Sophie Phillips (born ) is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

, representing District 18. First elected in 2022, she succeeded David Bentz after his retirement from office. She was winner of the 2021

Miss Delaware The Miss Delaware competition is the pageant that selects the representative of Delaware in the Miss America pageant. The event takes place annually in the month of June and has previously been held in Rehoboth Beach at Convention Hall, in ...

beauty pageant.

Early life

Philips received a BS in environmental and marine science from 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 ...

. While in college, she experienced sexual violence, which lead her to work as a student ambassador for

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

and help create the "kNOw MORE" campaign to educate staff and students and advocate for survivors of sexual violence. Phillips credits these experiences as giving her confidence to use her voice for change. One of her friends at the time convinced her to try competing in beauty pageants, which she found to be a fun and supportive environment. After graduating, she studied at the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration, earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in energy and environmental policy. Her thesis focused on environmental justice and how to increase the diversity of those visiting state and national parks. While in school, she aspired to be a National Park Service ranger and work toward ensuring equal access for people of color. Phillip was named Miss Southern Delaware in 2018, allowing her to compete at the

pageant. In 2021, she was named Miss Milford and then Miss Delaware. She played a Jethro Tull song on piano for the talent portion. She used her title to advocate for

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

, including issues such as flooding and development in

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378, making it the state's second most populated county behind New Castle and ahead of Ke ...

. She competed in the 100th anniversary

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

pageant, being named a Top 5 finalist for the Justice and Equity Award.

Political career

In 2022, Phillips was elected to represent the 18th district in the

, defeating Republican Gloria Hope Payne in the November general election with over 70% of the vote. She ran as an environmental advocate and supported other progressive causes, such as recreational marijuana and climate change legislation.

Personal life

Philips is of mixed African, Indian, Caribbean, and European descent. She chose become involved in environmental justice as a result of her multicultural heritage and recognizing the impacts of historical injustice. After she was elected to 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 ...

in 2022, she commented, "Every new person that comes in with a diverse background has a new perspective. And when you're writing policy, you need to make sure that you're taking in so many different perspectives so you’re not just writing policy for one population." Phillips is an avid bicyclist and also plays the piano.

References

External links

Official websiteCampaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Sophie 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives Women state legislators in Delaware Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Miss Delaware winners University of Delaware alumni 21st-century members of the Delaware General Assembly