Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (born September 1982) is an American politician who has served in the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire State Senate is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate has been meeting since 1784. The Senate consists of 24 members representing Senate distri ...

from the 21st district since 2020. Her district encompasses

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, Newmarket,

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

Newfields Newfield, New Field, Newfields, or ''variant'', may refer to: People * Alexa Newfield (born 1991), U.S. soccer player * Heidi Newfield (born 1970), U.S. country music singer * Jack Newfield (1938-2004), U.S. journalist * Marc Newfield (born 1972) ...

, Madbury, and Newington. She is the first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the

. She resides in

with her wife and daughters.

Career

Perkins Kwoka is a lawyer. She previously served on the

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...

City Council and Planning Board. She also worked with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

New Hampshire Senate

Perkins Kwoka was first elected to the New Hampshire Senate in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, defeating Deaglan McEachern in the Democratic primary and Sue Polidura in the general election. She serves on the Election Law Committee and the Executive Departments and Administration Committee. She was reelected unopposed in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Following the

2024 New Hampshire Senate election The 2024 New Hampshire Senate elections were held on November 5, 2024, to elect all 24 seats in the New Hampshire Senate. Partisan primary, Primary elections were held on September 10, 2024. The elections coincided with the 2024 United States ...

s, Perkins Kwoka was chosen unanimously by the Senate Democratic Caucus to serve as Minority leader of the New Hampshire Senate.

References

1982 births 21st-century members of the New Hampshire General Court 21st-century American women politicians Cornell Law School alumni Dartmouth College alumni Democratic Party New Hampshire state senators LGBTQ state legislators in New Hampshire Living people Politicians from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Women state legislators in New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-NHSenate-stub