Ricky Hurtado ’11 elected to NC House of Representatives as only Latino to serve in state legislature

News & Spotlights | November 4, 2020
North Carolina Representative-elect Ricky Hurtado ’11. (Created and copyright owned by Andie Rea).

Ricky Hurtado ’11 has been elected to North Carolina’s House of Representatives. The alumnus will represent District 63 in Raleigh.

The Representative-elect will be the only Latino to serve in the current state legislature, according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

“I am deeply humbled by tonight’s results,” Ricky said in a Tweet in the early hours of Thursday, November 4. “Alamance County has spoken—it is time to chart a new path forward for our community.”

Ricky is the co-executive director and co-founder of LatinxEd, an educational initiative that provides multi-year support to Latinx students and immigrant families seeking access to higher education in North Carolina. The alumnus is also an adjunct instructor in UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Education.

He received his bachelor’s from Carolina in business administration and earned an MPA from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School in 2015.

Morehead-Cains secure victories in North Carolina, Tennessee

In a general election on track to have the highest voter turnout in a century, other Morehead-Cains won tight races across the state.

The Associated Press (AP) announced Roy Cooper’s ’79 reelection against his Republican challenger, Dan Forest, the state’s lieutenant governor. Democrat David Price ’61 was also reelected to the U.S. House to represent North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District.

Kristin Dutrow Baker ’85 of Concord secured her seat as a representative in North Carolina’s House of Representatives for District 82. This November’s election was the alumna’s first race for office. A licensed physician with over 25 years of experience, Kristin was sworn into the North Carolina General Assembly in March of this year and has served on the state House’s COVID-19 task force throughout the extended pandemic.

In other states, the AP called Jim Cooper’s ’75 victory for reelection to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. The alumnus has served Davidson County since January 2003.

In Kentucky, Doug Farnsley ’73 was elected to the city council in Prospect.

Lastly, Tom Ciszek ’03 was one of 21 candidates for the Santa Monica City Council in California and Wayne Goodwin ’89 of Raleigh sought a third term for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance (Wayne was defeated by incumbent Mike Causey).