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Patricia Torres Ray

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Patricia Torres Ray
Democratic Party
Prior offices:
Minnesota State Senate District 63
Years in office: 2007 - 2023
Successor: Zaynab Mohamed (D)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 3, 2020
Education
Bachelor's
University of Minnesota
Graduate
University of Minnesota
Personal
Religion
Catholic
Profession
Legislator
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign X
Campaign Instagram
Campaign YouTube
Personal Facebook
Personal LinkedIn

Patricia Torres Ray (Democratic Party) was a member of the Minnesota State Senate, representing District 63. She assumed office in 2007. She left office on January 3, 2023.

Ray (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 63. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Ray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Ray was a candidate for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House. Ray lost the primary on August 14, 2018.

Ray previously served as a Minnesota State Ombudsperson for Families.

Biography

Ray was born on March 25, 1964, in Pasto, Colombia. She earned her bachelor's and M.P.Aff. degrees from the University of Minnesota. She has also attended classes at the University of Nariño. Her professional experience includes serving as a Social Services Consultant/Policy Analyst/Program Administrator for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She also has worked for the University of Minnesota as an adjunct faculty member.[1]

Committee assignments

2021-2022

Ray was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Ray was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Minnesota committee assignments, 2017
• E-12 Education Finance
• Environment and Natural Resources Policy
• Local Government

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ray served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Ray served on the following committees:

Minnesota committee assignments, 2013
• Education, Chair
• Higher Education and Workforce Development
• State and Local Government

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Ray served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Ray served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2022

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2022

Patricia Torres Ray did not file to run for re-election.

2020

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota State Senate District 63

Incumbent Patricia Torres Ray defeated Diane Napper and Chris Wright in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 63 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Patricia Torres Ray
Patricia Torres Ray (D) Candidate Connection
 
77.6
 
40,742
Image of Diane Napper
Diane Napper (R) Candidate Connection
 
15.7
 
8,231
Image of Chris Wright
Chris Wright (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota)
 
6.6
 
3,460
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
40

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 52,473
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Patricia Torres Ray advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 63.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Diane Napper advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 63.

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary election

The Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary election was canceled. Chris Wright advanced from the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for Minnesota State Senate District 63.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Ray's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Minnesota's 5th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 5

Ilhan Omar defeated Jennifer Zielinski in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 5 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar (D)
 
78.0
 
267,703
Image of Jennifer Zielinski
Jennifer Zielinski (R)
 
21.7
 
74,440
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
1,215

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 343,358
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 5

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 5 on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar
 
48.2
 
65,237
Image of Margaret Kelliher
Margaret Kelliher
 
30.4
 
41,156
Image of Patricia Torres Ray
Patricia Torres Ray
 
13.0
 
17,629
Image of Jamal Abdulahi
Jamal Abdulahi
 
3.7
 
4,984
Image of Bobby Joe Champion
Bobby Joe Champion
 
2.8
 
3,831
Image of Frank Nelson Drake
Frank Nelson Drake Candidate Connection
 
1.8
 
2,480

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 135,317
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 5

Jennifer Zielinski defeated Christopher Chamberlin and Bob Carney Jr. in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 5 on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jennifer Zielinski
Jennifer Zielinski
 
56.5
 
8,680
Image of Christopher Chamberlin
Christopher Chamberlin
 
32.5
 
4,999
Image of Bob Carney Jr.
Bob Carney Jr.
 
11.0
 
1,688

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 15,367
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Minnesota State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 31, 2016.

Incumbent Patricia Torres Ray defeated Ron Moey in the Minnesota State Senate District 63 general election.[2][3]

Minnesota State Senate, District 63 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Torres Ray Incumbent 80.92% 38,470
     Republican Ron Moey 19.08% 9,068
Total Votes 47,538
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State


Incumbent Patricia Torres Ray ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 63 Democratic primary.[4][5]

Minnesota State Senate, District 63 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Torres Ray Incumbent (unopposed)


Ron Moey ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 63 Republican primary.[4][5]

Minnesota State Senate, District 63 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ron Moey  (unopposed)

2012

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2012

Ray won election in the 2012 election for Minnesota State Senate District 63. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary on August 14 and defeated Patrick Marron (R) in the general election on November 6.[6][7]

Minnesota State Senate, District 63, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngPatricia Torres Ray Incumbent 81% 36,866
     Republican Patrick Marron 19% 8,636
Total Votes 45,502

2010

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2010

Ray won re-election to the 62nd District seat in 2010. She had no primary opposition. Patrick Elgin ran for the seat on the Republican ticket. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.

