Larrazolo, Octaviano Ambrosio, << lah rah SOH loh, awk tah VYAH noh ahm BROH syoh >> (1859-1930), was the first Hispanic American to serve in the United States Senate. Before he became a senator in 1928, he was governor of New Mexico. Larrazolo was a powerful public speaker who worked to protect the rights of Hispanic Americans. He also fought for federal aid to ranchers and farmers and for state rights over the use of public lands. Originally a Democrat, he joined the Republican Party in 1911.
Larrazolo was born on Dec. 7, 1859, in Allende, near Hidalgo del Parral, Mexico. He moved to the United States in 1870. He attended St. Michael’s College in Santa Fe. He was a schoolteacher and later a principal in Texas, but he soon became interested in law. He became a lawyer in 1888.
Larrazolo served as governor of New Mexico in 1919 and 1920. He was a state representative in 1927 and 1928, until he was elected to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. He served there from December 1928 to March 1929. Larrazolo died on April 7, 1930.
