Sheryl Williams Stapleton ( ; born July 30, 1957) is an American politician and educator who served as a member of the

New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , ...

from 1995 until her resignation in July 2021. 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 ...

, she also served as the majority floor leader in the House from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Stapleton was born in

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

. She was raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

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 ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

, followed by Master of Arts in multicultural education and PhD in educational leadership from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Career

Prior to entering politics, Stapleton worked as an educator in the

Albuquerque Public Schools Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, APS is the largest of 89 public school districts in the state of New Mexico. In 2010 it had a total of 143 schools with some 95,000 students, ...

. She also served as the coordinator for the Schools to Careers Program and assistant principal of the Career Enrichment Center. She was first elected to the

in 1994 and is the first African-American woman elected to the

New Mexico Legislature The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate. History The N ...

. She has also served as vice chair of the

Democratic Party of New Mexico The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Jessica Velasquez, Vice Chair Manny Crespin, Secretary Pamelya Herndon, and T ...

and a member of the Democratic National Committee from New Mexico. Following the 2016 elections, Williams was chosen by the Democratic Caucus of New Mexico as house majority leader. She was the first African American majority leader of the New Mexico House. Investigators from the New Mexico Attorney General's office executed a search warrant on July 27, 2021 on Stapleton's home, business, and employer. On July 30, 2021, Stapleton resigned from the House amid a criminal investigation into alleged "racketeering, money laundering, receiving illegal kickbacks, and violations of the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act". On Aug 31, 2021 Albuquerque Public Schools fired Stapleton from her position as Career and Technical Education director. Stapleton was charged on September 20, 2021 with 28 criminal counts, including racketeering, money laundering and fraud by diverting funds from Albuquerque Public Schools and receiving kickbacks from Robotics Learning Management LLC "in return for arranging or recommending the purchase, lease or ordering of the company’s goods by Albuquerque Public Schools."

References

External links

Representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton
at the New Mexico Legislature
Project Vote Smart profile
* Campaign Contributions
20082006200420022000

New Mexico Votes profile

Sheryl Williams Stapleton's Ballotpedia page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Sheryl 1958 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in New Mexico African-American women in politics Living people Democratic Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives Politicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico Women state legislators in New Mexico 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women