Raúl Ureña

Raúl Ureña (born ) is an American politician and activist.

As a member of the City Council of Calexico, California, she served from 2023 to 2024 as the city's mayor, becoming the first transgender person to hold the seat. In April 2024, she was recalled from the council in a special election.

Early life and education Born around 1997, Raúl Ureña grew up in Calexico, California, a city near the U.S.-Mexican border, as well as in Salinas to the north. She came from a family of Mexican American farmworkers.

Ureña studied economics at University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating in 2020. She pursued further studies in statistics at San Diego State University.

In 2020, Ureña, then a college student, returned to her hometown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, she became the town's mayor, as the honorary title rotates among members of the council.

However, early in Ureña's mayoral term, critics mounted a recall campaign against her. While her opponents characterized the recall effort as a rejection of her political priorities, Ureña and her allies assessed it as a reaction to her gender identity.