Minnesota State Senate, District 62 (2010)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Torres Ray (DFL) 26671 79.64%
Patrick Elgin (R) 6751 20.16%
Write-In 68 0.20%

2006

On November 7, 2006, Ray won election to the 62nd District Seat in the Minnesota State Senate, defeating Dan Mathias (R).[8]

Minnesota State Senate, District 62 (2006)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Torres Ray (DFL) 28,787 81.25%
Dan Mathias (R) 6,569 18.54%
Write-In 76 0.21%

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Patricia Torres Ray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ray's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a Colombian born immigrant. Mother of two boys. I belong to the Democratic Farmer Labor Party.

I lived in the state of Minnesota for 34 years. I went to school at the University of Minnesota obtained an undergraduate degree in Urban Studies, and a Master's degree at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at University of Minnesota.

I am the first Latina woman elected to the Minnesota State Senate.
  • We need radical change to align public policy and politics with the needs of the majority
  • Including community's voices in policy decisions is an imperative.
  • Climate change is real, we need to address it to takle our global health and economic crises
Education

Health and Human Services
Environment
Economic Security
Social and Racial Justice

Immigration
Integrity, transparency, dedication to your work and the people you serve.
Serving constituents and helping them resolve their problems is a top priority.

Learning about your constituents priorities and creating opportunities to get their input is essential.

Building relationships with other legislators, organizations activist who can help you pass legislation is very important.
Eliminating the deep and persistent disparities that exist between people of white European heritage and people of color and indigenous people
The governor and state legislators need to work in partnership to resolve challenges facing their constituents, and opening opportunities for everyone in the State.
It is essential to build relationships with legislators. In the case of Minnesota you need 34 votes to pass any legislation in the Minnesota Senate. Without the support of your colleagues you cannot get your work done as a legislator.
In Minnesota you get reappointed to committees after every election. I am interested in serving in Environment Health and Human Services, Education, State and Local Government and Jobs and Economic Development.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2012

Ray's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]

Education

  • Excerpt: "Investing in our youngest citizens is the most important thing we do to guarantee the economic and social wellbeing of our community. "

Health care

  • Excerpt: "My goal is to make health care more available to all Minnesotans: including low-income families, those who are self-employed, and those who cannot afford the health care offered through their employers."

Environment

  • Excerpt: "I will support policies that seek to protect Minnesota's water, sky and vital ecosystems."

Transportation

  • Excerpt: "I support the expansion of public transportation that will be accessible to all residents of the Twin Cities."

Housing

  • Excerpt: "I'll support investments in affordable housing to ensure that low and middle income working class residents are able to access stable and safe places to live."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Patricia Torres Ray campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020Minnesota State Senate District 63Won general$49,981 N/A**
2018U.S. House Minnesota District 5Lost primary$96,971 $93,540
2016Minnesota State Senate, District 63Won $42,251 N/A**
2012Minnesota State Senate, District 63Won $30,468 N/A**
2010Minnesota State Senate, District 62Won $43,960 N/A**
2006Minnesota State Senate, District 62Won $58,889 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in Minnesota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2014.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2013.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2012.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2011.

See also

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External links

Candidate

Minnesota State Senate District 63
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 18, 2020
    2. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed August 25, 2016
    3. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "General election results, 2016," accessed December 19, 2016
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings," accessed June 3, 2016
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Primary: Tuesday, August 9, 2016," accessed August 9, 2016
    6. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2012 State General Election Candidate Filings," accessed June 25, 2012
    7. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Canvassing Report - State Primary - Tuesday, August 14, 2012," accessed April 23, 2014
    8. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Results General Election - Nov. 7, 2006," accessed May 15, 2014
    9. ↑ "patriciaforsenate," Official Campaign Website

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		Minnesota State Senate District 63
    2007-2023    		 Succeeded by
    Zaynab Mohamed (D)


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