Felipe Reinoso

Felipe Reinoso Cervantes (born ) is a Peruvian-American politician. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives between 2001 and 2009. In 2016, he unsuccessfully contested a seat in the Congress of the Republic of Peru.

Early life, education, and career Reinoso was born in Arequipa, Peru, one of five sons to parents Cirilo Reinoso and Angelica Cervantes Reinoso. He lived in Peru for nineteen years, before he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1969, settling in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Reinoso served as the institution's principal at least through 2006. In 2005, Reinoso completed a master's degree in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Political career In the 1970s, Reinoso joined the Puerto Rican Democratic Club. He later worked for politician Americo Santiago. unseating Díaz. Upon taking office, Reinoso became the first Peruvian-American to be seated in any U.S. state legislature.

During his third state legislative term in 2004, Reinoso worked to pass a bill that allowed undocumented immigrants to attend Connecticut universities at the in-state tuition rate if they had received at least two years of schooling in Connecticut and graduated from a secondary school or equivalent. The bill was voted down in 2005, and Reinoso tried to propose similar bills for discussion in 2007 and 2008. In 2005, Reinoso introduced a bill permitting non-U.S citizens living in Connecticut to obtain a drivers' license. In 2005, Reinoso considered running for Ernie Newton's Connecticut Senate seat. Instead, Reinoso remained on the Connecticut House of Representatives, from which he stepped down in 2009 and was succeeded in office by Ezequiel Santiago.

Subsequently, Reinoso returned to Peru, settling in Lima. In February 2016, he was named a replacement legislative candidate for Moisés Mieses. Reinoso represented the Popular Force in the 2016 general elections for a seat on the Congress of the Republic of Peru to represent Lima and residents abroad. He was not among the 14 representatives elected, having received the fewest votes from among the 36 candidates.