Erin Maye Quade (born March 12, 1986) is an American politician from the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she was elected to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

in 2022. She became one of the three first

Black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

in the Minnesota Senate upon taking office in 2023. A former staffer for U.S. Representative

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for fr ...

, Maye Quade served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from 2017 to 2019. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, she was a candidate for

lieutenant governor of Minnesota The lieutenant governor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Fifty individuals have held the office of lieutenant governor since statehood. The incumbent is Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic ...

, serving as

Erin Murphy Erin Margaret Murphy (born June 17, 1964) is an American actress, who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens in the television sitcom ''Bewitched'', in 103 episodes from the show's third season (in 1966) to the last original episo ...

's running mate. The DFL endorsed the Murphy-Maye Quade ticket, making Maye Quade the first

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

person to be endorsed on a major Minnesota political party's ticket.

Early life and education

Maye Quade is

biracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

: her mother is white and her father is Black. She was raised Lutheran. She graduated from

Eastview High School Eastview High School is a comprehensive and college preparatory public high school in Apple Valley, Minnesota, United States. Established in 1997, Eastview is the newest of the four high schools serving Independent School District 196. ''Newswee ...

Apple Valley, Minnesota Apple Valley is a city in northwestern Dakota County, Minnesota, and a suburb of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities. The population was 56,374 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 17th most populous city in Minnes ...

, in 2004, and from the University of St. Thomas in

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in political science and justice and peace studies in 2008. She began organizing on campus in support of social justice causes affecting queer professors, disabled students, and other issue

Career

After college, Maye Quade became a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community buil ...

. She worked as a staffer for U.S. Representative

,"What it’s really like to run for the Minnesota Legislature"
''

MinnPost ''MinnPost'' is a nonprofit online newspaper in Minneapolis, founded in 2007, with a focus on Minnesota news. Content and format The site does not endorse candidates for office or publish unsigned editorials representing an institutional posit ...

'', September 19, 2016. who encouraged her to run for office.

Minnesota House of Representatives

StopTheBan_Erin_May_Quade_speaks_at_Stop_Abortion_Bans_Rally

In 2016, Maye Quade ran for the District 57A seat in the

. During the campaign, opposition operatives were accused of stalking her campaign staff so persistently that

neighborhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

committees were called in to monitor their activity. She defeated Republican nominee Ali Jimenez-Hopper in the general election, 52% to 47%; hers was one of only two House seats in Minnesota to change hands from Republican to DFL that year. She was the third Black woman to serve in the chamber. In 2017, Maye Quade accused state legislators

Dan Schoen Dan Schoen (born December 7, 1974) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 54 in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan are ...

and Tony Cornish of sexual harassment. Both members resigned from office. Following the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, part of the Miami metropolitan area, Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 18 ot ...

, she led a 24-hour

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

at the Minnesota House to protest its lack of action on

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

2018 gubernatorial campaign

In June 2018, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate

chose Maye Quade as her running mate. Maye Quade received the DFL endorsement by acclamation at the Minnesota DFL convention on June 3, 2018, making her the first LGBTQ person to be endorsed on the ticket of a major Minnesota political party; at age 32, she was also one of the youngest. Maye Quade and Murphy lost the DFL primary to U.S. Representative

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

and State Representative

Peggy Flanagan Peggy Flanagan (; born September 22, 1979) is an American politician and Native American activist serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Flanagan ser ...

in August 2018.

Minnesota State Senate

In October 2021, Maye Quade announced her candidacy for the

seat currently held by Greg Clausen. On April 23, 2022, Maye Quade gave a campaign speech at the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

convention while experiencing

uterine contractions Uterine contractions are muscle contractions of the uterine smooth muscle that can occur at various intensities in both the non-pregnant and pregnant uterine state. The non-pregnant uterus undergoes small, spontaneous contractions in addition to ...

before childbirth. She did not get the nomination at the convention, suspended her campaign, and delivered her daughter, Harriet, at 1 a.m. on April 24. In May, Maye Quade reentered the race. Her victory made her and

Clare Oumou Verbeten Clare Oumou Verbeten ( ) is an American politician serving as a member of the Minnesota Senate for the 66th district since 2023. She and Erin Maye Quade were the first openly LGBTQ women and first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate. Ea ...

the first openly LGBTQ women and first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate.

Personal life

Maye Quade is openly lesbian. She is a Lutheran. Maye Quade's wife, Alyse, is the Political Director of the

and the former

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

organizing manager for

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between ''Mayors Against Illegal Guns'' and ''Moms Demand Action for Gun Sens ...

Electoral history

2016

2018

2022

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maye Quade, Erin 1986 births 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature African-American LGBTQ people African-American state legislators in Minnesota American lesbian politicians Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives LGBTQ state legislators in Minnesota Living people Lutherans from Minnesota People from Apple Valley, Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota