Nava nominated for Gabby Giffords 'Rising Star' award

BERNALILLO — New Mexico Sen. Cindy Nava is one of six legislators nationwide to be nominated for the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award by EMILYs List.

Nava, elected in 2024 to represent Sandoval and Bernalillo counties in Senate District 9, was nominated along with Arizona Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan, Pennsylvania Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, Georgia Rep. Jasmine Clark, Virginia Del. Adele McClure and North Carolina Rep. Lindsey Prather by the Washington, D.C.-based political action committee that helps elect female candidates who are in favor of abortion to office. The winner will be announced in April, according to EMILYs List.

Nava, who was not available for an interview on Wednesday, said in a Facebook post that she was excited and honored to be nominated for the award named after the former U.S. representative from Arizona who survived a gunshot to the head in January 2011 while meeting with constituents at a Tucson supermarket.

"It would mean the world to me if you could lend your support to my nomination," Nava wrote on Facebook, adding that the award honors women who "demonstrate commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility," which are all traits that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords "embodied, in and out of office."

In citing Nava as one of the award nominees, EMILYs List said the New Mexico senator has "dedicated herself to empowering marginalized communities." Nava's nomination received a vote from Deb Haaland, the former secretary of the U.S. Interior Department during President Joe Biden's administration who is campaigning to be New Mexico's first Native American governor.

Nava's nomination comes as the young lawmaker saw one of her first bills signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday. Senate Bill 163 prohibits school boards and charter school governing boards from banning Native Americans from wearing tribal regalia during graduation ceremonies or other school-sponsored events. The bill was crafted following a controversy last year involving a Farmington High School student who had her graduation cap removed by school officials because it contained tribal regalia and policy demanded no alterations.

EMILYs List did not mention the bill, but the organization said Nava "paved the way for 'Dreamers' everywhere," referring to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Created by executive order in 2012, during President Barack Obama's administration, DACA allows for children brought to the U.S. illegally to have deportation postponed and become eligible for work authorization in the county, but not citizenship. DACA, on pause for years due to legal battles, recently became active again, but the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services said it will only process renewal requests and not initial ones. DACA is still being challenged by President Donald Trump's administration, which could send it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nava, who came to the U.S. at the age of 7 and became the first in her family to graduate college, later served as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Biden Administration. Her work in this and other roles, including chief administrative officer of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, earned Nava local and national recognition, including as one of the "40 under 40s: Latinos in U.S. Politics" by Huffington Post, according to EMILYs List.

Anyone interested in voting for Nava and the other nominees can go to win.emilyslist.org/a/risingstarvoting2025-nava. Votes entered after March 21 will not be counted, the organization said.