Nevada State Assemblymember Selena Torres Nominated for EMILYs List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Nevada state Assemblymember Selena Torres is a nominee for the 2024 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler released the following statement:  

“Elected at 23 and the youngest woman in the Nevada state legislature, state Assemblymember Selena Torres has been a forceful and groundbreaking representative for her community, fighting for our freedoms while investing in the lives of young Nevadans as an educator. She is a fierce leader and advocate for AAPI and Hispanic representation in Nevada, and works hard every day to protect the fundamental reproductive freedoms that allow Nevadans to determine the course of their lives and futures. EMILYs List is proud that Torres is among our distinguished nominees for the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award this year, and we look forward to seeing all she will continue to do for Nevadans.”

Selena Torres is an educator who was first elected to the Nevada state Assembly in 2018. Torres ran for office because her parents instilled in her the values of hard work, education, and giving back to her community. She was raised in Las Vegas by her father, who fled the Salvadoran civil war, and her mother, who left Hawaii to pursue a career as a high school English teacher. Torres attended Clark County’s public schools and received her associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in the Nevada public college system. Currently, Torres is an educator and the youngest woman in the Nevada state Legislature. Torres was endorsed by EMILYs List in 2018 and 2022..

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, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley in 2015; former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016; former 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, U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes in 2020; Harris County, Texas Judge Lina Hidalgo in 2021; former Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen in 2022; and Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell in 2023.  

The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input. Online voting will open on Friday, March 15 and can be found here. 

Selena Torres is nominated alongside:

Laura Terech, Arizona state representative

Nabilah Islam Parkes, Georgia state senator

Sarah Anthony, Michigan state senator

La’Tasha D. Mayes, Pennsylvania state representative

Laschrecse Aird, Virginia state senator

Greta Neubauer, Wisconsin Assembly minority leader

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.