Erin Maye Quade (born March 12, 1986) is an American politician from the state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party, she served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

from 2017 to 2019. She was the DFL-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor as

Erin Murphy Erin Margaret Murphy (born June 17, 1964) is an American actress, who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens in the television sitcom ''Bewitched'', in 103 episodes from the show's third season (in 1966) to the last original episo ...

's running mate in 2018, and the first

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

person to be endorsed on the ticket of a major Minnesota political party. Maye Quade was elected to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

in 2022. She was sworn in on January, 3, 2023.

Early life and education

Maye Quade is

biracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

. She graduated from

Eastview High School Eastview High School is a comprehensive and college preparatory public high school in Apple Valley, Minnesota, United States. Established in 1997, Eastview is the newest of the four high schools serving Independent School District 196. ''Newsweek ...

Apple Valley, Minnesota Apple Valley is a city in northwestern Dakota County in the State of Minnesota, and a suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 56,374 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th most populous city in Minnesota. In 2014, Money.com' named Apple ...

, in 2004, and from the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in political science and justice and peace studies in 2008.

Career

After college, Maye Quade became a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

. She worked as a staffer for U.S. Representative

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...

,"What it’s really like to run for the Minnesota Legislature"
''

MinnPost ''MinnPost'' is a nonprofit online newspaper in Minneapolis, founded in 2007, with a focus on Minnesota news. Funding ''MinnPosts initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and ...

'', September 19, 2016. who encouraged her to run for office.

Minnesota House of Representatives

StopTheBan_Erin_May_Quade_speaks_at_Stop_Abortion_Bans_Rally

In 2016, Maye Quade ran for the District 57A seat in the

. During the campaign, opposition operatives were accused of stalking her campaign staff so persistently that

neighborhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. The aim of neig ...

committees were called in to monitor their activity. She defeated Republican nominee Ali Jimenez-Hopper in the general election, 52% to 47%; hers was one of only two House seats in Minnesota to change hands from Republican to DFL that year. She was the third Black woman to serve in the chamber. In 2017, Maye Quade accused state legislators

Dan Schoen Dan Schoen (born December 7, 1974) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 54 in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan are ...

and Tony Cornish of sexual harassment. Both members resigned from office. Following the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...

, she led a 24-hour

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

at the Minnesota House to protest its lack of action on

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

2018 gubernatorial campaign

In June 2018, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate

chose Maye Quade as her running mate. Maye Quade received the DFL endorsement by acclamation at the Minnesota DFL convention on June 3, 2018, making her the first LGBTQ person to be endorsed on the ticket of a major Minnesota political party; at age 32, she was also one of the youngest. Maye Quade and Murphy lost the DFL primary to U.S. Representative

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...

and State Representative

Peggy Flanagan Peggy Flanagan (born September 22, 1979) is an American Democratic political organizer, activist, and politician serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Flanagan has been involved in various political campaigns and progressive pol ...

in August 2018.

2022 Minnesota State Senate campaign

In October 2021, Maye Quade announced her candidacy for the

seat currently held by Greg Clausen. On April 23, 2022, Maye Quade gave a campaign speech at the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Represen ...

convention while experiencing

uterine contractions Uterine contractions are muscle contractions of the uterine smooth muscle that occur during the menstrual cycle and labour. Uterine contractions occur throughout the menstrual cycle in the non-pregnant state and throughout gestation. Throughout ...

before childbirth. She did not get the nomination at the convention, suspended her campaign, and delivered her daughter, Harriet, at 1 a.m. on April 24. In May, Maye Quade reentered the race. She won, and she and Clare Oumou Verbeten became the first openly LGBTQ women and first Black women elected to the Minnesota state senate.

Personal life

Maye Quade is openly gay. Maye Quade's wife, Alyse, is the Political Director of the

and the former

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

organizing manager for

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined force ...

Electoral history

2016

2018

2022

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maye Quade, Erin Living people Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Lesbian politicians LGBT state legislators in Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota African-American LGBT people African-American state legislators in Minnesota African-American women in politics People from Apple Valley, Minnesota 1986 births 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women