Vanessa Delgado (born September 16, 1977) is an American politician and housing advocate from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she served in the California State Senate in 2018, and is the former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Montebello, California Montebello (Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an independent city. east of downtown Los Angeles. It ...

Early life

Delgado attended

Westridge School Westridge School is an independent day school for girls in grades 4-12. Founded in 1913, Westridge is located in Pasadena, California. Founding Mary Lowther Ranney Westridge founder Mary Lowther Ranney (1871-1939) moved to Pasadena in 1904 wh ...

in Pasadena, California, graduating in 1995. She then earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Stanford University and a Master of Public Administration from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. She then worked in economic development for the cities of

Pico Rivera Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as th ...

, Anaheim, and Downey, California.

Political career

Delgado ran for the Montebello City Council in 2015, and won. In 2018 she ran for

California's 32nd State Senate district California's 32nd State Senate district is one of 40 California California State Senate, State Senate districts. It is currently represented by California Democratic Party, Democrat Bob Archuleta of Pico Rivera, California, Pico Rivera. Distr ...

. In the elections held on June 5, 2018, there were two contests: one contest for a full four-year term commencing in December of that year, and another contest for the remainder of the term of Tony Mendoza, who resigned earlier in the year. Delgado placed third in the primary contest for the full four-year term, eliminating her from the November general election. She placed second in the special election race for the vacant term which expires in November 2018, allowing her to advance to a runoff election held August 2018. She won the runoff election held on August 7. Knowing she would serve the shortest amount of time in the California State Senate since Orrin Hubbell served only 15 weeks in 1903, Delgado explored whether she could instead remain Mayor of Montebello. Accepting that she could not remain in Montebello politics, Delgado was sworn in as a state senator on August 13, 2018, the same day she resigned from her positions as Mayor of Montebello and as a member of the Montebello City Council. She served a 112-day term before leaving the state Senate on December 3, 2018. On May 3, 2019, she was appointed to the

South Coast Air Quality Management District The South Coast Air Quality Management District, also using the acronym South Coast (AQMD), formed in 1976, is the air pollution agency responsible for regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachell ...

Board of Directors. She became chair of the AQMD in 2023, being the first Latina to ever chair the AQMD. Despite having only served for 112 days, she identifies as "Senator (Ret.)" as her title.

Personal life

Delgado has one daughter, named Isabella, who was born circa 2003.

References

External links

*
Official campaign websiteJoin California Vanessa Delgado
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Vanessa Living people People from Montebello, California Women mayors of places in California California city council members Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Women city councillors in California Stanford University alumni University of Southern California alumni Democratic Party California state senators Women state legislators in California 1977 births 21st-century American women