Gloria Tristani, a life-long Democrat, served as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 1997 to 2001. She was nominated by the President on September 15, 1997, confirmed by the Senate on October 28, 1997, and sworn in as Commissioner on November 3, 1997. She resigned from the FCC on September 7, 2001 in order to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate from her home-state of New Mexico.

Throughout her tenure at the FCC, Tristani was committed to ensuring that all Americans share the benefits of the telecommunications revolution. One of her primary goals was to preserve and enhance universal service in order to ensure that telecommunications services remain affordable and accessible. She was committed to accelerating broadband deployment to rural and other hard-to-serve areas, and to the goals of the “E-Rate” program, which provides discounted internet access to schools and libraries. Tristani had been actively involved in other consumer issues, including slamming and cramming, children’s exposure to TV violence and to broadcast indecency, and competition in the cable industry. She served as Chair of the FCC’s V-Chip Task Force.

In 1994, Tristani was the first woman elected to the New Mexico State Corporation Commission (SCC) and served as SCC Chairman in 1996. While at the SCC, Tristani advanced the interests of consumers, particularly in the areas of telecommunications and health insurance. She played an active role in implementing the 1996 Telecommunications Act at the state level. In the health insurance area, she spearheaded the enactment of HMO and managed care rules and the New Mexico Mothers and Newly Born Children Rule. As a result of her SCC work, the Governor named Chairman Tristani one of New Mexico’s outstanding women of 1996.

The granddaughter of the late U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez, who represented New Mexico in the United States Congress from 1931 to 1962, Tristani comes from a family committed to public service. She is proud of her Latino heritage — a combination of New Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban. She was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Spanish as her first language. She was awarded The National Council of La Raza’s Ruben Salazar Award for Communications in 2001, the NALEO Edward R. Roybal Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2000, and in 1998 and 1996 was named one of the nation’s 100 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business magazine.

Tristani received her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and undergraduate degree from Barnard College and Columbia University. She is a member of the New Mexico and Colorado bars. She is married to the Honorable Gerard W. Thomson and has two children, Vanesa and Jorge.

Gloria's Campaign Team