Norma Judith Torres (née Barillas; born April 4, 1965) is an American politician. She is a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for California's 35th congressional district. Previously, she was a member of the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

representing the 32nd district. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and career

Torres was born Norma Judith Barillas in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. When she was five, she and her uncle came to the United States; her mother died a year later. She originally arrived on a tourist visa, but became a legal resident in her teens and gained citizenship in 1992. Torres worked as a

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

dispatcher A dispatcher is a Communication, communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. Emergency organizations including police, police departments, fire de ...

, and in 1994 led a campaign to require the hiring of bilingual 9-1-1 operators. She was an active member of AFSCME, serving as

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

3090's

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

. She served on the Pomona city council before being elected the city's mayor in 2006. In 2008, Torres endorsed then-presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

before

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

withdrew from the race, and was a

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...

to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

. She was elected to the State Assembly in November 2008, filling the vacancy left by former legislator Nell Soto, who retired. She earned her bachelor's degree in labor studies from the now-defunct National Labor College in Maryland in 2012.

U.S. House of Representatives

Torres was elected to the U.S. House of Representative for California's 35th congressional district in 2014, defeating Christina Gagnier (D) with 63.5% of the vote. She was reelected in 2016, defeating Tyler Fischella (R) with 72.4% of the vote. In 2018, Torres received 69.4% of the vote to defeat Christian Valiente (R), and in 2020, she defeated Republican Mike Cargile with 69.3%. After being reelected to the House in November 2022, Torres accused President

Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has served as the 81st president of El Salvador since 2019. In 1999, Bukele established an advertising company and worked at an advertising com ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

of interfering in her race. Bukele had urged voters to oppose Torres.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress: * Committee on Appropriations ** Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government ** Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs ** Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies * Committee on House Administration ** Subcommittee on Elections ** Subcommittee on Oversight (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

* New Democrat Coalition *

Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fo ...

* Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus

Political positions

Abortion

As of 2022, Torres has a 100% rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, politics, political action, and advocacy efforts to op ...

and an F rating from the

Susan B. Anthony List Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) is an American 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the US, by supporting United States anti-abortion movement, anti-abortion poli ...

for her abortion-related voting record. She opposed the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'', calling it "devastating" and saying it set back "our country decades, reversing so many years of hard-fought progress" for women.

Big Tech

In 2022, Torres was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Torres was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 On January 19, 2023, the United States hit its United States debt ceiling, debt ceiling, leading to a debt-ceiling crisis, part of an ongoing political debate within United States Congress, Congress about United States federal budget, federal ...

in the House.

Personal life

Torres is married to Louis Torres. They live in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

. They have three sons, including Robert Torres, a Pomona City Council member.

Electoral history

References

External links

Congresswoman Norma Torres
official U.S. House website
Norma Torres for Congress
campaign website * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Norma 1965 births 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Guatemalan descent California city council members California Democrats Democratic Party California state senators Dispatchers Female members of the United States House of Representatives Guatemalan emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American mayors in California Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Los Angeles Police Department officers Mayors of places in California Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California National Labor College people People from Escuintla Department People from Pomona, California Naturalized citizens of the United States Women state legislators in California Women mayors of places in California 21st-century members of the California State Legislature 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives