EMILYs List Endorses Michelle De La Isla in Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District
For Immediate Release
April 28, 2020
EMILYs List Endorses Michelle De La Isla in Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District
Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Michelle De La Isla for Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“Michelle De La Isla is a proven champion for women and working families who understands firsthand the challenges that Kansans face and EMILY's List is proud to endorse her campaign. A single mother who overcame homelessness and survived domestic violence, Michelle has dedicated her career to empowering marginalized communities. As mayor of Topeka, she puts people before politics, and now she is fighting to do the same in Congress. EMILYs List is confident that Michelle will be the advocate Kansans deserve in the House of Representatives.”
Michelle De La Isla is running for Congress to fight for Kansas children and working families. Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, Michelle overcame poverty and homelessness, and in 2000, she moved to Kansas to attend Wichita State University. As a single mother, she worked for eight years to earn her Bachelor of Science in molecular-biology. Michelle moved to Topeka in 2005 and continued her passion for public service through her work at Housing and Credit Counseling and later as the executive director of Topeka Habitat for Humanity. A founding member of a local Hermanitas chapter mentoring Latina girls, Michelle is deeply committed to empowering young women to pursue new opportunities. She successfully ran for Topeka City Council in 2013 to show her daughters that they could achieve anything they set their minds to. After serving as the deputy mayor in 2016 , Michelle became the first Latina mayor of Topeka in 2018. A proud mother of three children, Michelle is running to serve as a voice for the people of Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District in Washington.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 50,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.
