SANTA FE – Prominent Democratic state Rep. Georgene Louis of Albuquerque has been arrested and charged with drunken driving, the Santa Fe Police Department said Monday.
Louis, an attorney and rising figure among Indigenous legislators, was arrested shortly after midnight on charges of aggravated drunken driving and driving without proof of registration and insurance, police said.
Santa Fe police spokesman Ben Valdez said that Louis was driving on a main street in the state capital city of Santa Fe when a police officer pulled her over for speeding late Sunday night.
A field sobriety test and breath test “supported the suspicion of impaired driving,” Valdez wrote in an email.
Louis did not immediately respond to text and voice messages Monday. It’s unclear if she has legal representation.
The arrest took place during the frenetic final days of a 30-day annual legislative session.
A legislative committee chaired by Louis canceled a Monday morning hearing just hours after Louis was booked at a local jail.
Louis was the lead sponsor in 2021 of landmark legislation that ended immunity from prosecution for human rights violations by police and other local government officials under provisions of the state constitution.
Louis, a tribal member of Acoma Pueblo, campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination to Congress in 2021 in a special election won by Democratic U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of Albuquerque.
