Laura Viviana Sturgeon (born February 15, 1965) is an American politician. She is a member of the

Delaware Senate The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at whi ...

for

District 4 District 4 can refer to: *District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia *District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam *District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States *IV District, Turku, in Finland *Aussersi ...

and the first

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

to serve in the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisla ...

Early life and career

Sturgeon was born in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and raised in Delaware. Her parents were immigrants from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. She graduated from

Brandywine High School Brandywine High School is a public secondary school located near Talleys Corner in unincorporated area, unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, with a Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington postal address. Although the school is not within the Wilmi ...

and received her bachelor's and master's degrees at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. She taught in Delaware public schools for over 20 years and served as a leader in the Delaware State Education Association
DSEA
, the largest union in Delaware.

Political career

Sturgeon was active in community groups and nonprofit organizations but had never held public office prior to challenging

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Greg Lavelle, who had been in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

for 18 years, where he served as Senate Minority Whip. The race between the two was considered a key race to watch in 2018. Sturgeon was endorsed by former

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Joe Biden. On November 6, 2018, Sturgeon defeated Lavelle by winning 11,251 votes (53%) in the general election. Her victory was a major upset and was one of several losses for prominent Republicans in Delaware. On November 8, 2022, Sturgeon won reelection to serve a two-year term. She defeated Republican challenger Ted Kittila by winning 10,762 votes (56.6%).https://elections.delaware.gov/results/html/index.shtml?electionId=GE2022

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign site
* 1965 births Living people Democratic Party Delaware state senators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American legislators Women state legislators in Delaware American people of Argentine descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators {{Delaware-politician-stub