Laura Viviana Sturgeon (born February 15, 1965) is an American politician. She is a member of the

Delaware Senate The Delaware State Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occur ...

for

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and the first Latina to serve in the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legi ...

Early life and career

Sturgeon was born in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and raised in Delaware. Her parents were immigrants from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. She graduated from

Brandywine High School Brandywine High School is a public secondary school located near Talleys Corner in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, with a Wilmington postal address. Although the school is not within the Wilmington city limits, it does serve some p ...

and received her bachelor's and master's degrees at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. She taught in Delaware public schools for over 20 years and served as a leader in the Delaware State Education Association
DSEA
, the largest union in Delaware.

Political career

Sturgeon was active in community groups and nonprofit organizations but had never held public office prior to challenging Republican

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Greg Lavelle, who had been in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

for 18 years, where he served as Senate Minority Whip. The race between the two was considered a key race to watch in 2018. Sturgeon was endorsed by former

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. On November 6, 2018, Sturgeon defeated Lavelle by winning 11,251 votes (53%) in the general election. Her victory was a major upset and was one of several losses for prominent Republicans in Delaware. On November 8, 2022, Sturgeon won reelection to serve a two-year term. She defeated Republican challenger Ted Kittila by winning 10,762 votes (56.6%).

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign site
* 1965 births Living people Democratic Party Delaware state senators 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Delaware American people of Argentine descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Delaware 21st-century members of the Delaware General Assembly Hispanic and Latino American women in politics {{Delaware-politician-stub