Representative Micaela Cadena Contact information

Micaela Lara Cadena is an American politician serving as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 33rd district, which includes part of Doña Ana County. She was born and raised in Mesilla, New Mexico. After graduating from Las Cruces High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in International/Global Studies from Trinity College and a Master of Arts in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico.

Cadena previously worked at the New Mexico Corrections Department as the Bureau Chief of Recidivism Reduction. In this role, she built feasible strategies for making the New Mexico prison system gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and evidenced-based. She was responsible for articulating arguments to move the population of female inmates from a privately operated prison facility, where they had been poorly housed for more than two decades, to a pair of state-operated prisons.

After working collaboratively with other state agencies to pass a new state law in 2015, Medicaid for Incarcerated Individuals, Cadena carried responsibility for implementing the legislation that mandated the Corrections Department to determine Medicaid eligibility of inmates prior to their release from prison.

While serving in the House, Cadena continues to work as the Research Director of Young Women United, a New Mexico based non-profit, leading statewide policy initiatives and culture shift strategies. In this position, she facilitates opportunities to learn from the expertise and lived experiences of women and families in New Mexico, and centers those most impacted by an issue for consideration in decision-making spaces.

Cadena assumed office on January 15, 2019, succeeding Bill McCamley, who left the House to become the Secretary for the Department of Workforce Solutions. Her current term ends on December 31, 2024. Cadena is running for re-election to the New Mexico House of Representatives to represent District 33.

Micaela is a graduate of Las Cruces High School and attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT. After completing her undergraduate degree, she returned to New Mexico to start her career working on behalf of New Mexico families. Micaela has experience leading policy, evaluation, and organizational development efforts as a change-maker in non-profit advocacy and within state government. Micaela earned a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico. Being a mama of two kind, knowing and bright kids is the greatest honor of her life, finding joy along the way with her best friend/partner makes it all come true.