Nevada State Rep. Cecelia González Nominated by EMILYs List for 2022 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star
For Immediate Release
March 22, 2022
Nevada State Rep. Cecelia González Nominated by EMILY's List for 2022 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Nevada state Rep. Cecelia González is a nominee for the ninth annual Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.
“EMILYs List is thrilled to nominate Cecelia González for the 2022 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award,” said Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List. “Rep. González has dedicated her career to creating a more just Nevada, and in office, has been a vocal advocate for reproductive freedom, criminal justice reform, raising the minimum wage, and domestic violence awareness.”
“González is committed to amplifying the voices that too often go unheard by those in power and advocating for the safety of all members of her community. From her years in college where she created a hotline for domestic abuse and stalking victims, to her commitment to advocating against unjust policies and calling for prison reform while in office – González has proven to be a fierce champion for the people of Nevada and a leader centering empathy in every decision. As a reproductive rights champion, González launched her career educating lawmakers on reproductive rights and abortion access. EMILYs List is honored to nominate González for the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award and eager to see how she continues advancing justice in the United States.”
EMILYs List endorsed Rep. Cecelia González in July of 2020 in her successful bid to represent Nevada state Assembly District 16. EMILYs List invested more than $250,000 that cycle in an effort to keep the Nevada Legislature blue.
About Rep. Cecelia González
Cecelia González is a 30-year-old Thai-Mexican American representing Nevada’s 16th Assembly District. A proud daughter of immigrants, Cecelia was raised in Las Vegas and received her bachelor's and master's degrees at UNLV. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D in multicultural education at UNLV. Prior to assuming office, Cecelia volunteered for NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and Mass Liberation Project to educate lawmakers on issues related to domestic violence, stalking, women’s health, and criminal justice reform.
About the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, former Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018, California Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo in 2019, former Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes in 2020, and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in 2021.
The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input. Online voting can be found here.
Nevada state Rep. Cecelia González is nominated alongside:
- Vernetta Alston, North Carolina state representative
- Kate Gallego, Phoenix mayor
- Christina Haswood, Kansas state representative
- Tishaura O. Jones, St. Louis mayor
- Bee Nguyen, Georgia state representative
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.
