Michelle Maldonado is an American politician who serves in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from the 50th district as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Early life and education

Michelle Maldonado was born in

Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

. Her grandmother was the first black person to work as a principal in

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She graduated with an undergraduate degree from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in Latin American studies and Spanish literature and language. She moved to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1993, to attended

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

. She married Roberto Maldonado Jr., with whom she had one son. She was admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Virginia House of Delegates

Maldonado filed to run for a seat in the

from the 50th district during the 2021 election. She stated that she was inspired to run for office following the murders of

Ahmaud Arbery On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

and

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...

, the

killing of Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

, and the

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

on the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. She defeated incumbent Delegate

Lee J. Carter Lee Jin Carter (born June 2, 1987) is an American former politician who represented the 50th district in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Jackson Miller, the Republican House Major ...

, who was also running for the Democratic nomination for governor, and activist Helen Zurita in the Democratic primary. After losing the primary Carter stated on Twitter that "This job has made me miserable for the last 4 years. I made a lot of people's lives objectively better, but the constant assassination threats and harassment were terrible for my family and my health. I'm relieved to say that I've done my part, and now it's someone else's turn." During the primary campaign Carter had raised around $84,000, Maldonado raised around $56,000, and Zurita raised around $6,000. She defeated Republican nominee Steve Pleickhardt in the general election.

Political positions

Maldonado supports increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour stating that "no person should be working 40 hours a week and still be at, below or close to the poverty line". She declined an endorsement from the

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

during the 2021 election due to their support for the defunding of police.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Michelle Barnard College alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)