Born: 10 August 1890, United States
Died: 4 August 1936
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Soledad Chávez
This entry is reprinted in full with permission from the National Women’s History Museum (United States of America). All rights reserved.
With the ratification of the 19th Amendment, newly enfranchised women looked to enter predominantly male institutions to exercise their influence. In New Mexico, Democrat and Republican parties nominated women to run for office. The Republicans nominated Nina Otero-Warren for the Congressional seat in 1922. While she beat the male incumbent in the primary, she lost in the main election. Nevertheless, her campaign made national headlines and counted as a historic moment.
That same year, Democrats in New Mexico nominated two women for state office. The candidate for Secretary of State was Soledad Chávez de Chacón, a Hispanic woman. Chávez de Chacón won the election becoming the first Latina elected to statewide office in the United States, and the first woman in the nation to win an election for that office. She would serve two terms through 1926 and in 1934 was elected to New Mexico’s House of Representatives, becoming the fourth Latina to hold that office.