Michelle De La Isla (born March 19, 1976) is an American politician who served as the mayor of

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

from 2018 to 2022. She previously served on the Topeka City Council from 2013 to 2018. De La Isla was the city's 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 ...

and single mother to serve as mayor. She was the Democratic nominee for Kansas's 2nd congressional district in the 2020 election, but lost.

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, De La Isla grew up mostly in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. She attended the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM ...

before moving to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

in 2000. She experienced homelessness and gave birth to a child as a teenager. In 2001, she graduated from

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

with a bachelor of science degree in biology. She received an MBA in leadership and human resources from

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU w ...

and is in the MPA program for mid-career professionals at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Career

De La Isla worked as a teacher for Upward Bound. In 2005, she moved to

, and joined Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc. as its Community Relations and Spanish Services Coordinator, and later, its Chief Financial Officer.

Politics

In 2013, De La Isla ran for Topeka City Council and was elected to represent the fifth district. She served as deputy mayor to mayor Larry Wolgast in 2016. De La Isla announced her candidacy for mayor on April 11, 2017 after Wolgast announced he would not seek reelection. On November 7, 2017, De La Isla won the Topeka mayoral race by a margin of 501 votes. Before the election, De La Isla also announced that she would continue her employment at Evergy, which also makes her the first mayor to hold additional employment during her tenure. As mayor, De La Isla serves on the

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

Board of Regents, the Board of the Joint Economic Development Organization, and as Tri-Chair of GO Topeka’s Momentum 2022 collective action plan for Topeka and Shawnee County. On January 6, 2020, De La Isla announced she was running as a Democrat to represent Kansas's 2nd congressional district. On August 4, De La Isla won the Democratic primary to advance to the November 3, 2020 general election. She was defeated by Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the November general election. On March 19, 2021, De La Isla announced that she will not run for another term as mayor.

Personal life

De La Isla has two daughters and one son.

References

External links

Mayor De La Isla
government website
Michelle for Kansas
campaign website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Isla, Michelle 1976 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Evergy Hispanic and Latino American mayors Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Kansas city council members Kansas Democrats Living people Mayors of Topeka, Kansas Politicians from New York City Women mayors of places in Kansas Wichita State University alumni Women city councillors in Kansas