morelia, ...

by less than 3 percent of the vote. She had led most opinion polls prior to the election, which was held on November 13, 2011. Vallejo received 35% of the vote, while Calderon won 33% for second place. Calderón, who led most opinion polls prior to the election, claimed that drug traffickers based in Michoacán helped tip the election in Vallejo's favor.

References

Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) National Action Party (Mexico) politicians Politicians from Mexico City 1965 births Living people Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Members of the Congress of Michoacán 21st-century Mexican politicians 21st-century Mexican women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education alumni Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo faculty 20th-century Mexican politicians 20th-century Mexican women politicians {{Mexico-senator-NationalAction-stub