Michelle De La Isla
Mayor of Topeka
In office
January 8, 2018 – January 4, 2022
Preceded byLarry Wolgast
Succeeded byMike Padilla
Personal details
Born (1976-03-19) March 19, 1976
New York City, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
Wichita State University (BS)
Fort Hays State University (MBA)
Harvard University

Michelle De La Isla (born March 19, 1976) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Topeka, Kansas from 2018 to 2022. She previously served on the Topeka City Council from 2013 to 2018. De La Isla was the city's first Latina and single mother to serve as mayor.[1] She was the Democratic nominee for Kansas's 2nd congressional district in the 2020 election, but lost.

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. She experienced homelessness and gave birth to a child as a teenager.[2] In 2001, she graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor of science degree in biology. She received an MBA in leadership and human resources from Fort Hays State University and is in the MPA program for mid-career professionals at Harvard University.[3][4][5]

Career

De La Isla worked as a teacher for Upward Bound. In 2005, she 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.

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.[6]

On November 7, 2017, De La Isla won the Topeka mayoral race by a margin of 501 votes.[7] 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 Washburn University Board of Regents, 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 2nd congressional district.[8] On August 4, De La Isla won the Democratic primary to advance to the November 3, 2020 general election. She was defeated by Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the November general election.[9]

On March 19, 2021, De La Isla announced that she will not run for another term as mayor.[10]

In September, 2023, De La Isla was hired[11] as chief executive at Boston-based nonprofit Hack.Diversity.

Personal life

De La Isla has two daughters and one son.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Hrenchir, Tim. "Michelle De La Isla becomes Topeka's first Hispanic mayor". The Topeka Capital. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  2. 1 2 Dana Bash; Bridget Nolan; Cassie Spodak (2 April 2020). "This Midwestern mayor is fighting to get her residents to take coronavirus seriously". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  3. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System".
  4. ↑ "Michelle de la Isla and Brent Trout, both outgoing, say they gave voices to residents across Topeka".
  5. ↑ "Michelle de la Isla".
  6. ↑ Viviani, Nick. "Council member de la Isla throws her hat in the ring for Topeka mayor". Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  7. ↑ "A Year After Trump, Women and Minorities Give Groundbreaking Wins to Democrats". Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  8. ↑ "Topeka Mayor De La Isla launches bid for Congress, filling Democratic void in race". Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  9. ↑ LaTurner beats Watkins to take on De La Isla for congress, KSNT, Mark Feuerborn and Tiffany Littler, August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Topeka Mayor Michelle de la Isla announces she won't seek reelection". www.cjonline.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  11. ↑ "New leader starts up at Hack.Diversity nonprofit". Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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