Freshman Orientation: Democratic Assemblywoman
By Luz Gray, The Nevada Independent
A new cycle in Silver State politics begins next month — the legislative session kicks off not only with the first Democratic governor in Nevada in 20 years, but also with a new crop of freshmen in a state Legislature that is majority female for the first time in American history.
Among those new lawmakers is Democrat Selena Torres, a 23-year-old English teacher who represents Assembly District 3 in Las
Vegas.
To kick off our Freshman
Orientation series,
Torres discusses how
her Latino roots play a
role in her political
career, immigration
and security, and the
need for new models
in Nevada’s educational system, among other topics.
Question (Q): Tell me about your family and your childhood.
Answer (A): I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. My dad is from Usulutan, El Salvador. He fled the civil war in El Salvador. He first came to Los Angeles and then decided to come to Las Vegas. He met my mother here.
I knew my dad was from El Salvador, but for a long time I hadn’t visited that country because there is so much
violence, and that’s why he couldn’t
go back there. My grandparents are over there, most of my uncles and
cousins are still in El Salvador. I
went there for the first time when I was 11 years old.
In my house we didn’t speak
Spanish much because my
dad was concerned that
due to our roots, we
would suffer the same
level of racism he had
experienced when he
came over here, because
he didn’t speak much
English and he had an
accent
To read the rest of the interview click here.
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Selena Torres