Michelle De La Isla

Michelle De La Isla (born March 19, 1976) is an American politician serving as the Mayor of Topeka, Kansas since 2018. She previously served on the Topeka City Council from 2013-2018. De La Isla is the city's first Latina, first single mother, and second woman to serve as mayor.[1] She has secured the Democratic nomination for Kansas' 2nd congressional district.

Michelle De La Isla
Mayor of Topeka
Assumed office
January 8, 2018
Preceded byLarry Wolgast
Personal details
Born (1976-03-19) March 19, 1976
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationWichita State University (BS)
WebsiteGovernment website

Early life and education

Born in New York City, De La Isla grew up mostly in Puerto Rico. She attended the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez before moving to Wichita, Kansas in 2000. During her childhood, she experienced homelessness and became a teenage mother,[2] but In 2001, she graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor of science degree in biology.

Career

After graduation, De La Isla remained in Wichita and worked as a teacher for Upward Bound.

In 2005, De La Isla moved to Topeka, Kansas and joined Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc. as its Community Relations and Spanish Services Coordinator, and later, its Chief Financial Officer. She also joined MANA, a National Latina Organization, became a founding member of MANA de Topeka, and traveled around the country teaching financial literacy to women. In 2010, De La Isla became Executive Director of Topeka Habitat for Humanity where she established Topeka's first ReStore and increased service delivery.[3] She also participated in the Capital District Group to advocate for revitalization in downtown Topeka.

Politics

In 2013, De La Isla ran for Topeka City Council and was elected to represent the fifth district. She served as deputy mayor to mayor Larry Wolgast in 2016. De La Isla announced her candidacy for mayor on April 11, 2017 after Wolgast announced he would not seek reelection.[3]

On November 7, 2017, De La Isla won the Topeka mayoral race by a margin of 501 votes.[4] Before the election, De La Isla also announced that she would continue her employment at Evergy, which also makes her the first mayor to hold additional employment during her tenure.

As mayor, De La Isla serves on the Board of Regents for Washburn University, the Board of the Joint Economic Development Organization, and as Tri-Chair of GO Topeka’s Momentum 2022 collective action plan for Topeka and Shawnee County.

On January 6, 2020, De La Isla announced she was running as a Democrat to represent Kansas's Second Congressional District.[5] On August 4, De La Isla won the Democratic primary to advance to the November, 3, 2020 general election. She will face Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner who defeated incumbent Steve Watkins in the Republican primary.[6]

Personal life

De La Isla has two teenage daughters.[2]

References
  1. Hrenchir, Tim. "Michelle De La Isla becomes Topeka's first Hispanic mayor". The Topeka Capital. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  2. Dana Bash; Bridget Nolan; Cassie Spodak. "This Midwestern mayor is fighting to get her residents to take coronavirus seriously". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  3. Viviani, Nick. "Council member de la Isla throws her hat in the ring for Topeka mayor". Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  4. "A Year After Trump, Women and Minorities Give Groundbreaking Wins to Democrats". Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  5. "Topeka Mayor De La Isla launches bid for Congress, filling Democratic void in race". Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  6. LaTurner beats Watkins to take on De La Isla for congress, KSNT, Mark Feuerborn and Tiffany Littler, August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Larry Wolgast		 Mayor of Topeka
2018–present		 Incumbent
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