Raúl González de la Vega (born 1961/62) is a Mexican lawyer and politician who is currently serving in the

Congress of Sonora The Honorable Congress of the State of Sonora () is the legislative branch of the government of the Mexican state of Sonora. The Congress is the governmental deliberative body of Sonora, which is equal to, and independent of, the executive. T ...

as a member of the .

Early life and legal career

González de la Vega is a native of

Navojoa Navojoa is the fifth-largest city in the northern Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Sonora and is situated in the southern part of the state. The city is the administrative seat of Navojoa Municipality, located in the Mayo River (Mexico), ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

. As a youth, he assisted

Manlio Fabio Beltrones Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera (born August 30, 1952) is a Mexican economist and elected official, former member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a senator from Sonora since September 1, 2024, and a former federal deputy from Sept ...

' campaign for the

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 Bourb ...

by distributing posters and flyers. González de la Vega earned a law degree from the

Universidad de Sonora The University of Sonora ( Universidad de Sonora, abbreviated as Unison) is a public university in the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico that has a strong research program. The university was founded in 1942 and is considered the main cultu ...

, Navojoa campus in 1992. He went on to serve various roles within the ''Barra Sonorense de Abogados'' (Sonoran Bar Association), including treasurer and deputy treasurer.

Political career

González de la Vega was initially a member of the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

(PRI) and worked as a civil servant in the Secretariat of Education and Culture. During the , he served as the personal secretary for Armando López Nogales during his campaign for

Governor of Sonora List of governors of the Mexican state of Sonora since 1911: *2021–present Alfonso Durazo Morena (political party), MORENA *2015–2021 Claudia Pavlovich Arellano Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI *2009–2015 Guillermo Padré ...

. After López Nogales won the race, González de la Vega was appointed the general director of DIF Sonora. Notably, he collaborated with U.S. authorities to dismantle a human trafficking network in the border town of

Agua Prieta Agua Prieta ("dark water") is a town in the Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona, Douglas, Arizona. The municipality c ...

. González de la Vega served in the post from 1997 to 2001, ultimately stepping down for health reasons. In 2003, he unsuccessfully sought the PRI's nomination to represent Sonora's 7th district in the

. González de la Vega officially switched his affiliation to the National Action Party (PAN). He earned the PAN's nomination for the

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' ( English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines during the Spanish and American colonial periods; it is comparable to a mayor of the tow ...

Quiriego Quiriego is a small town and the county seat of the Municipality of Quiriego, located in the southeast of the Mexican state of Sonora. Geography The Quiriego Municipality area is 2,705.72 km2. The town is located at an elevation of 822 me ...

in the , but lost in the general election. In September 2014, González de la Vega was named director of the state's civil registry under Governor

Guillermo Padrés Elías Guillermo Padrés Elías (born 29 June 1969) is a Mexican politician and a member of the National Action Party (PAN). He served as Governor of Sonora from 2009 to 2015. Political career Padres' political career began in 1997 when he was electe ...

. He led the office's efforts to simplify the process for Sonorans to obtain their birth certificates, including for senior citizens and those who have since moved out of the state (or country). In December 2015, González de la Vega was named Sonora's delegate for the ''Fundación Internacional de Niños Desaparecidos'' (FIND; International Foundation for Missing Children), heading the state's office in

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

Partido Sonorense

In early 2023, González de la Vega was announced as the inaugural vice-president of the newly-created (PS), a state-wide regional party which obtained official registration that July. In the , the PS won seven municipal presidencies and was awarded one seat in the

via

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, which went to González de la Vega. The nascent party also retained its registration with the State Electoral Institute of Sonora by obtaining at least three percent of the vote. González de la Vega assumed his seat in the LXIV Legislature of the Congress of Sonora on 1 September. Within a month of assuming office, González de la Vega proposed a bill to criminalize the recruitment of minors for criminal activity and impose a penalty of 12 to 30 years imprisonment for the offense. He noted that criminal organizations were increasingly turning to youth recruitment to carry out their illicit activities.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez de la Vega, Raul Living people 1960s births 21st-century Mexican politicians Members of the Congress of Sonora Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians National Action Party (Mexico) politicians Politicians from Sonora Universidad de Sonora alumni Mexican lawyers People from Navojoa Year of birth uncertain